Itching to add some water features to your backyard landscaping this summer? Ponds and bird baths can inject some pizzazz into your surroundings, but they can also attract mosquitoes if you don't take the right steps to keep them from calling your yard home and causing some potentially serious health problems.
More than just a nuisance
Most of the time, mosquitoes are not much more than the cause of itchy welts and minor discomfort, but they can also cause serious illness. Prevalent throughout the United States, they can cause several types of disease, including West Nile Virus, perhaps the most common mosquito-borne illness in the U.S.
Typically surfacing in late summer and early fall, West Nile is caused by mosquitoes feeding on infected birds, and then passing the virus to humans and other animals through the saliva they inject with their bites. Traveling through the bloodstream to the brain, the virus interferes with the central nervous system and causes swelling of the brain tissue. For most people, the illness is mild and causes fever, headache, and fatigue. In more severe cases however, encephalitis, meningitis, paralysis, or even death can occur. For those with even just a mild case, it can take several months to recover.
Prevention, then Intervention
Although it is common practice to spray for mosquitoes, spraying pest control materials is not the most effective means of controlling a mosquito outbreak. It is far more effective to prevent them from breeding in the first place. Mosquitoes lay hundreds of eggs at a time and gestation only takes about seven days. If they find standing water to breed in, it could mean several generations of mosquitoes in your own back yard.
There are several simple things you can do to minimize the risk of mosquitoes in and around your home, particularly if you have a pond or other water feature.
- Keep water fixtures such as birdbaths and fish ponds clean, and add elements that keep the water moving, such as a fountain if possible.
- Clean gutters regularly to avoid trapping water and creating areas where mosquitoes will potentially breed.
- Work to attract natural mosquito predators, such as dragonflies.
- Try keeping guppies or mosquitofish in your pond as they will eat the mosquitoes and their larvae.
- Maintain your lawns and gardens. Overgrown areas trap moisture where mosquitoes are likely to nest.
- Regularly drain and clean (or remove) things that hold water: pet dishes, wading pools, vases, or anything that may collect water, such as old barrels.
If you do end up with a mosquito infestation, contact the pest control experts at Western Pest Services by calling 1-800-544-BUGS (2847). Don't take chances with your health by risking the potential pitfalls of mosquito bites!