Easy mosquito control

If you’re a multi-tasking, over-worked, miracle-worker, MOM for short, then you want mosquito control to be easy, and with Mega-Catch™ it is; as easy as One, Two, Trap!

Most of the time, a mosquito bite is nothing more than a minor irritant that swells up, itches something fierce, then fades and is quickly forgotten. That is, unless that mosquito is carrying a potentially deadly virus. And while not every kind of mosquito carries every kind of disease, a single bite from the right mosquito at the right time, and you’re infected. The best protection – Prevention! Because according to University of Florida entomologist Jeffry Butler, “By reducing the feeding rates just a little; you reduce the probability of transmission of diseases greatly“.

1. Source Reduction

Effective mosquito control starts with a thorough inspection of the potential battlefield; your yard! Check for and eliminate any standing water anywhere, in both the obvious and not so obvious places.

If it can hold water for more than a few days, it can breed mosquitoes, and female mosquitoes can lay their eggs in as little as an inch of water. Just one mosquito can produce 1,200 young and a five-gallon bucket of water has the potential to produce enough mosquitoes to invade an entire city block in a residential community.

• Toys – Rain will fill toy trucks, teacup sets, even Frisbees left lying in the grass. The same for old-fashioned tire swings, which collect stagnating rainwater, or any old tire left laying in the yard. Make sure the kids pick up after themselves and get rid of the tires.
• Tarps – Any kind of plastic or nylon cover, whether it is draped over a stack of firewood or a boat, will eventually begin to sag and develop pockets where water can collect. Tighten them where you can and check them frequently.
• Yard equipment – An upright wheelbarrow, an empty flowerpot, or even an abandoned shovel can hold water long enough to develop mosquito larvae. Store equipment inside, or turn it over so that rain will run off.
• Birdbaths and wading pools – Take a hose to the birdbath at least once a week during warm weather to keep the water from stagnating. Turn the kids’ pool over and stand it up against a wall when they aren’t using it. If you have a swimming pool, make sure you clean and service it regularly.
• Puddles – You may have low spots in the yard where water gathers and is slow to drain. If the water stands for more than a week at a time, you’ll get mosquitoes during the warm months. Fill in the spots, install drainage pipes, or change the landscaping to keep the water away.
• Rain gutters – When the gutters on your house get clogged with debris, water can back up and become stagnant. Check the gutters regularly, especially if you have heavy leaf fall. Also, keep the yard raked. Overturned leaves hold water, and mosquitoes like to breed in them.

And since mosquitoes like to rest in warm, moist vegetation during the day, make sure you keep the grass cut and the bushes trimmed, and clear all the weeds out of the flower beds regularly.

2. Personal Protection

When you do go outside, try to keep as much of your skin covered as possible, avoid bright colors that will attract the attention of mosquitoes, and use an effective insect repellent. The US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) recommend using products that have been shown to work in scientific trials and that contain active ingredients which have been registered with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.)

A few years ago the only recommended repellents were those containing DEET, DEET or DEET. Nowadays there’s a choice with the most effective repellents and those recommended by the CDC, containing one of the following EPA registered active ingredients:

• DEET (N,N-Diethyl-m-toluamide),
• Picaridin (KBR3023) and
• OLE or Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (p-menthane 3,8-diol).

3. Trap: Border Patrol

Don’t put mosquito traps near people because that just draws the mosquitoes toward their targets. Mosquito traps function best when set up around the perimeter of a yard, attracting mosquitoes towards them, and away from human activity. Position upwind, in a shaded area (mosquitoes avoid the sun) between the source of the mosquitoes and where people gather i.e. decks and patios.

Mosquitoes love to feed on humans, and selecting their next meal is relatively easy for these high tech hunters with compound eyes capable of spotting the slightest movements and receptors so sensitive, they can detect the smell of CO2 in a person’s breath from as far away as 400 meters. Lucky for us, those same abilities also tend to lead them straight into mosquito traps. Mega-Catch™ mosquito traps work by mimicking the smell and sight of prey, fooling mosquitoes into sensing a blood meal close at hand. When they get near, powerful fans sweep them into the trap’s catch container. Once in, they can’t get out, and the mosquitoes die.

While mosquito traps by themselves won’t make your mosquito problem disappear altogether, they are an integral part in helping make your backyard a safer, more enjoyable place over summer.