by Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 04/98) - Warm-blooded creatures walking the Northern earth this summer will likely be walking around with a little less warm blood than usual.

At least, that's what the biologists are predicting.

"I'm guessing we're going to see more of a runoff associated with the snow melt," said Steve Harbicht, head of Environment Canada's assessment and monitoring division.

"Generally, if you have a high-water situation, which can result with a lot of water during the summer or a lot of snow in the winter, you end up with a lot of standing water around, offering the opportunity for these insects to multiply, both black flies and mosquitoes."

If anyone was ever insane enough to set up a mosquito farm, there's no doubt they would put it in the Mackenzie Delta.

Home to hundreds of square kilometres of mainly boggy terrain interlaced with rivers and streams, the Delta is a breeding heaven for all sorts of nasty insects.

In the heart of the Delta, Aklavik elder Art Furlong explained river run-through has as much of an impact on bug breeding there as runoff.

"To me, the way the weather's been acting right now, our breakup is going to be quiet," said Furlong, 74.

Aklavik is prone to flooding because of ice jams during violent breakups on the Peel River, Furlong added. "If there was going to be a flood, I would expect them to be much worse, because the water would be all over. But with a quiet breakup and the way the snow has melted there won't be much to it."

The short bug season on Baffin Island is still a month and a half away. Though the bugs aren't nearly as bad there as in the Western Arctic, there may be a few more of them this year.

"On Baffin Island we don't have a whole lot of bugs, except in caribou-hunting areas," said a Pangnirtung renewable resources officer who did not want his name used.

"I'm projecting there could be more this year," he said. "We've had a lot of snow, so there's going to be more water, and that will create more bugs."

The lack of bugs in the Baffin is due in part to the fact that all Eastern Arctic mosquitoes live near Baker Lake.

"We're the only inland community in the Keewatin," said Leo Coulett of his Baker Lake. "They're pretty wild here."

Coulett predicted the warmth this year would bring the numbers down to gazillions this year from usual billions of gazillions.