Cows deployed in mosquito plague fight
Gävleborg County Council in northern Sweden has announced that it has recruited 200 cows to graze land where mosquitoes lay their eggs in a bid to deal with the problem which afflicts residents of the Dalälv region every summer.
"We have studied how mosquito larvae are affected by mowing and grazing and found that there were fewer mosquito larvae there," said Ingemar Lindquist at the county council to the local Gefle Dagbladet daily.
Long-suffering residents will have to wait until next year for the latest elixir, which according to one researcher will chew away some 70 percent of the mosquito larvae.
Efforts are taken every year to stem the development of mosquitoes in the lush Dalälven region. Last year the government authorized the bombing of the whole area with pesticide by helicopter.
The use of pesticide has serious environmental consequences however and the bovine solution is the latest in attempts to find more creative approaches to the blood-sucking insect plague.
There is furthermore the risk that if pesticides are deployed too often then the insects will develop a resistance and residents will forever be at their mercy.
To illustrate the problem, when mosquito traps are set in the peak summer period as many as 5,000 insects can be caught in one night alone.
TT/The Local/pvs
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"We have studied how mosquito larvae are affected by mowing and grazing and found that there were fewer mosquito larvae there," said Ingemar Lindquist at the county council to the local Gefle Dagbladet daily.
Long-suffering residents will have to wait until next year for the latest elixir, which according to one researcher will chew away some 70 percent of the mosquito larvae.
Efforts are taken every year to stem the development of mosquitoes in the lush Dalälven region. Last year the government authorized the bombing of the whole area with pesticide by helicopter.
The use of pesticide has serious environmental consequences however and the bovine solution is the latest in attempts to find more creative approaches to the blood-sucking insect plague.
There is furthermore the risk that if pesticides are deployed too often then the insects will develop a resistance and residents will forever be at their mercy.
To illustrate the problem, when mosquito traps are set in the peak summer period as many as 5,000 insects can be caught in one night alone.
TT/The Local/pvs
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