MADISON, Wis. -- The spring rain is likely to produce a good crop of mosquitoes this year and they are expected to hatch in the next couple weeks, according to officials with the public health department for Madison and Dane County.

Bug experts said that people can't see that the mosquitoes that will feast on living things this spring and summer are just eggs right now in various still or stagnant bodies of water like bird baths or clogged-up gutters. The incubating mosquitoes have no wings or stingers, WISC-TV reported.

They warn that anything hold water for 10 days could be a potential mosquito breeding site.

Phil Pellitteri, an entomologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that the number of mosquitoes has been below average during the last two years but this year could be different.

"You've had two pleasant years," Pellitteri said. "You forget how you can't go out at dusk, dawn without getting chased in the house."

Pellitteri said that the eggs will likely start hatching right around the time of the unofficial kickoff of summer: Memorial Day weekend.

"And it looks like we have some idea of when they're really going to start," he said. "It's going to be pretty much when the holiday hits. It's within the next seven to 10 days."

John Hausbeck, an environmental epidemiologist at the public health department, said that people need to take precautions to protect themselves.

"The two things people have to be thinking about is first off, preventing bites," Hausbeck said. "And then second, making sure they're not breeding their own mosquitoes on their property in their backyards."

Mark Sotir, epidemiologist with the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, said that the public should be proactive to reduce the mosquito population.

"We encourage people to change the water regularly -- bird baths at least once a week."

City officials are planning to make another "larvae-cide" assault on eggs of West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes in the next couple of weeks, WISC-TV reported.

State officials said that they are already monitoring the number of dead crows found around Wisconsin as they typically get hit by the disease before humans. This year, there have been 51 crows tested.

Mosquito experts said that the number of people in the state getting the virus is on the decline. Since West Nile virus first appeared in Wisconsin in 2002, there have been 52 cases.

But since then, the number has plummeted. Last year, there were 17 cases -- two of which proved to be fatal.

Officials are theorizing the drop in the number of cases might be linked to birds and humans building up antibodies to the virus, WISC-TV reported.

Most people infected with West Nile virus show no symptoms at all, but a few will develop mild fevers and body aches. Only about 1 percent might get very sick or possibly die.

Authorities are asking the public to report sick or dead crows and blue jays to the state dead bird hotline at (800) 433-1610.