Quote of the Day

"Yep, we've got pupae"

Invest in repellant now, folks. Do not expect the cute little fishies to save you.

Fortunately, Sackett has found allies in his battle against mosquitoes. Volunteers with Operation Blessing, a faith-based nonprofit agency that has established a headquarters in Slidell, accompanied him on his rounds. Allies of another sort swam in a water-filled plastic bag hanging from his right hand: the mosquitofish.

The slender guppylike fish are the most effective biological mosquito control agents on Earth. Each minnow -- they run between an inch or two in length -- can gobble as many 100 mosquito larvae a day.

Gambusia affinis has been used to control mosquito populations since the late 1930s. The fish are native to Louisiana waters and generally require no feeding and little care. As surface-breathing fish, they are able to survive in polluted waters with low levels of dissolved oxygen and wide ranges of temperatures. Their primary food source is mosquito larvae, and they are voracious predators. If no mosquito larvae are present, they can live off algae. What's more, they are prolific breeders, bearing 50 to 100 young per brood.

"They have been one of the most effective, noninsecticidal and nonchemical methods of controlling mosquitoes," said Dan Suttle, the owner-operator of Suttle Fish Farm in Laurel, Miss., which supplies the fish for transplantation. "Normally, we think of fish as food. But these fish save lives."

Until they turn on their masters and go on an unstoppable bloodthirsty rampage! You laugh but don't say I didn't warn you.