Rain is great, but there’s one big negative you need to watch out for right now – mosquitoes! The rainy winter we’ve had means that you’ve probably got a lot of standing water, which provides the perfect breeding ground for a mosquito invasion. Multiple species of mosquitoes have been identified in our area and a public health alert was even issued recently warning that the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, responsible for spreading yellow fever, has been found in Tulare County.
According to the Delta Vector Control District, pre-emergent herbicide treatments are already being applied to local lagoons and wastewater facilities. Mosquito surveillance programs are also in effect throughout Tulare County, Visalia, and California’s Central Valley area, to keep an eye on the types of mosquitoes and their activity. If this seems like overkill for such a tiny insect, mosquitoes have actually been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the deadliest animals in the world, responsible for millions of deaths each year.
If you’re allergic or worried about mosquitoes in your yard or on your commercial property, you can call a pest control company or talk to a landscape maintenance professional like Rainscape for advice on how to get rid of mosquitoes.
The best way to get rid of mosquitoes
The best way to get rid of mosquitoes is to prevent them from breeding and hatching in the first place. Mosquitoes eggs need water to activate them and cause them to hatch. The recent rains are creating prime conditions for mosquito eggs to hatch and mature. In fact, it only takes about 7 days from when they hatch to reaching maturity, so right now is the time to be vigilant in finding and getting rid of standing water they might be growing in.
Take a walk around your property after each rain and empty all standing water from sources like planters, saucers, kiddie pools, pet water bowls, rain gutters, wheel barrels, lawn ornaments, watering cans, trash cans, birdbaths and fountains.
Don’t be fooled by tiny pools of water that are “hidden” in your yard. Mosquito larvae are tiny and even something as small as a water bottle cap can be a breeding ground. Keep an eye out for water in places like grill or furniture covers, old tires, kids or pets toys, pool toys, junk piles, even in live plants such as bird of paradise or bromeliads.
Finally, if you have a rain barrel, be sure to check that too. These are a popular water conservation tool, but if not maintained correctly can also be popular with mosquitoes. Keep the intake opening covered with a double layer of fine mesh window screen to keep mosquitoes out. Hoses and downspouts should not feed directly into the rain barrel. An air gap is required so that water must pass through the screen of the intake opening. If the barrel has a decorative top where water collects, be sure to empty that after each rain.
Getting rid of standing water will go a long way toward keeping these pests from invading your yard. For those few that make it, though, you can always plant or pot lemongrass, lavender or citronella geraniums around sitting or play areas to naturally ward them off.