The ethical conundrum of pest control

People who know I am from Winnipeg cannot believe when I complain about the savage mosquitoes here in Merritt.

But youre from Winnipeg! they exclaim. The mosquitoes are the size of pelicans there!

Theyre bad there, sure, but man, theyre bad here too.

In the last few years, there has been a big push back against the City of Winnipeg fogging different neighbourhoods because people fear they are being exposed to toxic chemicals.

If it kills mosquitoes, they reason, its probably not all that great for humans to be breathing in.

Well, I am actually kind of glad Merritt doesnt seem to be dealing with the blood-sucking, buzzing nuisances the way Winnipeg does, because that city sure has some how shall I put it unique pest control methods.

Lets start with the gopher, those cute little rodents also known as the Richardsons ground squirrel, who tunnel underground and dot the landscape with gopher holes that are just the right size and depth to trip up unwitting walkers.

Winnipegs administration hired a pest control company to drop poison pellets down the gopher holes so the little guys eat them and then slowly bleed to death internally.

Painful way to die though it seems, it would work if the pellets had actually made it into the holes.

Instead, they were kind of strewn across the ground of at least one city park, which also happens to have a large off-leash dog area.

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The ethical conundrum of pest control