Waterers May Be A Breeding Ground For Mosquitoes
EPHRATA (Lancaster Co.)
Since the outbreak of West
Nile Virus (WNV) in 1999
there have been over 15,000
confirmed cases of horses in
fected with WNV in the Unit
ed States and Canada. Health
officials have been warning
people to remove standing
water so the mosquitoes will
not be able to reproduce. One
possible source is the large
open stock tanks that live
stock, including horses, drink
from.
Large stock tanks in the
pasture are the perfect breed
ing ground for mosquitoes.
Many of these tanks are filled
automatically with an attach
ed float and valve so that even
though horses are drinking
out of the tank, the water is
never completely drained thus
allowing for the “egg to
hatch” cycle of a mosquito to
be completed.
Birds are attracted to these
tanks as well; if they are in
fected, they can pass the
WNV to mosquitoes where
they breed.
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Studies have shown that
when the surface of the water
is disturbed the larvae of the
mosquito will swim to the bot
tom of the water tank. So even
though a horse may be drink
ing, the mosquito larvae will
not be removed from the tank
at that time. And in a large
tank of water, the agitation of
the water created from the au
tomatic valve is not enough to
disturb or remove the larvae.
It is being recommended
that these large open tanks be
drained and cleaned every
third day to break the “egg to
hatch” cycle of the mosquito.
This can be cumbersome, time
consuming, and a waste of
water. However, there are
some good alternatives to
large open stock tanks that
will greatly reduce to elimi
nate mosquito breeding in
your horse’s source of water.
The first choice is an auto
matic waterer where the sur
face of the water is completely
covered at all times so the
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mosquitoes cannot lay their
eggs. These waterers have a
ball or elliptical float that the
horse pushes down to get to
the water. The elliptical float
tends to work much better for
horses since they are designed
to take little pressure to move,
only has to be moved a small
distance, and does not jump
back at the horse as the ball
does.
These waterers are made of
tough polyethyleen plastic
that can withstand a lot of
abuse and because of the slick
surface are very easy to clean.
They tend to be well insulated
and in most cases when in
stalled to the manufacturer’s
recommendations, will work
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throughout the winter without
any other source of heat.
In the summer they will
keep the water cooler and re
duce or eliminate any algae
growth that is typically seen in
the large open stock tanks.
When looking at this type
of automatic waterer remem
ber, you get what you pay for.
There are some cheap wa
terers of this type on the mar
ket that tend to be poorly con
structed, have little insulation,
and are not sealed so the insu
lation becomes saturated with
water and loses it’s insulation
properties. Also, the plastic
tends to be thin and will not
stand up to this type of envi
ronment.
The better automatic water-
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ers of this type are more ex
pensive than an open stock
tank, but in comparison to a
lost horse, it is a good invest
ment.
The second alternative is to
install an open surface, auto
matic waterer that has very
shallow water and a quick fill
valve. In this case the shallow
er the better as long as the
valve can replenish the water
quickly. These waterers will
hold as little as two gallons at
a time and can water up to 40
horses.
They are constructed out of
plastic, stainless steel, or a
combination of both. They are
easy to clean and because of
the shallow water and the agi
tation caused by the high fill
valve; it is difficult for the
mosquitoes to use this as a
breeding area.