Mosquitos, West Nile Virus and Birds
 

Just an extension of the nice background info John posted on the
mosquito machines.

I have lived in the same place for nearly 30 years, just west of Loop
360 and Bee Caves Road. Over the years, I supported a nice population
of Scrub Jays that lived in my neighborhood. I put Purina Cat Chow
out for them and they were healthy, possibly comprising 4 to 5 nesting
pairs. Last year there seemed to be fewer of them and this year I
only hear one rarely off in the distance. Similar results for a tract
of land off RR 2222 I keep up with and Wild Basin WP seems empty of
them.

The only explanation I can see is that Jays, like American Crows are
very susceptible to West Nile and their populations have been
adversely affected. Affects on other species of birds is not as
apparent. I always had problems with Blue Jays but this year even
they are largely absent. This situation has been studied.
http://westnilevirus.nbii.gov/birds.html

So, I think I will become more serious about mosquito control, mostly
in the area of providing shelters for bats and swifts.

Rusty Mase

Mosquitos, West Nile Virus and Birds
 

In article ,
Rusty Mase wrote:

Just an extension of the nice background info John posted on the
mosquito machines.

I have lived in the same place for nearly 30 years, just west of Loop
360 and Bee Caves Road. Over the years, I supported a nice population
of Scrub Jays that lived in my neighborhood. I put Purina Cat Chow
out for them and they were healthy, possibly comprising 4 to 5 nesting
pairs. Last year there seemed to be fewer of them and this year I
only hear one rarely off in the distance. Similar results for a tract
of land off RR 2222 I keep up with and Wild Basin WP seems empty of
them.

The only explanation I can see is that Jays, like American Crows are
very susceptible to West Nile and their populations have been
adversely affected. Affects on other species of birds is not as
apparent. I always had problems with Blue Jays but this year even
they are largely absent. This situation has been studied.
http://westnilevirus.nbii.gov/birds.html

So, I think I will become more serious about mosquito control, mostly
in the area of providing shelters for bats and swifts.

Rusty Mase

Unfortunately, I have also noticed that there aren't nearly as many
jays around as there were a few years ago. I, like you, attribute
this to WNV. I'm in Gatesville.
--
8^(~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail)
~~~~~~
"I reserve the absolute right to be smarter
today than I was yesterday." -Adlai Stevenson

http://home.earthlink.net/~sme617

Mosquitos, West Nile Virus and Birds
 

May 1, 2003
MANY MOSQUITO CONTROLS ONLY HAMMER BUYER=92S POCKETBOOK
Writer: Robert Burns (903) 834-6191,
Source: Dr. Jimmy Olson (979) 845-5037,

OVERTON =96 When it comes to mosquito control devices, about the only
thing
that works is common sense, says an entomologist with Texas A&M
University.

snip

"What's particularly disturbing to Olson are the pesticide misting
devices
now on the market. There are several models, but they generally work by
emitting small puffs of the insecticides at timed intervals around a
house's
perimeter. The devices are expensive, costing as much as $5,000, and
their
effectiveness is suspect. Worse is the amount of pesticide they release
into
the environment over time and the possibility of inhalation by residents
and
the drift of the pesticide to other properties."

"It's about the most indiscriminate, irresponsible use of a chemical
control
that I've ever seen," Olson said.

Full article:
http://agnews.tamu.edu/dailynews/sto...O/May0103a.htm

_______________________________________________
Mike Quinn, New Braunfels, TX,



Rusty Mase wrote:
=

Just an extension of the nice background info John posted on the
mosquito machines.
=

I have lived in the same place for nearly 30 years, just west of Loop
360 and Bee Caves Road. Over the years, I supported a nice population
of Scrub Jays that lived in my neighborhood. I put Purina Cat Chow
out for them and they were healthy, possibly comprising 4 to 5 nesting
pairs. Last year there seemed to be fewer of them and this year I
only hear one rarely off in the distance. Similar results for a tract
of land off RR 2222 I keep up with and Wild Basin WP seems empty of
them.
=

The only explanation I can see is that Jays, like American Crows are
very susceptible to West Nile and their populations have been
adversely affected. Affects on other species of birds is not as
apparent. I always had problems with Blue Jays but this year even
they are largely absent. This situation has been studied.
http://westnilevirus.nbii.gov/birds.html
=

So, I think I will become more serious about mosquito control, mostly
in the area of providing shelters for bats and swifts.
=

Rusty Mase

-- =

Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky
2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business. Quoted by the Ho=
uston
Chronicle Lazy Gardener as 1 of 7 best gardening websites in Houston.
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal