And then he said it: “People should be focusing on avoiding bites.”

The county census is focused on monitoring the mosquito population for West Nile virus and “keeping an eye out for Zika.” But the mosquito that bothers people here is not the Zika carrier but the “floodwater” mosquito that shows up every year.

Since it is nigh near impossible for the ordinary blood meal to see any difference in mosquito species, the best prevention is against them all, Hausbeck said.

“We do not have any risk for Zika, but we know that the West Nile virus is in circulation, and even though the majority of mosquitoes that bite are not going to present risk, it is important to prevent it.”

Hausbeck and staff use a repellent that is 30 percent Deet, which is said to be effective for eight hours.

As for other bugs of summer, Hausbeck said the lightning bug population seems to be out early and in large numbers.

From the tick draggers — researchers who drag white sheets through the woods collecting ticks to examine — at the UW-Madison Department of Entomology, the report is that adult deer ticks are active and will be out until midsummer.