I have decided that, rather than get Mosquito fish, I will drain the pond.
That algae rich water should make the plants in our backyard happy. I've
heard that Nile virus is on the upsurge this year, so anyplace mosquitos
might breed is a good place to take immediate action.

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!

Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! !
~Semper Fi~

On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 06:37:44 CST, Nick Cramer
wrote:

I have decided that, rather than get Mosquito fish, I will drain the pond.
That algae rich water should make the plants in our backyard happy. I've
heard that Nile virus is on the upsurge this year, so anyplace mosquitos
might breed is a good place to take immediate action.


I worried about that at first, but there are mosquito borne diseases
here in Florida that I'm not nearly as concerned as I used to be. I
get bitten by mosquitoes nearly every day. Not so much in the winter,
but during the other seasons. Eastern Equine Encephalitis, despite
its name, doesn't get only horses. Some guy died after being bitten
by a mosquito at a football game. It's been around here for years and
years, and if it gets you, you croak -- or not. It's sort of like
swimming in a tank of sharks and then someone throws in a hammerhead.
Sure, the threat is increased, but there are plenty of other sharks in
the water, and besides, the chances of getting bitten by a shark are
pretty slim, the chances of dying from it almost nil, but there is
deadly hazard there just the same.

An alternative to draining the pond or fussing with fish might be to
use "mosquito dunks," (Bacillus thuringiensis) for effective long term
control. It is a bacteria specific to mosquito larvae, and affects
absolutely nothing else. It is a biological control that is safe and
100% effective in my experience.
--
Galen Hekhuis
Hell hath no fury like a bird in the hand

I'm thinking that ponders actually help the
mosquito problem rather than contribute to
it.
A pond with fish, or a pond treated with Mosquito
Dunks, is like a trap. Mosquitoes laying eggs
are in danger of being eaten by the fish or the
dragon and damselflies that the pond attracts
(and the toads and the frogs, too) and their larvae will
most certainly be eaten or in a fishless pond they
will be taken out by the Mosquito Dunks bacteria.

So by keeping ponds we are luring mosquitoes to
their doom. Without that pond there the mosquitoes
will lay their eggs in abandoned bits of water laying
around or in bigger waterways where the amount
of water to fish is much larger and they have a chance
to escape.

Our garden ponds are way overstocked compared
to Mother Nature's ponds and waterways so they
much better at reducing the mosquito population.

k :-)

Wow, Nick. Will you leave it down? Mosquito fish are an easy
solution and need no maintenance. Good luck with whatever.

Jim

On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 10:03:58 CST, Galen Hekhuis
wrote:

An alternative to draining the pond or fussing with fish might be to
use "mosquito dunks," (Bacillus thuringiensis) for effective long term
control. It is a bacteria specific to mosquito larvae, and affects
absolutely nothing else. It is a biological control that is safe and
100% effective in my experience.

I agree, if not just because I seem to have less problems now with
mosquitoes than before the ponds went in. Lots of dragon flies. (Do damsel
flies eat mosquitoes? Hundreds of those around.) We do have mosquito
control, but I'm not sure they're doing anything more than what they've
always done. So far only bitten once this season, but I'm fairly certain
that didn't happen in my yard. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Galen Hekhuis wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 06:37:44 CST, Nick Cramer
[ . . . ]

An alternative to draining the pond or fussing with fish might be to
use "mosquito dunks," [ . . . ]

Thanks, Galen. Jun has already drained the pond and watered the plants.
Since we've only had 3.21" of rain this year, with none in the foreseeable
future, I won't have to be concerned with it for a while. And yes, I know
of "mosquito dunks".

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!

Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! !
~Semper Fi~

Phyllis and Jim wrote:
Wow, Nick. Will you leave it down? [ . . . ]

Probably so, Jim. At least for the foreseeable future. My son-in-law had
been taking care of it for the last couple of years. Now that he and my
daughter have moved out, I think I'm done, but I'll continue to lurk here
and post when I think I have something relevant to say. I'm really glad to
see r.p.m thriving!

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!

Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! !
~Semper Fi~

Yup, damselflies eat mosquitoes, bless their
little hearts. This is a good page about them.
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/c...amselflies.htm

Nobody here has been bitten by a mosquito all year.
We have big dragonflies around, tons of damselflies,
froggies and, of course, the fish.
All pots without any critters in them are treated with
mosquito bits.

k :-)

On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 14:04:47 CST, ~ jan wrote:

On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 10:03:58 CST, Galen Hekhuis
wrote:

An alternative to draining the pond or fussing with fish might be to
use "mosquito dunks," (Bacillus thuringiensis) for effective long term
control. It is a bacteria specific to mosquito larvae, and affects
absolutely nothing else. It is a biological control that is safe and
100% effective in my experience.

I agree, if not just because I seem to have less problems now with
mosquitoes than before the ponds went in. Lots of dragon flies. (Do damsel
flies eat mosquitoes? Hundreds of those around.) We do have mosquito
control, but I'm not sure they're doing anything more than what they've
always done. So far only bitten once this season, but I'm fairly certain
that didn't happen in my yard. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Yes, damselflies eat mosquitoes. Dragonflies and damselflies eat
mosquitoes. Every stage of life (except the eggs) of those critters
eat mosquitoes. They will eat just about anything that flies. They
follow my tractor around when I'm mowing because they know I startle
lots of bugs into flight. Dragonflies are incredible little machines.
They can fly in any direction you can imagine and can change
directions almost instantly. I have oodles of them around and get to
watch them often. I've seen them hover, fly backwards, change heading
in an instant, they can even take off from the ground in reverse. Even
with damaged wings late in the season they still can perform
incredible aerobatics. As anyone who has carelessly handled one can
attest, they can inflict quite a healthy bite, but they do not sting.
Damselflies are just as vicious as dragonflies, but are smaller, fold
their wings, and have a cute name.
--
Galen Hekhuis
I don't recall...

On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 14:38:54 CST, Nick Cramer
wrote:

Galen Hekhuis wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 06:37:44 CST, Nick Cramer
[ . . . ]

An alternative to draining the pond or fussing with fish might be to
use "mosquito dunks," [ . . . ]

Thanks, Galen. Jun has already drained the pond and watered the plants.
Since we've only had 3.21" of rain this year, with none in the foreseeable
future, I won't have to be concerned with it for a while. And yes, I know
of "mosquito dunks".

I know what you mean, we haven't had anything close to normal here. It
won't be a question of draining for me, the pond out back may just dry
up.
--
Galen Hekhuis
I have no idea what happened, but I assure you it was all proper.

Nick, sorry to hear you had to give up the pond. Hope you continue to cyber
pond with RPM. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

"Nick Cramer" wrote:

Galen Hekhuis wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 06:37:44 CST, Nick Cramer
[ . . . ]

An alternative to draining the pond or fussing with fish might be to
use "mosquito dunks," [ . . . ]

Thanks, Galen. Jun has already drained the pond and watered the plants.
Since we've only had 3.21" of rain this year, with none in the foreseeable
future, I won't have to be concerned with it for a while. And yes, I know
of "mosquito dunks".

Hmmm, 3.85" is what we had this year. You must live around here somewhere!

San Diego Joe
4,000 - 5,000 Gallons.
Koi, Goldfish, and RES named Colombo.

San Diego Joe wrote:
"Nick Cramer" wrote:
Galen Hekhuis wrote:
On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 06:37:44 CST, Nick Cramer
[ . . . ]
Hmmm, 3.85" is what we had this year. You must live around here
somewhere!

North Hollywood, Joe.

--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!

Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! !
~Semper Fi~

On Sat, 7 Jul 2007 15:26:01 CST, Galen Hekhuis
wrote:

Dragonflies and damselflies eat mosquitoes. They
follow my tractor around when I'm mowing because they know I startle
lots of bugs into flight.

That's got to be a cool sight, around here it is seagulls following the
tractors. ;-) ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Yup, damselflies eat mosquitoes, bless their
little hearts. This is a good page about them.
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/c...amselflies.htm
k :-)

k.... for keeper of the ponding websites. ;-) ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us