First of all, check your property for standing water.  It can be as large as a pond or marsh or as small as a flooded hoof print or tire track.  If the water is shallow, warm, and contains organic material for larvae to feed on (decaying grass, manure, leaf litter, etc.), you may have a breeding site.  See the home diagram attached to identify potential breeding areas around your home.

The most effective way to deal with mosquitoes is to eliminate their breeding sites.  Keep your ditch water running, empty unused swimming pools, clean bird baths, repair leaky pipes and sprinkler systems, clean rain gutters, and fill in low spots if possible.  If you use flood irrigation, don't let water stay on the surface for more than a couple of days - five days is enough to breed mosquitoes in hot weather.

 For standing water you can't eliminate, call the NFMAD at 527-6681 to have them check and treat your sites.  For smaller sites you'd like to treat yourself such as water troughs or decorative ponds, you can try aerating them so that mosquitoes can't rest on the surface to lay eggs and the larvae can't use the surface tension to hang out and breathe.  Alternatively, you can treat standing water with Bti, a naturally-occurring bacteria that disrupts the larvae's intestines, causing them to starve to death.  The product is found under various brand names including Mosquito Dunks, in which it is pressed into donut shapes.  It also comes in granular form (Mosquito Bits - good for grassy areas), and liquid.  The Bti is harmless to wildlife, livestock, and pets, although it will also kill black fly larvae.  You can find it locally in most hardware or home and garden stores.  

If despite your efforts you still have mosquitoes, call us and let us know.   If you think you have large numbers of mosquitoes, we may put a trap near you to get an accurate measure of the number and type of mosquitoes in your vicinity.  The crew will try to identify and treat the breeding source of your mosquitoes.

Take care to protect yourself from disease by avoiding going outside when mosquitoes are most active, usually dusk to dawn.  Some studies show the Culex species, which carries the West Nile virus in our area, tend to be most active in the dark hours before midnight.  If you do go outside, wear light-colored, loose-fitting, long-sleeved clothing and use a good repellent.  The CDC recommends ones that contain DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus.  Bite Blocker, which contains soy oil and other essential oils, works as well but for shorter periods of time.  Products containing citronella only work for 10-20 minutes, so look at the ingredients carefully before relying on them for your protection.   There is no evidence that eating garlic or taking Vitamin B will help repel mosquitoes.  However, results for any repellent may vary from person to person.