Fish, chickens help control mosquitoes headlights
Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Briggs, who operate the farm and will baby-sit the tiny fish, watch. Also taking part in setting up the program was Ken Weeks, Environmental Scientist with the Insect and Rodent Control program, Santa Fe. The Paul Luchsinger home, south of the Cattle Sales, and the Andy Hall Jr. farm, southwcst of Sunshine School, have been chosen as sites for the annual En vironmental Improvement Agency mosquito control program in Luna County. A flock of 15 Rhode Island Red chickens, eight weeks old, has been placed on the Luchsinger property. About 600 mosquito fish have been put into the Hall pond. Chickens act as host to the virus that causes encephalitis in humans and horses but are not themselves affected by the disease. Mosquitoes carry the virus and infect birds they bite. Mosquitoes that bite infected birds and then bite humans or horses can transmit the virus. Each month, blood samples are taken from the chickens and examined for antibodies. An unusually large number of antibodies indicates that the birds have been bitten by encephalitis-carrying mosquitoes and that-a concentrated program of mosquito control is required. Farms are considered a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes because of water standing in fields after irrigation, and overflowing ditches and ponds. Mosquito larva may hatch in as little as six days, according to John Booth, environmentalist for Luna County. Also part of the mosquito control program are fish of the gambusia affinis variety, known as mosquito fish. A dozen or so will keep an irrigation pond, backyard lily pool, or low spot where water stands for a long time after a rain, free from mosquito wigglers. The tiny fish, which are no more than 1′A inches long when full grown, were planted last week in a pond on the Andy Hall Jr. property. This will serve as a breeding pond from which to supply other area farmers with fish, Booth said. Because of the mild climate, New Mexico has a long mosquito breeding season. Irrigated fields should be properly graded, puddles at the low end should be’drained. Bird baths should be emptied and washed with soap and water once a week. Ornamental ponds can be stocked with a few goldfish. Tin cans should not be allowed to collect rain or sprinkler water. Containers that must be left with water in, such as fire buckets in the country, should be tightly covered. Even evaporative coolers and rain gutters can be a breeding spot for mosquitoes, Booth said. Any farmer or resident wishing fish for his own pond or pool may contact Booth at the Environmental Improvement Agency in the court house. OBITUARIES Patty Luchsinger gets acquainted with one of the IS Rhode Island Red chickens in the sentinel flock, placed on the Luchsinger farm last week by the New Mexico Health and Social Services Dept. as part of the mosquito control program.