My pond - while at the front of the house (closest to the street) is behind
a 7' block privacy wall and screened in. Hopefully, that will keep the
droplets out. We're not on a schedule for spraying: when they come, they
come - no warning. Whereas I live in a subdivision, the area used to be
quite rural: up until about 3 years ago, it was a joke, a "- I'll think I'll
go sit on the porch, pluck my banjo and pick my tooth" kind of place GBG
Think "Deliverance". Then Tampa had to expand somewhere, and East and South
was already taken, so everyone started moving North. Mosquito Control will
catch up in 5 or 10 years, I guess.
Lee
"Gregory Young" wrote in message
...
First off, the bacteria is actually Bacillus thuringiensis.. sorry about
that. I was in a bit of a hurry, and upset.. a deer and my car had an
encounter yesterday, (last one was back about 1984, so I guess I have been
lucky) so my typing was sloppy.
Malathion is, as I believe Ingrid said, very toxic. It is a cholinergic
poison, not very dissimilar from what you would know as a "nerve agent".
It is toxic to all animal life, only the LD 50 (lethal dose) varies from
one
species to another.
I would not rely on charcoal, as Malathion will be absorbed by your fish
most likely well in advance of making a pass into a filter system!
Best advice is to cover your pond with a plastic, nonpermeable tarp (the
common blue plastic one works fine) on the day they spray.
You are looking for a tarp that can cover the surface, to catch falling
droplets/aerosols, so just have a couple of feet overlapping you pond on
all
sides and you will do fine.
I would float some tires, etc to keep the tarp off the water surface, esp.
if it's on during the day, to allow air exchange.
Be careful when you remove it, so that any droplets won't roll off into
the
pond.
You could of course ask them to "skip" you, but I wouldn't chance that the
message you leave gets through to the individual doing the spraying, so
play
it safe and cover your pond..
I don't understand why quite a few of the local health departments are
still
using Malathion. The larvicides work great, and are safe. Malathion is of
course cheaper, so that may be a factor... Fortunately our county
commissioners have agreed with our recommendations to stick with
larvicides,
(even though we have a significant amount of WNV isolated from dead crows
in
our region).
Happy ponding,
Greg
--
"Lee Brouillet" wrote in message
...
I just called my local Mosquito Control folks: they said that they use
the
bacillus thurensis directly in water, but spray malathion from the
trucks
at
night that cruise the streets. She said the amount they use won't hurt
the
fish, and I understand that *certain* amounts of malathion can be used
in
the pond for various critter control. I also ususally keep several
pounds
of
activated charcoal in my waterfall setup as a "just in case" first line
of
defense against toxins. In your opinion, is this sufficient?
Lee
"Gregory Young" wrote in message
...
You need to check with your locals about what they are spraying with.
Many localities are spraying with Bacillus thurensis, which is
harmless
to
plants and animals, save of course mosquito larvae.
Happy ponding,
Greg
wrote in message
ganews.com...
With the hysteria over West Nile virus, localities are spraying to
kill
mosquitos. How does this spraying affect ponds, if at all?
Alan
--
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