One of the great problems that is affecting foreclosures in Arizona, California, and Florida is what happens to the pools after the homeowners leave. These pools turn into a breeding ground for mosquitos that have the potential to carry disease and make neighborhoods unsafe for all who live there.

Enter the mosquito fish, or it’s technical term, Gambusia affinis. The fish is perfect to be dropped in these pools and then eat the larvae and juvenile mosquitos before they can develop into a nuisance. Town officials can put them into an abandoned pool and these wonderful creatures will do the rest saving the cities from spraying pesticides in these neighborhoods. 

How cool is that.

The mosquito fish is well suited for a prolonged housing slump. Hardy creatures with big appetites, they can survive in oxygen-depleted swimming pools for many months, eating up to 500 larvae a day and giving birth to 60 fry a month. That can save environmental crews from having to repeatedly spray pesticides in the pools while the houses grind through the foreclosure process.
Some local agencies, increasingly worried about mosquito-borne diseases like the West Nile Virus, are taking to the air to find problem swimming pools. The Turlock Abatement District, near Modesto, Calif., last month hired a plane to fly over 55 square miles, snapping pictures of pools from about 5,000 feet. On the ground, mosquito-control crews cross-referenced properties that had greenish-brown pools with a street map and a database of local foreclosed homes.
A significant threat to public health can be resolved through the use of a biological intervention. Learn more about the fish that eats mosquito larvae to reduce the threat of the west nile virus. WSJ’s Michael Corkery reports. (May
In the Turlock district alone, about 475 stagnant pools were identified on the flyover. Many of those will be filled with mosquito fish. via WSJ.com.

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