I don’t know about you all, but the mosquitoes at our house have been atrocious this year. They are plentiful and they are voracious – my poor 8 year old is mosquito attractant and they enjoy feasting on her.
Mosquitoes belong to the same family as flies. They have a single pair of wings and their bodies are covered in tiny scales. And they feast on blood.
They breed in standing water so properties near ponds, marshes or depressions that collect water are at risk. Some are active at different times of the day but most emerge just before dusk and are active at night.
Mosquitoes can transmit several dangerous diseases, including Zika virus, West Nile and several kinds of encephalitis. The CDC states that the number of illnesses caused by mosquito bites tripled between 2004 and 2016. They are not going away but getting worse!
Now, some good news – mosquitoes can’t fly very far or very fast. Most mosquitoes can fly no more than about 1-3 miles, and often stay within several hundred feet of where they were hatched. The top speed for a mosquito is about 1.5 miles per hour.
So how do we combat these little suckers without dousing ourselves in Deet every time we go outside? You can reduce standing water on your property or treat it. The best way we’ve found so far is to spray your property – you can either do it yourself or hire someone. There are some natural alternatives out there that seem to work well. What ways do you use to rid your property of mosquitoes?
