Manitoba’s two largest urban centres are gearing up to begin fogging operations for nuisance mosquitoes, but Dauphin residents will have to deal with the pervasive pests on their own as the City of Dauphin has opted against fogging as a control measure at this time.
“The City of Dauphin is not in a position at this time to fog our community in an effort to kill adult nuisance mosquitoes,” mayor Christian Laughland said, adding there is a lot of preparation for such an operation and its effectiveness is dependent on many factors, such as rain, temperature, the creation of buffer zones for residents who do not want their property fogged and time of day fogging occurs.
“Number one is we don’t have the equipment to do it, so we would have to hire someone to come in and do it, and we’d be looking at a significant charge in the tens of thousands of dollars. Cities like Brandon, they have their own pest control unit and we don’t have that here,” Laughland said.
Laughland added the City is currently exploring all aspects of fogging, from the costs of renting and buying equipment to proper procedures and planning fogging areas.
“Do we stop at the city lines, or do we start going outside into the RM because of the possibility of a 40 kilometer an hour wind blowing mosquitoes back in?” he said. “There’s been reports of places mosquito fogging and the mosquitoes coming back within three days. But then it’s been good and worked up to 14 days, too. So if we had to hire someone to come in and do it, would they be coming in every two weeks? Would they be coming in every week to do it? If we’re paying them that adds up pretty quick. So they’re investigating the cost of equipment and everything to do with mosquito fogging and just improving things down the road.”
Laughland said the situation is continually being monitored and fogging could be triggered by the right set of circumstances, specifically the appearance of the West Nile Virus. Should that occur, he said fogging efforts would be supported financially by the province.
One of the problems, he added, is that the province removed its mosquito traps from Dauphin a number of years ago meaning the City has to rely on data from other communities. For now, the City will continue with its annual larviciding efforts in an attempt to impact the appearance of adult mosquitoes by striking them in their larval stage.
“It’s going to be pushed to its maximum capabilities. As long as the staff at DRS are able to do it, they’ll be doing it to its maximum capacity possible to slow down and help drop the mosquito population,” Laughland said. “Again, they’re looking into research on how often can they do it. If they can do it say once a week they’ll do it once a week.”
There are also ways city residents can help with the effort by eliminating problem areas on their property. One of the most effective measures is to control standing water by changing the water in pet bowls, bird baths, wading pools and vases at least once a week. Ensure that rain barrels are covered with a fine screen and tightly sealed around the downspout and clean your yard of old tires, empty flower pots and buckets and empty standing water from children’s toys, eavestroughs, tarp covers and plant trays.
“Keeping your grass mowed is kind of a significant one,” Laughland said.
The City appreciates residents’ frustration, Laughland said, and hopes everyone can work together to reduce nuisance mosquitoes around the community.
“We were due to have a bad year for mosquitoes. The last two years mosquitoes have barely been noticeable it was only a matter of time before the mosquito population exploded. Hopefully this year is just a one-off,” he said.
