Aerial Spraying

[John Pearson]

Here in Southlake, Texas we are hunkering down for the air assault on the mosquito population. According to Howard Garrett- a horticulturist on the radio, it will be a big waste of time. The aerial spray only kills the adult mosquito and does not kill any of the larvae. So the government will tell you that it works when it blankets water bodies but the label on the toxin says it doesn't work in water. Also according to Howard, the mosquito population follows a bell shaped curve and we are already on the downside of the bell and are past the worst threat. So it's going to get better anyway without the spraying but the 'sprayers' will tout their success because when the number of cases goes down they will say it was because of the spraying.

A much better solution is to go after the larvae. The money would be better spent by the government on those 'pucks' that you put in water that kills the larvae. Every housing development in Southlake has a water feature out front with waterfalls and ponds and lots of standing water. Fish do an excellent job eating the larvae off the surface but that still leaves a lot of ornamental water with thousands and thousands of new born potential west nile carriers. I plan on covering my goldfish pond because the aerial spray can be toxic to fish. Too bad all those commercial claims about Purple Martins eating thousands of mosquito's aren't true otherwise we wouldn't be in this mess.

What do you think about how we're combating the West Nile Threat?
Take care,
John