Pueblo tackling mosquito control

Pueblo County wants to get the upper hand on mosquito control, and this time around, crews are using a new tool to get the job done.

Runyon Field is a test location for this new insect killer.

Pueblo County is counting on this blower to be more effective than fogging spray.

“It’s a contact spray. Whatever happens to be in that swath gets affected. But if you’re 200 yards outside the swath, mosquitoes can reinvade a place,” said Chuck Rodosevich with Colorado Mosquito Control.
Colorado Mosquito Control uses a special corn kernel infected with bacteria that targets the larvae only.

“Next to the mosquito larvae are dragonflies, a lot of aquatic wildlife, totally unaffected by that,” Rodosevich said.

Traps are also set to test the effectiveness of the larvicide.

The traps that Colorado Mosquito Control are setting are less than 100 yards away from the baseball fields. Mosquitoes are likely to flock there because of the large amounts of carbon dioxide that players are emitting when they breathe.

Making counting how many mosquitoes are there every day important.

“Usually I’ll set it about 5 o’clock… and I”ll come pick it up the… following morning around 7,” said Dominic Vigil.

Last week, the trap collected almost 1,000 mosquitoes, on Tuesday morning only 45 were collected.

“That’s a significant difference, that’s how effective good treatment can be,” Rodosevich said.

Rodosevich said they’ll monitor the traps daily, and change the amount of larvicide if numbers peak again.

“If they are 200 or above, that’s our threshold, we will go back into an area.”

The larvicide can only do so much to reduce the mosquito population. County Health encourages you to practice the five d’s: at dawn and dusk wear bug spray with DEET, dress in long sleeves and pants, and drain anything with standing water in it.