Pest Alert – Mosquitoes

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Mosquitoes are bad this year everywhere I have been in the county. Unfortunately, there are no ‘environmentally friendly’ insectidal fogging options for the home. Fogging pesticides do reduce mosquito numbers but can also kill beneficial insects such as bees and ladybugs. Besides, even if you can control them in your yard but mosquitoes will just come in from surrounding areas. So individuals fogging their own yard is not a good option.

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The county does have a neighborhood-wide mosquito fogging program. The county workers do time the sprays to have the least impact on beneficial insects. However, these neighborhood-wide applied insecticides do not discriminate between mosquitoes, bees, or butterflies.

There are a few things individuals can do to mitigate mosquitoes. Preventing standing water where mosquitoes can breed is the best thing homeowners can do. Keep gutters clean and keep rain barrels covered with screen. Seek out any standing water in your yard and empty it.
You can avoid peak hours for mosquitoes. These insects inhabit the crepuscular hours just after sunrise and just before sunset. Avoiding these hours outdoors when mosquitoes are active can prevent bites.
The use a strong oscillating fan when sitting outdoors can reduce bites. Mosquitoes are weak fliers and the fan will blow them away. A good fan is not cheap but is very effective at keeping mosquitoes away from patios and porches.
Mosquitoes are attracted to dark colors. It is recommended you wear light-colored clothes when spending time outdoors. Long sleeves and pants are recommended.
There are mosquito repellent devices such as Thermacell by Off. This machine emits a chemical that masks the chemicals that we emit that attract mosquitoes. I own a Thermacell and can vouch that it is very effective in a small area. You can also use items that burn such as citronella candles and torches as well as mosquito coils to repel mosquitoes and mask human presence.
There are mosquito trapping machines. These emit an odor attractive to mosquitoes. I have watched videos where they catch thousand of mosquitoes. However, I wonder if you would not be attracting more mosquitoes than you would catch?
Finally, use a repellant bug spray on your person such as Deep Woods Off or the Skin-so-Soft products. These can be sprayed on long clothing to avoid skin contact. Repellants are very  effective at reducing bites from mosquitoes.
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