Of Bloodsuckers and Water

No, that is not a religious reference, although those inclined to pray may want to go ahead:

Mosquitoes- those little annoying buzzing, biting, disease carrying building blocks of our food chain have found a new ally- 

Conservationists.

It seems that every well-meaning conservationist and struggling home gardener out there these days has a rain barrel sitting at the base of a downspout on their home.  

The road to hell is paved with good intentions- again, not a religious reference!

Those rain barrels have made a prefect little brooding spot for mosquitoes, and with thousands of new accessible pools of water being set up all around us every year, mosquito populations are growing and spreading, and along with them, the diseases they carry.

There are lots of products out there designed to keep mosquitoes out, from fancy trap systems to mesh screens, but they all have one thing in common- they have to be maintained in order to work properly.  If you took a poll of everyone you knew who has a rain barrel (a bunch, I'm sure), how many of them would tell you that they regularly inspect these systems?

That's what I meant about good intentions.

This is such a big problem now in drought-plagued Australia, where mosquitoes carry dengue fever, that stories have recently been published in the journal Functional Ecology and Scientific American recently published a 60-Second Science podcast on the subject.  

As no one can or should attempt to enforce a barrel maintenance mandate,  and water restrictions are likely here to stay- I guess we're left with only one option- insect repellent.