In order to avoid a repeat of last summer, the City of Lethbridge is taking steps to mitigate grasshoppers and foxtails.
Last year, Lethbridge faced one of the worst droughts in recent history and the dry weather and hot temperatures brought grasshoppers.
The creatures took over multiple neighbourhoods on the west side while in search of food.
“So, they move when there's nothing to eat and they increase in size and numbers when they have heat, so they had the perfect storm. It might not be as bad this year,” said Dan Johnson, an environment science professor at the University of Lethbridge.
With summer only a few weeks away in southern Alberta, Johnson says right now levels for grasshoppers are expected to be lower than last year, but hot summer conditions can play a big factor, not only for this year, but years to come.
“But it looks like the problem might be about half of what it was last year, but if we had a drought, like if it quit raining and didn't start again and stayed hot, we'd be back up again in 2023 with grasshoppers,” Johnson added.
In preparation, the City of Lethbridge has partnered with Johnson to monitor the situation before it gets out of hand.
“We've set up some tests plots west of the city to not only monitor the grasshopper populations but to explore different treatment options in the city,” said Blair Richter, general manager of parks and cemeteries with the City of Lethbridge.
If the grasshopper population increases, both the city and Johnson say different treatment options will be explored in order to limit the grasshoppers.
“We have a plan to actually test some non-toxic methods that may or may not work,” Johnson said. “They feel and I feel, insecticides should probably be kept away from the city.”
However, grasshoppers aren't the only thing the city is keeping an eye on this summer.
“Foxtails unfortunately grows very well in the city of Lethbridge,” Richter said.
The increase of foxtails in the city grew last year as a result of the hot temperatures, which is why the city has already taken measures to combat the growth of foxtails.
“We actually did some pre-emergent spraying on certain locations to deal with the foxtails last fall. We also continued that practice this spring with more spraying and we've actually hired additional staff to deal with this issue and we will continue on more pre-emergent spraying in the fall,” Richter said, adding locations all across the city have the possibility to be sprayed.
Anyone with concerns regarding grasshoppers or foxtail is encouraged to call 311.
