Mosquitoes swarm Canada’s Prairies this summer

EDMONTON – From the gridiron to the stage, mosquitoes are proving a plague across the Prairies this summer.

In cities such as Edmonton and Regina, it’s worse than it’s been in years.

Annette Loiselle is performing Othello in an Edmonton park and says she’s become a buffet for the blood-sucking bugs.

She says she gets through it with willpower and deep breathing, especially when she has to lie on stage pretending to be dead for about five minutes.

Count football players in the group totally buzzed off by the skeeters.

This week, the Edmonton Eskimos moved their practice indoors because the bugs were so thick.

If there’s some irony to be had it’s that Winnipeg — long held up as Canada’s mosquito capital — isn’t having a problem with the bugs this year.

City entomologist Taz Stuart went so far as to proclaim it a great year — so far.