MOSQUITO JOE

            Have you heard about the explosion of growth in the mosquito extermination business?  An outfit named Mosquito Joe, only 10 years old, now has 173 franchisees in 39 states.  That’s phenomenal growth.  And that’s just one company among many others.

            One of the most common comments from visitors to our farm—the ones who are here after dark especially—is “why don’t you have any mosquitos?”  When asked, I point up in the sky and guide their gaze to the bats flying everywhere.

            Our many ponds grow large quantities of cattails, the number one attractant and habitat for red winged blackbirds.  Our several open sheds contain countless barn swallow nests.  These prodigious insect eating birds are truly the best acrobats in the sky.

            Folks, it’s all about habitat.  Few habitats are as anti-ecological as sterile conventional suburban and urban spaces.  Just last week I spent a day with a professional lawn care business owner.  We chatted about lawn care and various control methods for weeds.  Bless his heart, he’s found all sorts of less toxic procedures for weeds.

            In a moment of searching, I asked him “what are your most common weeds?”  His answer made me almost fall out of the car: “Clover.”   As a pastured livestock farmer, do you know how much I covet clover?  It’s the queen of forages, favorite of all domestic livestock, including chickens.  It’s a legume that fixes nitrogen.  In that moment, I realized how different a planet I lived on versus the conventional lawn owner.

            Folks, when you hate clover, the mosquitos attack.  This is the law of nature.  It’s foundational physically, mentally, and spiritually.  The mentality that destroys clover is the same one that destroys habitat for everything that keeps nature in balance.

            In the news article introducing me to Mosquito Joe, it noted that in the last few decades America’s bird drop-off is about 3 billion.  Most notable in that number are Whipporwills, Red Winged Blackbirds, and Barn Swallows.  These are the number one mosquito deterrents.  But they can’t live in cloverless ecosystems.  They need nesting sites, roosting sites, and cover.  They need diversity like outbuildings, ponds, and some unkemptness. 

            The real answer to mosquitos is not millions of pounds of insecticide, but millions of weeds, ponds, and trees (including some hollow ones for bats).  I wonder how many of these Mosquito Joe subscribers (they spray every 3-4 weeks) consider themselves greenies?  Or go to McDonald’s?  Or cart their kids an hour away to soccer tournaments? 

            Do you enjoy clover in your lawn?