Friday night bites

As we approach the start of the high school football season (and fall sports in general), we remind coaches and athletic directors to please alert us should any games be moved in time and/or location due to mosquitoes (and the threat of West Nile and Triple E that the little bloodsuckers have been known to carry).

In Braintree, the Wamps took a proactive approach and didn't schedule a single outdoor evening activity until October.

Braintree school officials have not scheduled any evening outdoor events at the high school field until mid-October in response to the threat of West Nile and Triple E, (headmaster David) Swanton said.

“It’s obviously a proactive move,” he said. “Last year, we had pretty much quarantined all athletic events that were scheduled at night.”

This spring, Swanton decided not to schedule any evening games at the high school until Oct. 17, hoping to strike "a happy medium" from last year, he said.

The high school campus contains a lake and wetlands, he said.

Prior to the first evening game in October, the Norfolk County Mosquito Control Project will spray the entire campus in the early morning hours, according to Swanton.

Each of the more than 1,500 students will receive a packet with safety information before the spraying, which are scheduled from Oct. 16 until mid-November or the first heavy frost, Swanton said.

“This is all in the name of safety,” he said.