tame AU aU BaOuNme Tiley 1s Heel IN 7 
insects. No one knows how much harm is done to soil organisms which 
are essential for the maintenance of the nitrogen cycle upon which our 
lives depend. 
By killing much of the food of insect-eating birds, the very birds, which 
are such an important biological control for insects, fogging influences them 
to go elsewhere. By the same token, larvacides eliminate food for fish, 
amphibians and warm-blooded animals. Mosquitoes are able to develop 
resistance to insecticides. This might mean that in a true emergency, there 
would be nothing that would kill them. 
Illinois Audubon Society believes the only true solution is attention 
to the breeding places of mosquitoes. Mosquito Abatement Districts have 
apparently done very little to educate the public. Continuous community 
sanitation is necessary to get rid of small stagnant water areas by drainage, 
filling or impoundment. All such receptacles as tin cans and old tires must 
be removed. Since mosquito larvae can hatch in a week, bird baths should 
be emptied and cleaned frequently. All clogged gutters should be cleaned, 
furnace humidifiers checked, cess pools sealed. Garden pools should be 
stocked with gold fish or gambusia, and heavy marginal growth should 
be thinned. 
Open ponds and running water are not breeding grounds, but shallow 
vegetative margins may be. However, the elimination of too much vege- 
tation is not conducive to a waterfowl population. 
Permanent lakes, ponds and sloughs normally contain enough fish and 
predatory insects to eliminate most mosquito larvae. Shallow, semi-perma- 
nent marshes can be breeding places of great magnitude. They can be 
made into permanent marshes (called wildlife “oases”) with a central pool 
and stocked with fish. This has been done in the Cook County Forest 
Preserve District. 
Examples of wildlife that enjoy such areas are ducks, songbirds, ra- 
coons, mink and muskrats. Wetlands not only support wildlife but they 
help to maintain adequate water supplies and moisture of the soil, and are 
reservoirs to lessen flood damage. 
Open ditching is often detrimental to wildlife if it causes ponds to dry 
up and changes vegetation. Controlled ditching involves the use of gates 
in ditches to prevent. excessive lowering of the water. The water is thus 
retained for wildlife and does not breed mosquitoes 
The Society does noi believe that the total elimination of mosquitoes, 
were it possible, would be desirable, since they are part of the natural 
balance and furnish food for many forms of wildlife. In addition, if their 
ecological niche were emptied, some other organism would take it over: 
Nature does not allow empty niches. Also, other niches would be emptied 
by the non-selective insecticides. What appears in these empty niches might 
be even worse. 
We believe in keeping as much diversity in the biotic community as 
possible, for it has been proved that the more diversity and complexity in 
the community, the more stable it is and the less given to outbreaks of 
pests. Dr. Robert L. Rudd, author of “Pesticides and the Living Land- 
scape,” states, “If at any point the numbers of a single species are caused 
to change, the intimacy of the internal relations within a biotic community 
insures that other members will change.” Chemical pesticides 'work 
against diversity in an area, making it more unstable and more given to 
outbreaks of pests. 
