Saving the Schools
In this version of Pest Management Professional's Mosquito Battles series, Anaheim Union High School District's Rich Kravetz controls the growing mosquito population in Southern California with Final Feed Mosquito Bait. Anaheim, California was hit by more than just a heat wave in the spring of 2019. A new species of mosquito was flying about the city, darkening the normally sunny skies. This mosquito - known as the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) was targeting high population areas with tall trees and thick bushes, such as the Anaheim Union High School District. Rich Kravetz, an integrated pest management (IPM) technician for the school district, knows the importance of protecting schools from Asian tiger mosquitoes, a known carrier of West Nile virus and other illnesses. Kravetz is no newbie to the pest management profession - hit father has owned a pest control business for the last 50 years. Because of his background, Kravetz understands how much of an impact one product can have on the mosquito population. Kravetz began using Catchmasters' Final Feed Mosquito Bait in 2019, and has seen a huge impact across all 22 locations of the Anaheim Union High School District. "We had a cloud of mosquitoes over Orange County and Southern California, so we were just looking for something to help alleviate or lessen the frustration with them," says Kravetz, "We started using it in May, and we are already seeing huge results." Kravetz has tried multiple different tactics to try to lessen the severity of the Asian tiger mosquito population around the schools, but has found that not much works to effectively rid the area of the pest - except for Final Feed. "The product goes right on the shady bushes where the mosquitoes hang out, so the sweet draws them in and the garlic kills them," he explains. The non-toxic formula used in Final Feed makes it ideal to use around children, utilizing natural fruit juices to bait the mosquitoes and garlic to starve them. When paired with Catchmaster's Ovi-Catch Mosquito Trap, Kravetz says, the combination makes for the ideal mosquito solution for schoolyards. Showing results with the product is also easy, according to Kravetz. Every female mosquito killed by Final Feed or caught by Ovi-Catch mosquito trap eliminates up to 1,000 future mosquitoes. The best part of using Final Feed around the schools for Kravetz is being able to communicate with the students, staff and parents that the IPM technicians are doing something that will have results. Kravetz recalls it having the most impact on a special needs school in the district. Kravetz sprayed the property with Final Feed, and saw positive results almost immediately. Final Feed helps to control the mosquitoes, resulting in smaller populations. This allowed the children to spend more time outside with less of a risk to get bites from the daytime-feeding species.
"Anything I can do for them means a lot," Kravetz says, "They're so appreciative. When you get a smile from the kids playing outside - that's real." A little goes a long way with Final Feed, so Kravetz is able to spray more sparingly and still impact the mosquito population at the school. "I can't recommend this enough," Kravetz says of Ovi-Catch, "The buckets are out of sight from the kids and families." Meanwhile, of Final Feed he says, "The smell is nice. It's really a great product to have."