We don’t use aerial spraying, which can cause harm to other insects.
We only use a bacteria that’s put in standing water which only harms mosquitos in their larval form (or biting black flies) and is totally safe for pretty much everything else since it needs very specific biological conditions for it to become toxic, which is only found in the stomachs of mosquitos and black flies.
Depends on the location. Mosquito control is done all over, but I’m only somewhat familiar with north america.
It’s pretty widespread in the United States where it’s done by government employees at the municipal and county level I believe. They do use a fair bit of aerial spraying in certain areas though as I understand since there is a high concern of certain diseases being spread in certain areas.
In Canada it’s mostly done by private companies (ironic I know) with a few areas being done by the government, and it’s mostly done just because of nuisance and negative economic effects from outdoor workers and tourism so aerial spraying of chemicals is pretty much not done at all except for one major city which is phasing it out.
If you live anywhere in north America that’s nearby a river, coast, swampland, or significant snowmelt into he spring, you may have a local mosquito control program.
I never even knew the control programs existed until I came across the job postings and got hired, but they are fairly wide spread.
If you average it out over the year it’s probably a few million per day.
(I work in mosquito control)
Sad question… In killing mosquitos, are you also killing other insects?
We don’t use aerial spraying, which can cause harm to other insects.
We only use a bacteria that’s put in standing water which only harms mosquitos in their larval form (or biting black flies) and is totally safe for pretty much everything else since it needs very specific biological conditions for it to become toxic, which is only found in the stomachs of mosquitos and black flies.
That’s super interesting. How common is the profession? Could we thank you guys for the relatively mosquito free summers?
Depends on the location. Mosquito control is done all over, but I’m only somewhat familiar with north america.
It’s pretty widespread in the United States where it’s done by government employees at the municipal and county level I believe. They do use a fair bit of aerial spraying in certain areas though as I understand since there is a high concern of certain diseases being spread in certain areas.
In Canada it’s mostly done by private companies (ironic I know) with a few areas being done by the government, and it’s mostly done just because of nuisance and negative economic effects from outdoor workers and tourism so aerial spraying of chemicals is pretty much not done at all except for one major city which is phasing it out.
If you live anywhere in north America that’s nearby a river, coast, swampland, or significant snowmelt into he spring, you may have a local mosquito control program.
I never even knew the control programs existed until I came across the job postings and got hired, but they are fairly wide spread.
You and your work are amazing :)
I can’t even imagine the sheer satisfaction that comes from eradicating millions of mosquitoes per day.