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Eliminate Mosquitoes in Your Backyard
Mosquitoes are an all too familiar summer nuisance. They are not only annoying, but they present potential health hazards as transmitters of diseases. Eliminating mosquito habitats around your home can go a long way to reduce the mosquito population.
Mosquitoes require standing water for their young to hatch and develop. Once eggs are laid, a new crop of mosquitoes can hatch, grow and emerge from the water as adults in as little as one week.
It doesn not take much water for mosquitoes to hatch and grow. The mosquitoes that carry La Crosse Encephalitis actually prefer to lay their eggs in small containers and crevices that hold only a cup or two of water.
Many mosquitoes stay very close to their juvenile habitat when they emerge as adults, and the females look for hosts to bite nearby. Eliminating mosquito habitats around your home can prevent bites, reduce your risk of disease and make your summer evenings more enjoyable.
Here is a checklist of common and easily overlooked mosquito habitats around the home:
- Pools and hot tubs (keep clean and chlorinated or drain DRY)
- Rain barrels (screen with fine 1.6mm mesh)
- Empty bottles,
cans, plastic containers or other trash
- Leaky outside faucets that create puddles
- Low areas that form puddles
- Mature trees (can develop cavities that hold water—fill with sand)
- Planters and pots, including saucers and catch trays
- Trash Cans (use tight fitting lids and keep them covered)
- Wading pools (drain and refill, store indoors)
- ANYTHING that has the potential to hold even small amounts
of water
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- Bird baths (drain and refill every four days)
- Boats
- Buckets
- Children’s toys
- Clogged gutters and downspouts
- Pet food and water dishes
- Pool covers
- Tarps
- Tires
- Wheelbarrows
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In addition to eliminating mosquito habitats around your home, you should also protect yourself from mosquito bites.
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