Mosquito Fish to the Rescue!

Years ago when I was in high school and college, I worked as the tropical fish expert at a variety of pet stores. At the time, I had severe allergies to all kinds of critters, so the only pets I could safely have were fish. When I was 12, a neighbor gave me a 10 gallon tank and some guppies and I was off and running with fish.

At one point, I took care of a man's home full of aquariums filled with very unusual fancy guppies. He had hot pink guppies which were rare at the time, but my favorites look like this.

Image from Neeky's topical fish.
Guppies are very close relatives of mosquito fish, those ubiquitous little fellows you see in streams and ponds. Mosquito fish are named because their favorite food are mosquito larvae. They are an excellent alternative to pesticides in eliminating mosquito problems. Here's where they're coming to the rescue of us all.

As homes are foreclosed on, some of them become abandoned. Some of these have swimming pools. In the absence of people, swimming pools become stagnant ponds, the perfect breeding ground for clouds and clouds of mosquitos. Add a few mosquito fish to the mix and the mosquitos become nothing but lunch. And breakfast. And dinner. Yum yum yum!

Dig this article from today's WSJ and this attendant video.