A Well-Built Phoenix Pond is Cure for West Nile Virus  Most biologists agree that a well-built backyard pond, stocked with fish, is the cure for the West Nile Virus. As a matter of fact, a common lawn uses more water and requires much more maintenance effort than an average backyard pond, and generally adds chemical compounds to the ground water and pollution to the air – not to mention the noise pollution to the neighbors from mowing & blowing. For a landscape feature which provides nothing beneficial to native wildlife (unless you consider pigeons and grackles to be desirable wildlife), many, if not most, lawns regularly hold enough standing water to breed thousands of mosquitoes. Well, that's not good! Fish Devour Mosquitoes  We live next to a modern water garden (backyard pond) full of hungry fish, and any mosquito who would dare to visit is immediately eaten in a piranha-like feeding frenzy. The same holds true for midge flies and most other small flying insects. In fact, just to reach the water, an insect must dodge a gauntlet of dragon flies, damsel flies, and fly-eating birds, frogs, toads, and lizards! Mosquitoes will generally only lay their eggs in still, stagnant water, such as an empty bucket or an upside down Frisbee left out after a recent rain, or even a pond with no circulation or hungry fish. If the mosquitoes lay their eggs in your well-built backyard pond and the mosquito larvae hatch, the fish in your backyard pond will consider them a treat and pick them off the water's surface with great gusto. Phoenix Ecosystem Ponds Feed the Good Guys  In addition to being terrific integrated pest management, time spent in our garden is time spent being entertained by Mother Nature’s army of bug-eating creatures, who are all here for the same reason: a healthy, organic water source! Sustainability of a clean, healthy, backyard pond is a function of construction material, technology, and proper installation techniques. If you already have a pond and need some mosquito-hungry fish, Maricopa County Vector Control will give them to you for FREE.
If you’re interested in what else you can do protect your property from mosquitos, see tips given by Maricopa County Vector Control. If you need a well-built backyard pond, call us today! 623-572-5607. You can check out our work in person any time you'd like. Comments are closed.
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