“If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a room with a mosquito.” – HH Dalai Lama
Mosquitoes are small insects found everywhere in the world except the very extreme North and South Poles. They are flying insects that are often described as the most annoying and dangerous creatures on the planet.
Mosquitoes carry disease. From the West Nile Virus to malaria, most mosquitoes are the most prolific spreaders of disease in the world.
Fortunately, there are some very simple things that you can do reduce the number of mosquitoes in your world. Follow these simple guidelines and your mosquito problems will nearly disappear.
Standing water is the mosquito’s ideal habitat. Mosquitoes lay hundreds of eggs at once in standing water and their gestation period is about 7 days. That means that in about a week after water collects, there will likely be mosquitoes.
Here are some of the most common sources of standing water:
- Bird baths – Keep them clean and change the water at least once a week.
- Old tires – Those old tires on land are mosquito condos. Drain them and throw them away.
- Clogged gutters – Gutters that hold water become little mosquito nurseries.
- Low spots – Low land that holds water can become mosquito ponds. Fill in the land to keep puddles from forming.
- Flower pots – There might be flower pots around without flowers. Flip them over or get rid of them.
- Kids toys – Sometimes the kids will leave toys in the yard for weeks. As soon as water sits in them, so will mosquitos.
If you insist on water features for your tranquil garden, get a fountain. Mosquitoes can’t lay eggs in moving water. Fish ponds are great too. Fish and frogs love the taste of a little mosquito or their larvae.
Bats are the mosquito’s worst enemy. A bat can eat 600 to 1000 mosquitoes an hour. A few bat houses around your property will keep the mosquito population down. Don’t worry about the bats being a nuisance, you don’t look anything like a mosquito in their sonar.
Mosquito spraying with products you can find locally tends to be ineffective. Partially because it is hard to find them in their natural habitat and also because as soon as it rains the pesticide is gone and the mosquitoes are back. And in the summer, rain storms can be extremely frequent.
In reality, the absolute simplest thing you can do is to find the standing water and get rid of the places where mosquitoes populate. If these DIY tips don’t help, contact the Anchor Pest Control Mosquito expert team to come survey your property and help you exterminate them once and for all.