CTV Prince Albert
Black Flies are a pesky people problem at
this time of year. Their bites result in itchy and swollen sores for days. The
larvae are only found in moving water, making rivers the perfect place to
breed. Saskatchewan Agriculture sponsors a program that tracks the larvae and
uses a bacterial pesticide to kill them before they can turn into adult flies.
The program coordinator for the Black Fly Control Program, Shawn Meckelborg
says the bacterial pesticide seems to be doing the trick so far.
"Generally, we can see about an 80
percent reduction in the larvae number for each treatment when we have good
success with it. There is always going to be some black flies but when they're
down to that number, we can work with it."
Meckelborg says the goal of the Black Fly Control
program is to take care of the black fly larvae in Saskatchewan's river systems
before they become an even bigger problem. The insects can cause major
headaches for live stock too. "They can cause a lot of damage to
livestock. The harassment has caused millions of dollars in damage in years
past" says Meckelborg.
Regional Livestock Specialist, Jessica
Podhordesky, says the livestock end up bunching together to avoid the flies and
become uncomfortable. The flies can also force the livestock to stampede. In
some cases, they stop feeding, lose weight and if the problem is great enough
they can die.
"The harassment has caused millions of
dollars in damage in years past."
Meckelborg says they have treated all of the
river systems in the province at least once this year and plan to do so again
in July.
Original Article Here
No comments:
Post a Comment