OSU researchers lose Waldo Lake battle against Zika mosquitoes

8/1/2016: Anyone have a recent trip report?

UO Matters is now the #3 hit on google when you search for factual information on “Waldo Lake mosquitoes”. Help us get to #1 by sharing your data in the comments. Waldo lake weather forecast here, USFS map here, recreation passes here.

But before you clog up the boat ramp this weekend trying to get your canoe off the rack (hint: there’s no cellphone reception, so download this helpful guide to knots in Oakridge) take a moment to consider the infamous Waldo Lake mosquitoes, and the risk that you may infect your colleagues or loved ones with the microencephalitic Zika virus.

Environmental extremists have pushed up the price of black market DDT, and while Oregon State researchers have tested an organic alternative at Waldo, and published the results in the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, they apparently failed to persuade our state government to spend the $5,000 needed to defeat this terrorist threat:

The private sector took up the challenge with a device made from old digital cameras and lasers from broken printers that tracks and incinerates hundreds of mosquitos per minute:

I can only imagine how much money the big-mosquito lobby paid Apple to keep this app off my phone. At least if residents want to actually rid their homes and surrounding area of mosquitoes they have the option to get in touch with services similar to that of Terminix Ohio and others in different locations offered, hopefully this way they won’t risk the contraction of the Zika virus.

9/15/2013: Log of the “Sweet Pea”:

Whilst on a SW tack our lookout detected a canoe in distress. In accordance with the law of the sea, as the nearest vessel we answered the rather giggly SOS. With the wind at force 4 from WNW, we smartly came about and put her in irons at 90 degrees to the swamped vessel. Our able crew inverted same, dragged it aboard the Sweet Pea, righted it, and then assisted the two distressed sea-persons in re-boarding. 2 minutes by the ship’s clock and we were all safely away.

Beaching at our favorite location, we were chased off by some hostile Kiwis. Seriously. But unlike Captain Cook we avoided confrontation and death by moving to another beach, and our only real hardship arose from the fact that each family had assumed it was the other’s turn to bring the beer.

It was the most people I’ve ever seen on Waldo: canoes, kayaks, paddle-boards, inflatables, sailboats, a catamaran, and a misinformed Mackenzie fishing boat.

8/17/2013: 11:30AM-6:00PM. Wind from the west, force 3 on the Beaufort scale. A large gender balanced sample with significant age variation was recruited and informed consent was obtained. The number of mosquito bites was not significantly greater than zero, using a one-tailed test.

8/4/2013: A panel with n=4 and repeated observations from 11AM to 5PM centered around North Bay yielded only a few bites. Water was actually warm enough for swimming. Wind 5-10 knots out of the west. Light haze from the fires, but no smell of smoke. And no stink-pots! Great day.