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Highlands Today

Extension Office To Offer Free Mosquito Traps

Kathy Waters/Highlands Today

Dee Dee Jacobson with the highlands County Extension Office shows Bacillus Thurigiensis, also known as BT, while kills mosquito larvae. The office has 100 packets of BT to give to homeowners with mosquito problems.

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: September 5, 2008

SEBRING - In response to numerous calls for help in dealing with mosquitoes, the Highlands County Extension Office will begin giving out free briquettes of a bacteria that kills mosquitoes in the water in their larval stage, before they can grow into adults and fly.

The give-away starts Monday when the extension office opens at 9 a.m.

It also could end before the office closes at 5 p.m. Monday, as the agency has 100 BT briquettes to give out.

"This is a short-term, emergency response to a long term problem that John Alleyne (extension office director) and others are looking into," said Dee Dee Jacobson, the environmental horticulture extension agent.

Alleyne was in a meeting Wednesday with other county officials who heard a presentation by a University of Florida professor who does research in mosquito control. Others at the meeting, chaired by Community Services Division Director June Fisher, include Vicki Pontius, director of parks and recreation, and Steve "Plunkett" Coltharp, director of EMS.

Alleyne said the group will talk further, meet with other experts, and make a recommendation on mosquito control to the county commissioners in the near future.

Meanwhile, since any large-scale or long-term mosquito control action by the county will take time, the extension office is doing two things to help people suffering from hordes of mosquitoes right now in the wake of Tropical Storm Fay's heavy rainfalls.

First, the agency is giving away the BT briquettes, which kill mosquito larvae in standing water. While just 100 briquettes will be handed out free, the extension agents are educating people about this product, which can be bought in some local stores.

And second, Alleyne is giving a list of important DOs and DON'Ts for parents and children for protection against mosquito bites.

BT stands for Bacillus Thurrigensis. Jacobson said it's a bacteria that is safe to use. Each briquette kills mosquito larva in a pool of standing water up to 100 square feet, and stays effective for up to 30 days.

"It's a bacteria that prevents the larvae of mosquitoes from developing into adults," Jacobson said. "It's safe, it's not chemically based, and we're giving it away because a mosquito problem is here in the county right now."

Along with each BT briquette, the extension office will give a fact sheet with information about mosquitoes and this product and instructions on using it.

The product is effective for a person's yard, but it can't be a large-scale solution to a large-scale mosquito infestation throughout the county following tropical storms, Alleyne said.

"That's why we're also telling people how they can protect themselves from mosquitoes," he said.

The group of county officials looking for a recommendation on a mosquito control program is compiling facts, cost estimates, and the pros and cons of various mosquito control methods, including ground and aerial spraying of insecticides.

Another potential response is stocking mosquito fish into ponds and small lakes and even abandoned swimming pools, Alleyne said.

"That's one thing we're looking at closely," Alleyne said about the small fish which look similar to, and are about the same size as, female guppies. "It's a great method of biological control.

"One of the things we've heard," he added, "is that you need to monitor their breeding rate, because they can be very prolific. So, we know this works, but the long-term effect is something we need to research."

Alleyne said one thing that will have to be done is surveillance of mosquitoes throughout the county, by catching them in traps, to determine what types of mosquitoes are here and in what approximate numbers.

There are generally five to 10 types of mosquitoes in Highlands County, Alleyne said. But, he said, other species from marshes in surrounding counties, as well as salt water mosquitoes blown in from both coasts, can show up and breed here.

"Fortunately," he said, "what we're seeing so far are the nuisance types."

Other types of mosquitoes can carry West Nile Virus, encephalitis in both humans and animals, and other serious diseases, he said. County officials need to know if those potentially dangerous types of mosquitoes show up in the aftermath of tropical storms.

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

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