Wednesday, August 7, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
The bane of our
existence
Historically, there is no
animal on the face of this
good Earth who has caused
we humans more problems
than the mosquito. Not only
have they spread death and
destruction throughout the
human race through trans-
mitting disease, but in our
effort to <control= these
pestiferous little beasts we
have caused environmental
problems that have become
almost as serious as the
blood we9ve lost and the dis-
eases we9ve suffered from.
Let9s face it, it9s really
not the diseases that mosqui-
toes spread that most people
beller and bawl about, it9s
the annoyance: the buzz-
ing, the interruption to out-
side recreational activities,
the slapping of bodies in a
constant effort to kill the
little beasties, and all the
other maddening, infuriat-
ing, exasperating vexations
caused by mosquitoes.
If you have them nearby
and can legally do something
about it, PLEASE stay away
from chemicals! If it9s stand-
ing water and the larvae are
swimming around by the
thousands, see if you can
have it drained.
If it9s a big standing
body of water and draining
it is impossible, try putting
some mosquito fish in it.
The native larvae predators
already there, such as drag-
onfly larvae, fish and such,
do a wonderful job reducing
mosquito larvae numbers,
and mosquito fish help.
The thing about mosqui-
toes that is overlooked when
we get enough of them is that
they9re all in the food chain.
Swallows are on top of the
list of diurnal birds that can9t
get along without them, and
bats are on the nocturnal list.
If you want swallows to
feed on your mosquitoes,
just put swallow nesting
boxes on the north side of
poles, trees and/or buildings.
If you want to have bats
flying about at night feasting
on your annoying mosqui-
toes, put a bat house up on
the side of one of your out-
buildings. Not only will they
feast on those mosquitoes
bothering you, but they9ll
provide a wonderful air
show while fluttering about
your domicile.
And while we9re on the
subject of bats and mosqui-
toes, one of the most inter-
esting books I have ever
had the pleasure of reading
was, <Bats, Mosquitoes and
Dollars,= by Dr. Charles A.
Campbell.
A r o u n d 1 9 0 5 , D r.
Campbell, freshly returned
from fighting malaria in the
Panama Canal, became the
city bacteriologist in San
Antonio, Texas and was con-
fronted by malaria taking
over the city.
He began experimenting
with attracting bats to artifi-
cial roosts with the idea the
bats would eat the mosqui-
toes and stop the spread of
malaria. But he couldn9t get
enough bats to live in San
Antonio to do the job 4 and
then he hit upon an idea that
worked.
With $500 of his own
money, in 1907 he built the
first artificial bat house he
called, <Malaria-Eradicating,
Guano-Producing Bat Roost=
at the U.S. Experimental
Farm near San Antonio. He
called the 30-foot-tall tower
<my monument.= But his
first effort failed.
Then he chose Mitchell9s
Lake south of San Antonio
as the site for his new,
improved bat roost. All the
city9s sewage ran into that
area and the mosquitoes
were so thick wagons and
coaches pulled by horses had
to race through or the horses
would almost die from loss
of blood. This experiment
succeeded, and within two
years malaria was eliminated
from San Antonio and cities
all over the southwest hired
Dr. Campbell and his bats to
rid their areas of the disease.
In his contract with the
cities where he set up his bat
towers, complete with hun-
dreds of Mexican free-tailed
bats, he promised to keep the
bat towers clean of guano,
and did so faithfully, selling
the guano as fertilizer and
literally making millions.
Google has a whole lot
of information on flowering
plants you can use to annoy
mosquitoes to the point
where they9ll go somewhere
else to find the warm blood
they need to make babies.
Repellents make a loca-
tion (like your yard or skin)
less attractive to mosqui-
toes, but don9t kill them. So,
citronella, for example, or
DEET, smoke, lemon euca-
lyptus, lavender, and tea tree
oil might keep the insects at
bay, but won9t control them
or get rid of them in the long
run.
Here9s the bottom line in
my book about mosquitoes:
Yes, they suck your blood,
and leave you with itchy
bumps and possibly a hor-
rible infection. Mosquito-
borne pathogens include
malaria, West Nile virus,
Zika virus, Chikungunya
virus, and dengue. But
please don9t fantasize about
living in a mosquito-free
world; too many of our fel-
low life forms living, crawl-
ing, swimming and flying
around us cannot live with-
out them.
If you would like free
plans for swallow nesting
boxes and day roost for bats,
send me an email to jimnatu-
ralist@gmail.com.
PHOTO BY JIM ANDERSON
A female mosquito doing what she does best, plundering we humans
for our blood.
Are You
DYEING
To Try Something
Diff erent?
Barn Quilt Painting
With Sheila a
Snyder
Saturday,
August 17
Shibori Indigo
Dyeing Workshop
—With Debbie
Maddy
Thursday -
Saturday,
September 5-7
Bowl Art Workshop
— With Hilde
Morin
Monday-
Wednesday,
September 9-11
Low-Cost Dog & Cat
Vaccination &
Microchip Clinic
Saturday, August 10
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The
Three Sisters:
Raw Edge Applique, Foundation Piecing,
Mark Making - A Magical Trilogy
with Deborah Fell
Monday - Friday,
September 23-27
Questions? Call 541-699-9149.
Hosted by Sisters Feed & Supply
and Sunshine Vet Services
102 E. Main Ave. | 541-549-4151
7
541-5 4 9 - 6061
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