Tadpoles or mosquito larvae?

LAS CRUCES - Kiddie pools, watering troughs for horses and cattle, scrap tires, untended swimming pools in the backyards of unoccupied homes — any standing, stagnant water can become an egg-laying spot for mosquitoes.

“One yard I looked at had kiddie pools for dogs to keep them cool in the summer heat,” said Ken Sholar, Doña Ana County Vector Control supervisor. “Those pools were teeming with mosquito larvae. The owner thought they were tadpoles — not kidding — but we were looking at thousands of mosquito larvae.”

Mosquitoes in southern New Mexico can carry serious viruses. In fact, mosquitoes might be considered flying, breeding, biting machines looking for a blood meal, which enables them to spread disease and lay eggs.

Doña Ana County Vector Control is asking residents to clean their yards and empty standing water once a week. Weekly checks are ideal, as it takes 7 to 10 days for mosquitoes to go from egg to adult. Perfect spots for mosquitoes to hatch include in illegally dumped trash, birdbaths, food and drink containers, broken appliances, potted plants and trivets, animal drinking pans, pails — anywhere rainwater can collect. Check your own yard and dump squirming mosquito larvae onto the ground.

Sholar notes an often overlooked spot is drip buckets catching water from swamp coolers. “Those buckets test positive for mosquito larvae all over the county,” he said. Residents often don’t think to empty drip buckets when they check for standing water in their yard.

A mosquito doesn’t have to bite an infected person to spread disease, Sholar said. “The larvae can hatch out of the egg already carrying West Nile Virus, just one of the diseases they can spread to people and animals.”

Sholar, who participated in the first Zero Zika Regional Conference held in El Paso in May, sings the praises of the community of Anthony, New Mexico, noting overwhelming citizen support last year after the city requested that residents clean around their homes. “Scrap tires in alleys — gone!” Sholar said. “It’s the most participation I have ever seen in any community in my 30-year career.”

As the July/August rainy season approaches, it’s important that residents understand their own backyard may be the source of disease-carrying mosquitoes.

For information, you can reach DAC Vector Control at 575-526-8150.

Green Connections is submitted by the South Central Solid Waste Authority, a founding partner of the Illegal Dumping Partnership. IDP Partners — including DAC Vector Control — fight illegal dumping throughout Doña Ana County. You can reach the SCSWA at 575-528-3800 or visit www.SCSWA.net.