West Nile spraying in California

[koinut]

Hi All,

I was with friends the other day and this was a concern that was talked about. Just wanted to know what people are doing in preventing the spraying of pesticides to enter the pond. I'm sure there are a lot of hobbyists out there who would like to know what preventions are being done to ensure the health of our living jewels.

Rob

[Steve Nguyen]

Hi Rob,

thank you for bringing this up. it's a concern and worst I didn't even think about it but luckily that they have not spray in my neightborhood yet.

San Jose has been spray a few times on areas where vest nile virus was detected. I saw on the news that spraying was done from trucks. not sure if there is any aerial spray e.g. helicopter. I guess pond owners can cover their pond on the spraying nights.

Steve

[koinut]

Hi Steve,

I suppose, the ones that have large surface areas are the ones that would have a hard time covering there ponds. I'm sure that suggestions would be very helpful for people with, let's say a 20x20 or larger pond complete with waterfalls, streams etc.

Also, how does one safeguard the removal of the spray laden covers from getting some of the pesticide back into the pond. Would PP be a safe bet to try and remove any pesticide that breaches the covers and into the pond? Or............

Rob

[Steve Nguyen]

hi Rob,

I would recommend using a long string/rope and run criss cross the pond, then put the poly tarp on top to cover the entire surface of the pond. you can get 20x20 poly tarp from OSH or HomeDepot. I believe costco also carry them in twin pack.

Steve

[kingkong]

Pyrethrins seem to be the choosen insecticide for mosquito control. Produced from chrysanthemum plants, it acts as a nerve agent. The good news is that it is inactivated and decomposes when exposed to light and air fairly fast. The bad news, while being low in toxicity to humans and other mammals, Pyrethrins are highly toxic to fish. They affect their skin touch receptors (?) and balance organs.

OK, millions of touch receptors or tangoreceptors are found in epidermis and dermis of fish. These structures are sensative to Pyrethrins.

[redhead16]

Would pesticide posioning make one of the pectoral fins be clamped real tight and not the other? I know of a pond where they have lost two fish and three more have one clamped pectoral fin. This is a well established pond with no new fish. No parasites,no marks of any kind on the dead fish.Neighbor had sprayed.