Top 10 tips to reduce the number of mosquitoes at home!
Mosquitoes are more than just a nuisance. Their bites can spread diseases such as West Nile Virus.
Bites can pose serious health risks as they can transmit various diseases.
There is a particular time when mosquitoes can transmit disease. In southern Quebec, mosquitoes start to be vectors of the disease every year from July to September. In Quebec, the West Nile virus is endemic.
While we are getting vaccinated against Covid-19, it is important to realize that there are NO vaccines for the diseases mosquitoes may carry in Canada.
A collective success
« Encouraging your neighbours to also eliminate sources on their own property is critical to a community-wide mosquito control program. Mosquitoes require stagnant water to complete their life cycle. If their water source is eliminated, so are their offspring »,
says GDG Scientific Advisor Mark Ardis.
Mosquito life cycle
Controlling biting insects starts with good habits at home.
Reduce sites on your property where mosquitoes may develop by eliminating containers that may hold water.
Here are our top 10 tips for reducing mosquitoes in your home:
- Every week, clear the places that can collect stagnant water. Pay particular attention to the gutters that are often full of surprises
- Empty all containers, wading pools, tires and more.
- Turn over wheelbarrows and boats.
- Fix leaky faucets and garden hoses.
- Limit nighttime lighting outdoors.
- Regularly clean pet water dishes.
- Check and empty children’s toys.
- Change the water in birdbaths at least once a week.
- Keep the grasses short around the house.
- Provide a screen cover on the water barrels.
Avoid mosquito bites
The measures are:
- Wear long, light clothes because dark colours are more attractive to mosquitoes.
- Wearing tight-fitting clothes when it’s 30 degrees is less tempting, but it’s still the rule in the forest.
- Avoid, as much as possible, the peak hours of mosquitoes, that is, early in the morning and in the early evening, when they are much more active.
Mosquito-borne diseases do not only affect humans – but they also kill countless birds, reptiles, dogs, horses and endangered species each year. Awareness of these diseases – including canine heartworm and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) – is another important component of mosquito control the general public must embrace.
For more information on National Mosquito Control Awareness Week, please visit AMCA online at www.mosquito.org.
Follow AMCA on Facebook (@AmericanMosquitoControl) and Twitter (@AMCAtweets).