By Peter Roos
With the arrival of summer and the rainy season, mosquito activity will increase – especially in areas with standing water. If there are any places around your house where water is collected, you may be raising mosquitoes.
All mosquitoes need water for their early stages. Some lay their eggs in standing water where they hatch in just a few days. Others lay their eggs in other water-holding containers where they may remain unhatched for weeks or months until they are covered with water. Mosquitoes can carry serious illnesses, such as West Nile, Zika, and Dengue. Prevention protects everyone.
Pinellas County addresses mosquito concerns through its SeeClickFix reporting system, allowing residents to easily report problem areas. You can help reduce mosquito populations by checking your property regularly and eliminating any standing water in items like flowerpots, birdbaths, and gutters.
Other best practices to reduce mosquito populations:
- Empty and properly maintain swimming pools.
- Empty, remove, cover or turn upside down any receptacle that would hold water – particularly buckets and trash cans.
- Empty plastic wading pools, children’s toys, trash cans, plant saucers and wheelbarrows.
- Get rid of old tires, tin cans, bottles, jars, and other containers – or keep them empty.
- Repair leaky pipes and outside faucets; drain hoses frequently.
For more information, visit: www.pinellas.gov/mosquito-control.
Also, check out Squito Stickers from BugMD. We know citronella confuses mosquito radar. These folks applied citronella to little green fabric stickers that stick on your clothes to take citronella oil where ever you go.
Red Tide is an algae bloom that is fed by nitrogen, one of the main ingredients of fertilizer used on plants and lawns. Sale of fertilizer is restricted locally in the summer to help control runoff in the rainy season. Please do your part. Brown grass is way better than red tide.