How To Prevent and Manage Mosquitos Safely and Naturally
/I’m one of those people that gets devoured by mosquitos. My mom always told me that it’s because I’m “so sweet” which is cute, but jeez do I hate those pesky creatures. Last year, we had issues with excessive mosquitos so I called in support from the county’s vector control program. I learned a few things straight from an expert, then I’ve applied them for the past year. Now, I’m here to report to you what’s been working.
First, mosquitos suck. They’re a nuisance, but they carry serious diseases. Over one million people worldwide die from mosquito-borne diseases every year. The pesky bugs can also transmit diseases and parasites that dogs, horses, and other animals are very susceptible to.
Take care of preventing mosquitos at your home so you can help others in your community, too. This is a public health issue in addition to a personal annoyance. Be mindful of at-risk populations and help prevent the spread of disease for them!
Steps to keep mosquitos at bay
Prevent mosquitos
The best way to deal with mosquitos is to prevent them from reproducing. Mosquitos lay their eggs in standing water, so taking away their breeding ground is the best way to prevent the nuisance.
1. Avoid standing water
Flip buckets upside down, empty water from planter trays, drain kiddie pools, put toys away - basically just remove any way for water to pool. Be sure to check gutters and leaf debris. Mosquitos can breed in as little water as in what’s collected in a dead leaf on the ground. Now is a great time to clean those gutters before the rainy season picks back up in the fall, too!
When I called the San Diego County Vector Control to help me with the 2019 mosquito issue, she assessed EVERYTHING. She looked in the rain gutters, under the deck, under the house, in shrubbery, everywhere. I’ve included the door tag she left for me above to remind us of all of the areas to check.
2. Treat standing water
Dunks: For intentional water storage like a rain barrel or bird bath, you can put these mosquitos dunk floaters in the water. They’re non-toxic and are designed to kill the larvae with a bacteria that affects only mosquitos before they become full-grown bloodsuckers. You can also stake them in the ground in places that are likely to flood and retain water. I confirmed with a local beekeeper that these dunks don’t negatively affect our pollinators! The dunks last around 30 days.
Movement: We have a water dish in the front yard designed to hydrate our neighborhood cats and our bee friends. While the dunks are rated for animal drinking, I opted for a solar-powered fountain. It keeps the water moving during sunny hours which prevents the bugs from laying eggs in the water, and the movement kills any eggs that may have been laid overnight. Plus, the cats get extra glamorous water from a percolating fountain. (side note: bees get thirsty so it’s nice to provide them water where they can easily land to sip water. Notice the rocks in the below photo that I have set up for them to perch on outside of the pool of water.)
Fish: If you have a pond, add some mosquito fish. This specific “larvivorous” fish species loves eating the larva of mosquitos. My county will give away mosquito fish to you for free, so check your region, too. Note that these fish are meant only for man-made ponds and not to be distributed in natural ecosystems because they can compete with local native wildlife.
Bits: For water that has active larvae, you can treat it with bits. They are corn cob granules covered in Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies Israelensis) which can be sprinkled on the soil or put directly in water and they’ll kill what’s actively living in there. Bits are a more concentrated version of the dunks, so they are meant for concentrated applications. The packaging says that it “quickly annihilates the larval population”! Be sure to read that in the announcer voice used in action movie trailers.
3. Talk to and help out your neighbors
Mosquitos don’t travel too far from where they breed, so if they’re nearby, the preventable source of your issues is likely nearby. If you can’t find a breeding ground in your yard, chat with your neighbors about prevention. Offer some of the mosquito dunks or bits to them. Share information about local resources. If they’re struggling with being able to maintain their gutters (financially, physically, time, etc), maybe hire a cleaning company to do both of your houses at a discount so you can extend the discount or treat your neighbor to a cleaning.
Again, this is a public health issue, think beyond your home. Take concern with community health.
4. Call in vector control professionals
San Diego County Vector Control offers free house calls to remedy mosquito issues. They’ll inspect your property and even your neighbors’ yards (with their permission). You can find your local vector/mosquito control program through your local health department.
The vector control office will also capture adult mosquitos and take samples of larvae to test at the lab. They’ll ensure you aren’t at the epicenter of disease-carrying mosquito breeding ground. If the county tests found that my local mosquitos were carrying an infectious disease, I’d hear back immediately, and we’d have helicopters over our house within hours. Oof! Luckily that didn’t happen, but it is nice to know how seriously this department takes these things.
Note that right now, our health departments are overwhelmed with working on COVID-19 response, so you may not have great luck getting a house call unless it’s an extreme circumstance. When our health departments are strained, this is all the more reason to do our own part to curb the spread of disease. Try the tips I’ve shared and tell all your neighbors/friends to prevent mosquitos to help out our health departments and communities.
Kill mosquitos
If you’ve sufficiently inhibited breeding grounds but you have live mosquitos, you’ll want to get rid of those, of course. Or, maybe if you live on a lot of land and can’t simply just scoop up an acre of wet leaf debris, killing the adult bugs is the only thing you can do. I get it if the above actions aren’t options!
Bits: As I mentioned above, these corn granule bits can be sprinkled on the soil or put into things with standing water. If you find larvae in, say, a wheelbarrow, you could just dump it out to kill them. But the vector representative found larva in my neighbor’s yard drain which can’t easily be emptied. So, bits were put in to kill them immediately.
Mosquito trap: Mosquitos have a lifespan of about two weeks, so even if you kill the larvae and prevent future breeding, you’ll want to get rid of the adults now. One, to enjoy the outdoors for the next few weeks and two, to further interrupt their life cycle ensuring the issue goes away. The vector gal recommended this mosquito trap which I tried and had decent success with. It didn’t fill up with dead bugs like I hoped, but I think I introduced it late in the game after already implementing the other preventative measures, so there weren’t many adult bugs to trap. This trap has some chemicals in it that we don’t want our pets or wildlife getting into, but it’s contained in a vessel which means it isn’t spread on anything an animal will ingest. It’s far far far better than spraying a pesticide outside! I’ve tried the other mosquito traps that have fans and lights, but I didn’t have way too much success. But, don’t knock it until you try it yourself.
Avoid pesticide sprays: I don’t like spraying chemicals that get on plants, in our waterways, and in the bellies of our pets, wildlife, pollinators, and aquatic creatures. While effective in killing mosquitos, those insecticides cause more harm. The preventative tips I mentioned above are so effective, so give them a go instead!
Bats: Creating a home for a mosquito predator is another great way to keep the pest population down. Bats love eating mosquitos, so building a home for them will be a win win for the bats and you. My friends Kim and Scott shared a bat box DIY here. Do some research on your region and bat home needs before you plop it up on the wall, though!
Repel Mosquitos
When the bugs are around but you don’t want them near you, enter the repellents. I always have these on hand in the summertime for outdoor adventures, going to friend’s houses, or hanging out in the backyard. Find what works best for you, or simply load up on all of them.
Incense sticks: I put a few of these incense sticks (seen above) around the yard when we host folks in the evenings. Be cautious to stake them only where they won’t be a fire hazard! They have a nice smell and I feel like they do keep the bugs away. Make sure to use enough to cover the square footage of your outdoor area, though.
Sprays, stickers, bands: There are lots of repellents out there and I suggest avoiding the ones with DEET. While effective, it’s not advisable for kids, for direct skin contact, and has negative health affects. Instead, opt for something with natural smelly things (eucalyptus, peppermint, lemongrass, etc.) that will keep the bugs away. The spray I have (shown above) is discontinued, so here’s a deet-free spray. I’ve linked additional bands and stickers below, too.
Candles: I admittedly haven’t had much luck with citronella candles. This candle, though, has citronella, peppermint, rosemary, cedarwood and lemongrass oil - no DEET!
Plant plants: For constant pest control, you can plant the plants the mosquitos don’t like. However, you need lots of these to really deter them. Sure, a rosemary plant here and a lemon geranium there will be pretty, and the mosquitos won’t hang out in them, but unless you have a full field of them, you likely don’t have enough of the aroma around you to keep the pests away.
Fans & clothes: A ceiling fan above the porch or even a standing fan will help blow those pests away. Keeping covered in clothes is said to help with bites, but I manage to get bites even through denim, so I’m not too sure how well that works. But maybe I’m just too attractive to mosquitos.
I think that’s about it for my tips!
Leave a comment below to share any tips or particular products you’ve found to be helpful for you.
