Fraser Valley targets an increase in the mosquito population
Posted May 20, 2012 1:46 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
FRASER VALLEY (NEWS1130) – With the bigger than normal snowpacks and possible high water levels we could see a lot of mosquitoes buzzing around this summer, so that has the Fraser Valley launching a program aimed at nipping the problem in the bud.
The Fraser Valley Regional District is targeting mosquito larvae with safe bacteria.
Manager of Environmental Services Stacey Barker says they are using an attack that’s perfectly safe as long as you’re not a mosquito.
“This bacterium is specifically targeted to the mosquito larvae. It wouldn’t affect people or other organisms in the water,” explains Barker. “This is one of the reason the FVRD uses this product — it’s not toxic and environmentally safe.”
Even though the war on mosquitoes will make a dent on the population, Barker says animals that feed on the bugs won’t have anything to worry about.
“Even if we were going to go all out and spend all of our money on mosquito control, it wouldn’t be possible for us to kill every last mosquito. There’s always enough mosquitoes out there to support populations of any type of organisms that might be feeding off of the adult mosquitoes.”
Barker says heavy swarms of mosquitoes can actually affect a town’s economy, since people are less likely to want to head out anywhere.
