The mosquitoes in St. Charles are miserable insects. They crash outdoor parties and cookouts and plague us when we go camping or swimming. We can’t even go out into our backyards without dealing with them. But you don’t have to deal with mosquitoes in your backyard. There are ways to minimize their presence.
Today, we’ll share tips and tricks to lower the population of these biting insects on your property. If you’ve been looking for a way to get rid of mosquitoes in your yard, you found it. If you’ve been looking for a professional solution, contact your Pest Control Consultants (PCC) for a mosquito treatment or seasonal mosquito management.
Why Mosquitoes Bite Us
When considering mosquito control, it is essential to consider why these pests bite us. Why? Because you can alter conditions on your property to reduce mosquito bites. Here are five reasons these irritating insects bite you in your backyard:
- You have mosquito bites because, quite simply, they are present in your yard. You wouldn’t get bitten if you didn’t have mosquitoes out there. Also, the mosquitoes in your neighbor’s yard can see or detect you from a distance. So, the mosquitoes that bite you are mostly those in the immediate area.
- Mosquitoes have found a breeding location in your yard. Most mosquitoes lay eggs a hundred at a time in stagnant water, and they only need an inch of water.
- Mosquitoes are able to develop without interruption. It takes over a week and a half for mosquitoes to develop and turn into flying insects. They start life as wriggly worm-like critters. If water sits and mosquitoes develop, the population can explode in your yard.
- Mosquitoes stay close to where they hatch. They don’t roam a neighborhood going from yard to yard at random. They take root.
- Mosquitoes find easy food sources as well as blood meals. The unsavory truth about these insects is that they feed on blood. But only females do this. A female requires a blood meal for reproduction, so it is difficult to deter these pests with repellents.
These five facts give you an overview of the problem. In a moment, we will go over some proactive tricks to keep mosquitoes away, but first, let’s look at why it is critical to manage mosquitoes on your property.
Different Mosquitoes Spread Different Diseases
We’re sure you know that mosquitoes are dangerous in other parts of the world. Viruses like malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, and Zika virus cause over a million human fatalities a year. But, here in the United States, we are somewhat shielded due to government mosquito surveillance, government mosquito abatement, commercial mosquito control, and residential mosquito control.
The fact that many mosquito-borne viruses generally stay localized also helps to shield us. This means that local animal populations do not act as a reservoir for them. We only see the most dangerous diseases spread during outbreaks. But a disease to keep watch for annually is West Nile virus. While annual fatalities are considerably low when compared to the population of the United States, it is still tragic when lightning strikes.
Not all mosquitoes carry West Nile virus. The primary carriers of this virus are Culex mosquitoes, which are widespread in the country and found in St. Charles. The primary carriers of malaria are Anopheles mosquitoes. Aedes mosquitoes spread yellow fever, dengue, and Zika.
Proactive Tips To Prevent Mosquitoes Around Your Yard
When mosquitoes wander onto your property, you want them to find unfavorable conditions so that they move on. There are a few ways you can do this. We’ll build off the facts shared earlier.
Step 1: Limit Breeding Sites
If a female mosquito finds a breeding site, she’ll want to hang out nearby and lay eggs in it. Removing potential breeding sites will reduce an attractant that brings mosquitoes onto your property and reduce the mosquito population in your yard. Here are some steps you can take:
- Remove any objects in your yard that collect and hold rainwater for days.
- Clear debris from gutters and make sure no water is pooling inside your gutter system.
- Install water circulation in bird baths, pools, etc.
Step 2: Limit Resting Sites
Mosquitoes dry out easily. For this reason, they hide in shaded and humid locations during the day. If your property has hiding places for mosquitoes, you’ll attract them, and the population will grow. Here’s what you can do:
- Keep your grass trimmed, particularly next to your home.
- Remove grass from your landscaping.
- Pluck weeds in your landscaping.
- Trim bushes and shrubs.
- Address plumbing issues, such as leaking pipes or spigots.
- Apply gradation or install fill if your yard has areas where puddles form.
- Install a French drain for greater water issues.
- Remove brush piles and scrap wood.
- Trim tree canopy in densely shaded areas.
Step 3: Reduce Mosquito Food
As we pointed out earlier, only female mosquitoes eat blood. They do so for the purpose of reproduction. But, for sustenance, both male and female mosquitoes eat natural carbohydrates, such as nectar and plant sap. The same mouth a female uses to draw blood can draw sap out of a stem. Address the following:
- Apply weed control to your lawn. Mosquitoes can easily feed from flowers and stems.
- Address aphid issues in your landscaping as they produce honeydew, which mosquitoes love.
- Remove hummingbird feeders as mosquitoes can drink the sugar water in them.
- Remove drink cups and used soda cans. The scent will attract mosquitoes.
Keeping sustained control of attractants on your property can reduce the mosquitoes in your yard. When combined with personal mosquito control, you’ll have even greater protection. Do the following:
- Wear bright-colored clothing to make it harder for mosquitoes to get a lock on you and land.
- Wear long-sleeved shirts and pants rather than shorts to reduce exposed skin.
- Avoid drinking alcohol outdoors as it can attract mosquitoes to you.
- Avoid exercising in your backyard as this elevates body temperature and causes sweat, both of which attract mosquitoes.
- Use a fan to push mosquitoes away. They are poor fliers.
- Apply a repellent to your clothing to mask your scent from mosquitoes.
- Apply a repellent to surfaces around you; doing this can also mask your scent.
- Avoid going out at dawn or dusk when mosquitoes are commonly more active.
- Wear clothing that has mosquito netting if you need the greatest mosquito protection possible.
- Apply netting around outdoor recreation areas, but keep in mind that mosquitoes can zip in and out when you open the door.
- Plant mosquito repellent plants around outdoor areas where you recreate. You’ll need to rub these plants to activate the scents. You can also rub the oils on your skin for added deterrence.
Now that you know what you can do about mosquitoes, let’s turn our attention to mosquito control and discuss why professional assistance will give you the best results possible.
Professional Assistance Is The Best Mosquito Management Solution
At this point, you clearly understand why mosquitoes want to live on your property. While you can take steps to deter them, nothing beats a quality mosquito control program. When you contact PCC for professional mosquito control in St. Charles, here’s what we do about those pests.
- We inspect your property and evaluate all the conditions that might attract mosquitoes.
- Based on the findings of your pest inspection, we construct a mosquito control plan that addresses the issues seen.
- We apply a product that disrupts mosquito development and prevents wriggly larvae from growing into flying mosquitoes.
- We apply a product that addresses adult mosquitoes in the places they hide on your property. It is like flicking a reset switch on mosquito populations.
- We return routinely to manage the population of mosquitoes and keep them to a minimum.
When you have mosquito control for your property, you get ongoing management of mosquitoes, and it can feel like you don’t have any mosquitoes in your yard at all; this makes outdoor fun a lot more fun. It also helps you guard your family from mosquito-borne diseases.
We also provide one-time treatments if you want to get your property ready for an outdoor event, such as a family reunion or an outdoor birthday party. We show up days before your gathering and address all adult mosquitoes present. Since most mosquitoes that bite you are mosquitoes that live on your property, a treatment like this can greatly impact the comfort level of your guests.
Are you in St. Charles? Contact your mosquito control experts at PCC. We keep mosquitoes away from pools, outdoor eating areas, landscaping, dog kennels, kid’s play areas, and more. Getting a high-quality control plan will help you take back your yard.
Jump to our Contact Us page and tell us what you want to achieve on your property. We’ll get right back to you and guide you toward the best plan for your family. You can also call or text to speak with someone on our team immediately; we look forward to serving you.