A Good Year for Mosquitoes

The Press Enterprise has a good article that deals with another negative effect of the rising foreclosures in the IE: mosquitoes in abandoned swimming pools.

Basically, these foreclosed homes, which are now owned by banks, have green swimming pools in their backyards breeding thousands of mosquito larvae.

Here's an astonishing quote from the article...

While this year's aerial survey is not yet complete, the Coachella district checked seven cities last year. Of 300 pools checked, half were green, Mann said.

The West Valley Vector Control district, for instance, already has identified more than 300 green pools in just two cities, Reisinger said.

Read the full article here...
http://www.pe.com/..../PE_News_Local_H_mosquito08.dd9810.html

If you have a dog living in the backyard, or spending much of its time outdoors, better get it on a heartworm prevention medication, such as HeartGuard. Any veterinarian's office will sell them to you. Mosquitoes are carriers of heartworm larvae, and carry them from one dog to another. Once well established in your dog's heart, your pet has little chance of survival. There is medicine to kill heartworms inside of a dog's heart, but such medicine is often fatal to the dog as well.

Most bug zappers and bug lights don't work with mosquitoes. You need a special attractant to lure them into the light, and it doesn't work well (ask me how I know). There are electric and propane-based mosquito killers you can place in your yard, but reviews of their effectiveness vary from one person to another, and are costly to operate.

Probably the best thing you can do is notify the local vector control agency of any green swimming pools in your neighborhood. In Menifee, you can contact...

Riverside County Vector Control
800 South Sandersen Ave.
Hemet, CA 92545
(951) 766-9454