The Most Effective Mosquito Control Strategy 

You should never take mosquitoes lightly. While many pests are capable of decimating crops, and some specialize in giving us a good scare, mosquitoes present a more serious threat.

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), “mosquitoes cause millions of deaths every year.” That may seem a bit surprising, but it becomes less so once you consider how effectively these insects spread diseases.  

Mosquitoes are known carriers of the dengue virus as well as the disease called malaria. A mosquito bite may be something you can shrug off the moment it happens, but if you’re unlucky, it could turn out to be the start of something more serious.

It’s in the best interest of every homeowner to protect their properties against mosquitoes, and we at Romex Pest Control can help with that.

There are different ways to keep your property safe from mosquitoes, including ones you can handle on your own and others that we can handle.

Before examining those methods, though, it’s worth taking the time to learn more about the breeding habits of mosquitoes. By understanding their habits, dealing with them can become an easier task.

Understanding How Mosquitoes Grow in Numbers

Every now and then, a stray mosquito may fly into your home and become a nuisance for a short while. Once you swat them or they fly away, though, that’s usually the end of your mosquito-related troubles.

Things aren’t always that easy, however.

If a mosquito decides to lay eggs on your property, you could end up having all kinds of issues related to those insects. After surveying your property, you may not think that it looks like an environment conducive to breeding mosquitoes, but the reality is those insects are only looking for a few things.

First off, female mosquitoes are looking for water, but they don’t need a lot of it to start breeding. According to this article from Popular Mechanics, female mosquitoes can hatch their eggs in half an inch of water.

Mosquitoes prefer to lay their eggs in stagnant water. It doesn’t matter if the water is clean or dirty, a mosquito can use it.

Once they lay the eggs, it only takes a short amount of time before they grow into adult mosquitoes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), mosquitoes can progress from the egg to the adult stage in as little as eight days.

Upon reaching adulthood, you can expect those mosquitoes to start coming after you.

Steps You Can Take to Protect Your Home from Mosquitoes

Homeowners can take an active role in keeping their homes safe from the threat of disease-carrying mosquitoes. Included below are some of the things you can do to discourage mosquitoes from breeding near your property and keeping yourself safe from their potentially harmful bites.

Remove Any Potential Breeding Spot for Mosquitoes

Remember that the most important thing mosquitoes need to start breeding is water. With that in mind, you need to get rid of anything on your property that is playing host to stagnant water. You can do that by either discarding the water or sealing the container so that mosquitoes cannot enter it.

Look around your yard and see if there are any buckets or pots for plants that are no longer in use. Chances are they are holding a small amount of water, so dump the liquid out and put the containers away. 

Drinking bowls for pets, drums, and septic tanks are examples of containers we purposefully put water in that may also serve as breeding locations for mosquitoes. You can seal the drums and septic tanks properly while regularly changing the water in your pet’s bowl.

It would also be wise to clean your gutters regularly as some rainwater may have pooled inside them.

Basically, anything that can hold even a small amount of water must be either cleaned regularly or discarded to prevent the spread of mosquitoes.

Install Screen Doors and Windows

Summertime can get hot, especially if you live in Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, or about any other southern state. During that time of the year, many homeowners try to cool down by keeping their doors and windows open.

Opening doors and windows to combat the summer heat is understandable, but that does come with some amount of risk. By opening your home up like that, you are giving mosquitoes easy access to your body, and they may land more than a few bites.

If you want to open your home while keeping mosquitoes at bay, you can install screen doors and windows. Screen doors and windows will allow the air to circulate around your room while keeping mosquitoes out.

Apply Insect Repellent

You will need to move around your yard while you’re cleaning up or installing your screen doors and windows. That’s a time when you can be vulnerable to mosquito bites.

Before heading out, you should apply insect repellent to keep yourself safe from mosquitoes. Good Housekeeping suggests using insect repellents that feature the ingredient known as DEET. That ingredient is effective against insects, and it is also safe to use. 

To protect your body even further, you can also wear additional clothing that will conceal your skin. You may be uncomfortable working while wearing so much but doing so will keep the mosquitoes away.

How Professionals Can Help

The steps listed above should grant you greater protection against mosquitoes, but they are still temporary measures. Some homeowners want greater, longer-lasting protection. That is where we at Romex Pest Control can step in.

By calling on us to periodically provide mist treatment, it will significantly reduce the number of mosquitoes flying around your property. You will want your property treated around five to six times per year to keep it well protected and we will be ready to answer the call each time.

Conclusion

There is no way to completely remove all mosquitoes from your property, but you can do things to significantly reduce their numbers. Please follow the tips mentioned in this article if you want to keep you and your family safe from dangerous mosquitoes.

For longer-lasting protection, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at Romex Pest Control.