How We Can Control Mosquitos

Over the past few years as the economy slowed down, so did the tax revenues for many of the counties in the Tampa Bay area. With the reduction in monies available, many of the mosquito control districts have had to curtail their efforts somewhat to more reactionary mosquito control treatments than continuous ongoing mosquito management efforts of the past. Individuals that are concerned about the health and well-being of their families and pets need to be proactive in their personal mosquito control efforts. Integrated pest management systems need to be implemented by individuals through private companies to control mosquitoes and other biting pests around your home. The bug slayer system would do nicely.

An integrated pest management approach makes the most sense for mosquito control here in the Tampa Bay area. There are many spray products that can be applied on an individual basis that will have an impact on the mosquito population. These products have a good knock down, but long term effectiveness is sketchy, especially during the rainy season. The beauty of an automatic mosquito misting system is the ability to reach the areas where the bugs reside, treating these areas on a daily ongoing basis, with a product that is environmentally responsible yet intolerable for mosquitoes. The automatic timed sprays with the mosquito misting system can coincide with the highest periods of mosquito activity in the yard area, having the maximum impact on the mosquito population.

The first part of mosquito control is to limit the opportunities for mosquito breeding and reproduction. The removal of stagnant water and the containers of stagnant water are paramount in mosquito control efforts. It's funny, to beat a mosquito, you have to think like a mosquito. There are so many places outdoors they can hold water that you need to be aware of and able to remove in order to limit the potential for stagnant water on your property. This list is not exhaustive but is a good starting point: visible pools of water, such as pots, pools and water features. Second area might not be as obvious, gutters, underground runoff drains, tree holes, heavy shaded areas under shrubs and eaves. These areas may hold enough water to breed mosquitoes, just a pile of leaves cupped up underneath your shrubs may hold enough water to be mosquitoes.

God created mosquitoes, he also created creatures that eat mosquitoes and that is good. Since the mosquito is pretty far down the food chain, there's a lot of larger creatures that find them a tasty morsel. For larva consumption, that is the pre-emergent mosquitoes there are different types of fish they can be introduced into an outdoor pond that may help control the mosquito population. Once the mosquito has emerged as an adult again they are predators up the food chain the key and have an impact on the mosquito population. For example there are certain lizards the tend to be very aggressive toward mosquitoes. Bats have been used over the years is a natural mosquito predator. I'm not sure if you can import dragonflies but they seem to have a field day on mosquitoes. You may have some of these natural predators already working for you, but they won't get them all especially in this Tampa Bay environment.

Mosquito nets and screens have been used for years all over the world. If you live in a tent you better have a mosquito net. I would prefer motor coach for camping outdoors. Since most of us in the Tampa Bay area have a house, and many of us quite a nice house some type of screening has been somewhat a mosquito barrier for years. Screens over swimming pools, screens around lanai's, garage door screens, greenhouse screens, window screens all provide an immediate barrier between you and mosquitoes outdoors. Screens have their limitations, if you go outside the screen you may get eaten. If you have a hole in your screen you may get eaten. If you're screens are dirty, you will be able to see through them. If we have a windstorm, the takes away your screen enclosure, insurance won't pay for it. There is an alternative to mosquito nets and screens, it's called the bug slayer mosquito control system.

Mosquito repellents work on the principle the table and make the people that where the repellents less desirable to the mosquito. Repellents do not kill mosquitoes, they just make the area prone to attacks somewhat hidden by odor or chemically toxic to a certain extent. The time limit on repellent effectiveness is usually no more than three hours. DEET has been the primary product used as a synthetic chemical for repellents. There are a number of natural plant oil based products on the market as repellents as well. The current line of products that are sold over-the-counter have been determined to present no health concerns under normal use. There's also a synthetic pesticide spray products that are available on the market is used as a repellent that attached to your belt. All or most of these products will make you less attractive to mosquitoes, but the application is one that puts the repellent, or insecticide directly on you. You be the judge.

There are a number plants in the marketplace that are touted as natural mosquito repellents. In my over 10 years of pest-control experience I haven't found a plant that would repel mosquitoes over a significant distance to make it effective to repel mosquitoes from biting my clients. All of the plants that I am listing will repel mosquitoes, they will need these plants were really hang around him. Citronella, masks your set in makes it harder for mosquitoes to find you. Horsemint is a perennial plant much the same as citronella it has a strong odor and confuses the mosquito's sense of smell. Marigolds are ornamentals they contain Pyrethrin that kills insects. Catnip, has been found more effective than DEET and some other commercial insect repellents. If you play of these plants all over by the thousands, they may repellent of mosquitoes to help. Each individual plan on its own does not have the repellency to be effective.

Mosquito repellent candles and coils work to a certain extent. You must be sitting with in the body of smoke given off by the candles are coils to have any hope of repelling mosquitoes. It is the smoke given off by the candles and coils that does two things to the mosquito: it covers the carbon dioxide set that you give off when you breed, it also hides you somewhat inside the smoke cloud the billows from the burning instrument. The candle or coils are only effective if there is no air movement, if the air blows the smoke that you're hiding in a way the mosquitoes will still find and bites you. In addition to the problem with air flow is the fact that unless the smoke from the coils completely envelops you all the way down to your feet you'll be subject to attacks in uncovered areas. If your ankles are uncovered in the smoke is not around your ankles, they will get bitten by a mosquito looking for a meal. The candles are coils will either burn a natural plan oil-based product or an insecticide that you sit inside the cloud and brief and get all over you while the coil is burning. The choice is yours.

I  hate bugs, especially mosquitoes. There's nothing that sounds neater that a bug zapper going off electrocuting a mosquito. The thought of sitting in your backyard and having a machine breath for you that attracts mosquitoes and sucks them in and suffocates them, sounds pretty good too. There's only one problem, they don't work as well as touted. The bug zapper, does electrocute bugs that are attracted to a black light inside the machine. You may zap mosquitoes with this machine, the death count is 10-1 good bugs to mosquitoes, a university survey. The CO2 generating machines that attract mosquitoes and suffocates them, they attract all your neighbors mosquitoes to your yard the may stop by and bite you on the way to the machine. They also, don't kill enough of the mosquitoes the live in your own yard to make them effective. They also are very high maintenance for the user adding both propane tanks and chemicals on a regular basis. In over 10 years of professional pest control experience over 75% of my customers use our service had one or both of these devices in their yard for mosquito control before we arrived to provide our service.