Well, here's a topic I'm good with. I work in Environmental Protection / Pest Control. I deal primarily with extermination of mosquitos and invasive
plants.
West Nile bearing mosquitos are Salt Water Mosquitos, the only way a normal mosquito will carry west nile is if it gets bitten by a salt water..
Therefore, they cannot reproduce in pools. They need salt water, primarily non-flowing marshes. They can reproduce anywhere that has non-flowing salt
water. As well, a salt water mosquito can travel anywhere up to 50 miles a day to feed. Therefore, you can live up to 50 miles inland, and away from
salt water areas, and still see them.
Mosquitos need
stagnant water to breed. If there is moving or flowing water, it is almost impossible for them to breed since the larvae need
something to latch onto. A current would just wisp them away and kill them. A pool is flowing. It has a current going to keep the water circulating.
The only way this is not true is if it's a small pool for little children and such. But even then, those shhould be turned over when not in use so
not to catch water. Any stagnant water a mosquito finds, it will breed in. I've applied larvacides to tire ruts, honey holes, low lying ground, and
more. Some of these place would boggle your minds if you saw where they breed.
As for ponds, yes. Add fish, but not just fish. Get frogs, turtles, plant any type of plant life, lillypads and algae work great. And if you're in an
area that has dragonflies... even better.
And remember, theres one huge pieces of information you should know to know if you're getting fed on by a salt-water or normal mosquito.
external image
A normal mosquito, as seen above will
only feed at dawn and dusk. They do not come out in the day time. As well, take a look at it's legs.
They're solid colored. This is the primary indicator that it's not salt-water.
external image
A salt water mosquito will feed at
any time of the day. So if you get bit during the night (past sunset) or daytime (past sunrise, early
morning), it's almost definately one of these. Take a look at thhe legs, thhey're striped. Thats what you've got to look for. These are the ones
that carry the virus.
Personally, I'd suggest you contact your local DEP and have them tell you the numbers for any pest management in the area. Have them come and
professionally spray. It costs a bit of money though, anywhere from $125 and up depending on the size of your yard.
[edit on 24-9-2006 by TheAnt]
