Mosquitoes can be quite bothersome. I don’t know anyone who enjoys having these pests buzz around their head as they try to relax outside. There are all kinds of sprays to use for keeping them off of your skin. The following 5 tips on getting rid of mosquitoes involve actually eliminating these bugs from your surroundings as well.
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5. Keep Ponds Aerated
Mosquitoes like stagnant water for laying their eggs in. If you have a pond that only has plants in it, be sure to keep the water circulating. This movement in the water will discourage mosquitoes from laying eggs. Adding fish to a pond will also keep the mosquito population down.
4. Treat Standing Water
If you have a rain barrel to collect water in, then you don’t want to have to empty it every time mosquitoes decide to lay eggs in it. There are chemical-free additives that can be put in the barrel to keep mosquitoes out, but it won’t contaminate the water for your plans.
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3. Attract Birds
There are many birds that eat mosquitoes; barn swallows, tree swallows, purple martins, warblers, and even sparrows. These birds may not all go after adult mosquitoes. Some of them prefer to feed the mosquito larva to their young.
2. Build Bat Houses
Bats eat up to 1000 mosquitoes in an hour, which means they could potentially eat up to 8000 a night if they feed for 8 hours. Instructions for bat houses can be found online. As long as you have a south facing tree, you should be able to hang a house that bats will want to live in.
1. Empty All Standing Water
The less areas mosquitoes have to lay their eggs, then the lower their population number will be. They will lay eggs in almost any type of container with water. It seems that the longer the water has been setting then the better they like it. If you see water with little squiggly things swimming around in it, these just might be mosquito larva.
For the most part, if mosquitoes don’t have water to lay eggs in, then their numbers should be low. They also like to hang out in tall weeds, so keeping the yard mowed will also cause the adults to find somewhere else to rest during the day. Do you have any additional tips for getting rid of mosquitoes? What have you found to be the best method?
Top Photo Credit: ViaMoi