Mosquito Dunks...safe?

Mosquitos are out of control here this year. It's my first year in Texas but it has rained much more than normal and we are constantly battling them.

Anyway, are these "Mosuito Dunks" safe for fish? Humans? Wildlife? We live on a lake that is used as a water supply. Any info is appreciated. And any questions I didn't think to ask, well, answer those too. LOL.

Here's what the package says:

Active Ingredient:

Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelensis solids, spores and insecticidal toxins 10.31%

(I see I really hacked up the name in the subject line but I can't see how to edit it. I think I typed it correctly here in the body however. Fixed by moderator.)

Edited by fundulus, 04 March 2010 - 09:06 PM.

Are you talking about adding them directly to the lake, or in waters near the lake? I don't have direct experience with those, but I think they're intended for smallish areas like abandoned pools and such, not lakes. Anyway, if there are fish in the lake it's unlikely the mosquitoes are coming from there.

Agreed. The mosquitos are coming from temporary pools, gutters, tree-holes, that sort of thing. If you have a small pond or water feature, you can certainly add some Bt dunks, but they won't help with the mosquitos coming from other places.

The dunks won't do much in the lake but kill some harmless midge larvae, but you certainly should not be trying to poison insects in public waters.

I'm afraid you're just going to have to learn to live with the skeeters. They are a permanent feature of life in the south.

Very clear that I wasn''t very clear.

I have many large puddles in my yard. I can see the larvae in them. Waiting to hatch and attack. But wondering if it might run off into the lake if I treat the puddles and cause any king of problems since the lake is used as a water source. Please let me know if this makes sense or I need to explain more.

Tough to get time to sit and think out my questions I guess with the baby running around. But let me know if the question makes sense now.

I'd google around a little bit. I did find this one page that likes the mosquito dunks. http://www.care2.com...to-control.html This one might be worth looking at too. http://www.stephentv...n.com/index.htm

You could probably just dunk some dishwashing detergent in there, or hand soap probably depending on how many puddles you have. Or pour in boiling water perhaps? Catch them out and feed them to your fish, they are probably the best fish food in my opinion.

Cheers
Peter