I then bought a 50 cent gold fish and added it to the water barrel, and while the mosquito fish seem to come and go (maybe they go to the bottom in winter), I can often see the gold fish cruising somewhere when I walk past the barrel. Still, I was surprised to find it really close to the surface a few days ago, Looked almost as if it wanted a breath of fresh air.
Very odd, I thought. And I didn't completely understand what was going on until I came to the sandy bird bath and saw small wriggly black creatures in there. I had assumed that because the birds stir up the water frequently, mosquito larvae would not be a problem. But I realized that many of the birds had flown back home, and others had found other pleasant places to bathe. And I suspected the fish might also have been eating the larvae that accumulated at the top of the barrel (or maybe not, but it's a cool photo, isn't it?).
So I went to the shed and got my shaker of Mosquito Bits. I actually don't even remember where I bought them, but do remember that the vector control guys told me not to use the donut-shaped mosquito dunks, which were not very effective. They endorsed the bits as effective and non-toxic to birds and other creatures.
It took just one shake, and about an hour, for the problem to be solved. I was greatly relieved. On the one hand, I like to offer bugs to the birds who visit my garden. But with West Nile disease and some other mosquito-based illnesses prevalent around here, this seemed the prudent way to go. And, also kind: Birds get West Nile before humans do.
So, dear friends, take stroll around your garden and check for mosquito breeding areas. It's good for you, and for the birds.
Comments
You don't have problems with raccoons eating the fish?
We had mosquito fish in our pond at our last house. Just as I would think they hadn't survived winter, voila, they'd show up again. I think they just need the water to warm up a bit before they break their torpor. We also found that deep, straight-sided ponds the foiled raccoons too. Neighbors with more naturalistic gently sloping pond edges lost a lot of fish, but we never did.
I got bit today at the back side of the pond where the wind was still. Not to worry with a 60 ft pond your going to have mosquitoes. I did see Bullfrogs with ever step around the pond, a first for this year. The Spring peepers have quite the concert goig right now it is raining. Chorus Frogs were calling before it rained. And there were 3 painted turtles on a log today.