Come springtime depending on what part of the U.S. you happen to live, local town officials ready their mosquito spray equipment for another round with their never ending battle with the EEE carriers. Each attempt to eradicate its possible effects on the local populace is usually met with an uphill battle.

Is Mosquito Spraying Effective Against The Elusive EEE Carrier?

Township officials have known that using sprays has some level of toxicity to the inhabitants of the neighborhood where it will be used and those who do the spraying will be required to use protective breathing masks to protect themselves from possible lung damage. It is believed by most to be less effective than using the wetland approach.

Toxicity of Spraying With Chemicals

Malathion is one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides in the United States and throughout the world. Contributing to its popularity is malathion’s relatively low acute mammalian toxicity. But like DDT and other pesticides that have been found to cause irreparable damage to human and environmental health, malathion may pose a greater risk than the product label would lead one to believe. Shown to be mutagenic, a possible carcinogen, implicated in vision loss, reproductive and learning problems, immune system disruption and other negative health effects in human and animal studies, damaging to non target organisms, and containing highly toxic impurities, malathion has a legacy of serious problems.

Permethrin toxicity: Permethrin IS toxic to fish and bees. Do NOT apply permethrin close to lakes and streams where it could kill fish. In general, try to limit your use of permethrin and take care in the disposal of pemethrin-treated clothing. For example, avoid washing clothing treated with permethrin in lakes and rivers. Water discharged from a washing machine often goes to bodies of water, so you may want to hand wash clothing and dump wash water on soil, where permethrin is less toxic.

Today, Davis County Mosquito Control uses both natural enemies and Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies isaelensis(BTI), a biological environmentally friendly product to control the larvae in the wetlands. The BTI is sprayed on the water, slowly releasing the larvacide into the water, where the mosquito larvae eats it and dies.

Have Wildlife Conservation Experts Found More Natural Ways?

To begin with, those who try to maintain a balance in our wildlife ecosystem have known for many years that if you promote the survival of predators of the mosquito, they will automatically control the proper balance in the disease carrier and greatly decrease the spread of disease. The cost of using the natural control approach is also less costly, especially in the long run, safer for the community and once started will usually automatically renew itself year after year, accumulating the savings to the towns people. The reason that this approach should be incorporated instead of chemical control is simple: No insect is indiscriminately destroyed. Even though sprays used were designed to do away wit the pesky mosquito, other useful insects which may very well be predators to the mosquito are killed, even though in much lesser quantities. The key to making this all work is to promote the establishment of wetlands wherever the terrain is suitable. There is very often open areas that will retain runoff rains naturally creating a wetland area, sometimes the acreage area is not huge, but it does not take much. Frogs will multiply, birds will nest and with the proper foliage growth will multiply. The birds themselves will control the mosquito population, along with the frog and dragonfly population, automatically, at no cost to the community.

Beneficial Identifiers For Wetlands

At Present, one of the most common approaches to mosquito control is the use of the insecticide, permethrin. It is said to be only a mild toxin. It is also said to be toxic to cats. The toxicity level, on a scale of 1 to 10 is not readily available, therefore cat owners may have some concern. Permethrin IS toxic to fish and bees. Many areas such as Davis County Mosquito Control uses both natural enemies and Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies isaelensis, known as BTI, a biological environmentally friendly product to control the larvae in the wetlands. The BTI is sprayed on the water, slowly releasing the larvacide into the water, where the mosquito larvae eats it and dies.

Wetlands are a totally natural approach to mosquito control. It is thus non-toxic and beneficial to the environment. Natural predators to the mosquito are encouraged to thrive and multiply including the predator frog and certain birds. Even small fish will devour their portion of the mosquito larvae population. It has been found that where wetland sanctuaries are properly used to rid the area of the disease carrying insects, a 90% reduction is usually achieved.