Mosquito control getting started

By Todd Wildermuth
for The Raton Range

The Raton Range/STPNS

April 18, 2008

RATON, New Mexico (STPNS) -- With snow falling Thursday morning, many people may not have been thinking about mosquitoes, but work is already underway in Raton and other parts of Colfax County to try to limit the number of those pesky, itch-causing, potentially disease-carrying insects that will be buzzing around this summer.

This year, the means of battling the blood-sucking bugs is taking a slight shift. Paul Sandoval, president of Roadrunner Pest Control, the Albuquerque-based company contracted by the county to provide mosquito-control services, described his company's efforts as "working towards more mechanical solutions and less chemical."

The mechanical methods remove areas where standing water - mosquitoes' breeding grounds - can collect, things such as drilling holes in the bottom of trash cans at parks, filling in holes in the ground, and cleaning up trash from alleyways and other spots.

Sandoval and his crew are still using the chemical weapons at their disposal, though. A currently ongoing process called "spring flood planting," attempts to attack the mosquito larvae, hopefully poisoning them before they hatch and fly away, a stage at which it is more difficult to control and eliminate the insects, according to Sandoval.

Roadrunner is placing time-release larvacide briquets in potential water-holding areas that are currently dry. When water hits those sites, the larvacide is released, killing the larvae in hopes of reducing the adult mosquito population. "Fogging" - using a chemical sprayer mounted on a truck - "will be a last resort for adult mosquito management," said Sandoval.

Although Colfax County contracts with Roadrunner - for $3,000 a month - the contract calls for the company's services to be provided in the incorporated municipalities of Raton, Springer, Cimarron and Maxwell, as well as the unincorporated community of Miami. The services are also provided in the outlying county areas surrounding those communities and other areas of the county where necessary. The county's contract with Roadrunner runs through Sept. 30, 2009.

Sandoval said that in county areas between the contract-specified municipalities, "we also check on other holding sites," such as under bridges and along roadsides. "These outlying sites are more for giving us an idea of the mosquito population. Some sites are treated, and others are just monitored."

In Raton, Sandoval sees "a mess at the soccer field" as a result of the city having placed tires for erosion control on the adjacent slope.

"There are now multiple mosquito-breeding sites throughout the tires," he said. "These will be more of a problem as the season grows. Treating a site like that is very expensive. The easiest way to control it is to cover the tires with dirt."

Sandoval also asks that citizens help reduce the mosquito population on their own properties. He said people should eliminate anything that holds water, from small coffee cups and flowerpots to yard trash and children's wagons.

© 2008 The Raton Range Raton, New Mexico. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from STPNS.

Search this newspaper's archives at: The Raton Range Archives