By Paul Goldfinger
In a prior posting, we introduced you to the Asian Tiger mosquito, which has become a worsening problem this summer in Ocean Grove and nearby towns. Recently, Committeewoman Jahn suggested that spraying might be done in order to control the scourge. She asked us to conduct a Blogfinger poll regarding this approach. So we again contacted Ms. Victoria Thompson of the Monmouth County Mosquito Extermination Commission regarding the options.
It seems that we can engage in a sort of passive resistance by ridding our properties of standing water and we can ask the county special forces to implement a full frontal assault on the buggers by either poisoning the larvae in the waterways or spraying the air in order to kill them in flight. (There’s a good reason why they have the word “extermination” in their title.) The waterway approach is probably impractical in the Grove where we have a lot of nooks and crannies with small amounts of water such as garbage can lids, small containers, flower pot saucers, rims on upside-down buckets, and toys lying around.
1948; spraying with DDT in Japan to prevent malaria by killing mosquitoes
Years ago the spraying of DDT was abandoned because of concerns about toxicity to animals and people. Now there are new spray products (Monmouth Country uses a two pronged attack weapon called “Duet.”) However, they do not usually utilize this approach just because the bugs are a nuisance. The Commission requires evidence of high volume mosquito counts or signs of the West Nile virus in the blood suckers themselves or in the bodies of dead birds like crows.
Ms. Thompson said that spraying is done at night for safety reasons. Note that the spray can harm fish, so if you have an ornamental pond, you would have to cover it.
As a result of the Blogfinger inquiry, the Commission plans to use “traps” to test for the Asian Tigers in the Grove. Note that mosquitoes do not disappear until the first frost, although they will decrease in number as the weather gets cooler. Ms. Thompson said that she will discuss the matter with Ms. Jahn. Meanwhile we will test the still waters of opinion with a poll.
Ocean Grove, which was mosquito-free when I purchased my home 26 years ago, has one major change that took place in the past few years—storm or water drains below many of our streets including Main Avenue, Broadway and Pilgrim Pathway. On the plus side, this keeps our major streets from flooding. On the minus side, it provides a great place for mosquito breeding. After rains there is undoubtedly enough water in the bottom of the drain pipes to support thousands of new mosquito larvae. What is being done to eliminate this breeding environment?
Should add that mosquitos are very poor flyers and fans can help to keep them away, as will RID and other mosquito repellents.
Spray baby, SPRAY!