Did any of the AOL list members or otherwise, catch this story off the AP wire.
Incouraging at least, they call it a nusence, I call it refreshing.
Mayflies Making Life Miserable
The Associated Press
By JOHN SEEWER PORT CLINTON, Ohio (AP)
- They land in
your hair and stick to your clothes. Like creatures out of a horror movie,
millions of mayflies are rising again out of Lake Erie and swarming its
shoreline. Towns in Ohio, Michigan and Canada are blanketed with the
flying insects that cling to windows, fast-food signs, cars - just about
anything. They also crunch underfoot. ``It's like running over Rice
Krispies,'' said car dealer Troy Maxwell. ``You can hear them popping.'' It
may be little consolation to shoreline residents, but the mayflies are a
sign of a healthier Lake Erie. They were killed off from the 1950s through
the 1980s by high pollution levels that reduced oxygen in the lake. Now
that the lake is cleaner, the mayfly has made a comeback. They began
returning along western Lake Erie in 1996. The insects have a life
expectancy of one or two days, sticking around just long enough to
reproduce. A female mayfly can lay up to 8,000 eggs. The invasion
begins in June and usually ends within a month. Mayflies are about an
inch or two long with paper-thin wings and big, beady eyes. Despite their
appearance, they don't bite. ``They're like snowflakes almost, they're all
different,'' said Laurie Eberle, Port Clinton's administrative assistant. The
mayflies are generally found in the shallow areas of western Lake Erie
and its shores. Winds on the lake usually push them toward Ohio's
shoreline, but this year the winds have been blowing toward Canada.
Cities in Ontario were covered with mayflies earlier in June. Now the
pests are coming back to Ohio. Port Clinton, halfway between Toledo
and Cleveland, is popular with boaters, sunbathers and anglers. In early
summer, though, out-of-town visitors are understandably repulsed.
``Everywhere you go is just full of them,'' Frieda Schmuki said as she
tried to enjoy a scoop of vanilla ice cream. ``I'm trying to watch what I'm
eating.'' Seconds later she was plucking a mayfly out of her
granddaughter's hair. ``Yucky!'' yelled 5-year-old Laura. Most residents
have learned to cope, knowing to close their doors - and their mouths.
Porch lights, street lamps, and advertising signs are turned off at night to
avoid attracting swarms. Restaurants use leaf-blowers and snow shovels
to clear sidewalks. One recent hatch left windows at a Burger King
covered with mayflies. Some even got inside and were hanging from the
ceiling. ``They're like shades,'' said restaurant manager Luanne Keller.
``It's not appetizing.'' Others don't bother cleaning up. ``We just leave
them be,'' said Carrie Smith, a gas station employee. ``Because there's
just more coming.''
