A writer suggested (Saturday, "Cheers and Jeers") that cities build purple martin houses to control mosquitoes.
I can see the appeal of using natural predators to combat mosquitoes, but the martin is not one.According to the website purplemartin.org, extremely few mosquitoes have been found in the stomachs of dead purple martins. Martins prefer larger insects. Martins and mosquitoes are not active at the same time of day, and the two animals fly at different altitudes.Previous attempts to introduce predators to an ecosystem often have gone awry when the new predators, with no local animals preying on them, soon become a problem in themselves. Over millions of years, nature has done a pretty good job of keeping the predator-prey equation in balance. Be careful what you ask for!-- Cliff Sees, EulessHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
