Pest professionals don’t get the respect they deserve. They are at the forefront of fighting the spread of disease by helping to lower the populations of the creatures which most often carry and spread disease. It is about time they get the respect and recognition they deserve.

The job of pest  exterminators

A Pest can be anything that bothers you, particularly rodents, bugs, or weeds. Pest exterminators deal with a variety of pest problems, it is not glamorous work, but it is work that must be done for the prevention and containment of disease, and other related public health reasons. Pest exterminators perform tasks that most people do not really want to think about, which like other necessary but distasteful occupations, involve the removal of something that can be dangerous to us. You may not want to think about how the roaches, rats, or sewage is disposed of, but it is something that must happen for our species to survive.

Complaints about extermination

One of the chief complaints about pest exterminators is the cost of the extermination service. Please remember that exterminators are required to test for licensing, retrain each year, maintain insurance policies, purchase and maintain equipment, purchase chemicals, purchase and maintain transportation, buy fuel, and pay taxes. In short, being an exterminator is expensive. The profit involved is much less than you might imagine, and the work is rarely pleasant.

Environment and health concerns

Another problem that pest exterminators face, is that the work of removing pests often involves chemicals which some can be dangerous. This puts them at odds with groups who oppose the use of chemicals on safety and environmental grounds, which can add stress to the job.

Chemical hazards

Pest exterminators also deal with the danger of chronic exposure to insecticides and the potential hazards of acute pesticide exposure which can cause health problems.

All in all, the pest exterminator is not being overpaid for his work.

The most common pest exterminators

Rodent exterminators

• Rat exterminators
• Mouse exterminators

Bug exterminators

• Roach exterminators
• Ant exterminators
• Spider exterminators
• Termite exterminators
• Bed bug exterminators

Outdoor pests

• Wasp exterminators
• Bee exterminators
• A variety of lawn and garden pests

Before you decide that it is time to call a bee exterminator, call a bee keeper instead. Bee keepers will often gather the bees, and use them for pollination and honey production, so destroying them would be a shame.

The neighbors said she called a well known pest control company once a week to get rid of the spiders. Mice were also a problem. There were scorpions as well. She finally moved away. She probably got out just in time to avoid the mosquito infestations brought on by the heavy spring and early summer rains. All the other lawns in the neighborhood are infested with gophers, moles, and a wide variety of insects and weeds.

A meager attempt to install a poorly planned lawn was hastily put into motion, the touch up work done, a real estate sign placed in the yard, and the home promptly placed back on the market, awaiting the next victim.

This is a true story!

Let me give you an idea of the surroundings: The home faced South, to the street and other homes, and the North side was a once bulldozed, overgrown 4 or 5 acre stretch of swampy weedy, brushy, rodent infested, well, you get the picture. It would have been better had the dozer work stopped at the edge of the new home. One neighbor describes the scene as looking like something out of the Tim Burton film “The Nightmare Before Christmas!”

The home was inspected for lead paint, for termites, for asbestos, all the little areas of concern that a potential home buyer needs to consider. Well, almost all.

Termite inspection, and standard environmental inspection is not enough! To take a really good look, to get a real assessment of real estate, requires a look at a lot more! The wider environment of the home and it’s location should be taken into account.

When you buy a home, it has probably been inspected at each stage of its development. It may have even had an environmental inspection, but has it been inspected for potential pest problems? Yeah, I know you had the traditional termite inspection, but termites are only one part of the pest equation. It is better to be proactive!

How to use this list:

There are several items on the list which are “fleshed out” below, followed by a checklist of those items and a lot more things for you to check.

Whether you are buying a home, or, buying property on which to build a home. There may be some pitfalls that you wouldn’t normally think about. Don’t let bugs and weeds suck all the joy out of owning a home. Read this, and take action!

This is a checklist for the potential home buyer. It might even convince you that the home you are considering is not for you! If that happens, it is better to know that now than before the mortgage papers are signed and the mosquitoes return.

That is a good place to start, mosquitoes.

1. If the home or home site is close to a mosquito infested swamp, it might be a good idea to get out before the wife sees the granite counter-tops. There are some things that you can’t do much about, and draining the swamp is probably one of them. The same is true for other areas, that you would probably stay clear of for other reasons. Sewer treatment plants, slaughterhouses and various other places. Live to fight another day, and see what else there is on the market.

2. What are the immediate surroundings like. Is the property flanked by overgrown, or freshly mowed, but obviously once overgrown land. Get the impression that it was mowed solely for this showing? Weeds hide vermin and bugs, plus, they are “weeds.” Will the owner of the adjoining property be willing to keep it up to the standards that you require? If not, you will have a constant, almost unseen struggle with field mice, and insects, and they will eventually, find a way inside.

3. In the wider area, is there anything that would be likely to breed or feed an infestation of any unwanted critters. Vermin and insects will travel, and they might just travel to your place for a vacation from the elements.

4. Look at the lawn area, are there low spots which show evidence that the area holds water, and might make a fine breeding ground for mosquitoes? If so, is it something you can deal with, is there a way to drain or fill the area, will you need professional assistance?

5. Are there piles of debris, dead trees, brush piles nearby? They will be hiding places for bugs.

6. Are there screens over eve vents, soffit vents and other vent areas to prevent invaders from making their way inside?

7. Are doors and windows properly sealed? Is the weather striping in good condition? Are the door sweeps completely to the floor and the sides of the doors? Are all pipes, conduits, cable and electrical entries well sealed? Look at both the inside and the outside of the home with these things in mind.

8. Are the shrubs against the side of the home? They should be at least a foot away. So should any mulch. How about the trees, are they well trimmed and far enough away from the roof to prevent damage and the occasional squirrel from the roof?

9. Does the yard have weeds, or sand burs? This is a sign of bad cultural practices. There is a good chance that this might be the tip of the iceberg. If so, can it be taken care of, how, and by whom?

10. You will want to check out the conditions of your streets, and drives. If they are not well maintained, there is a chance that they never will be. Weeds growing through concrete and asphalt, are a very destructive. They should be stopped , and prevented from returning, or they can eat a driveway in just a few years.

11.Trees growing into power lines and communications lines will have to be pruned, and if the electric company or cable company have the work done, it will most likely be done improperly from the tree and homeowners perspective. This will lead to disease and pests. If this situation exists, it will need to be solved by removing the tree and planting replacements well away from the lines, or the trees pruned by a skillful arborist to provide clearance without damage to the trees.

12. Check trees near the house. Are roots rising from the ground? Are they growing toward the home? Are there any minor cracks or loose mortar joints nearby? This could be a signal that the tree is tearing down the house a little at a time.

13. Erosion. Check for it, if it is there, can it be stopped? If it can be stopped, will the methods used produce more problems with bugs and weeds? Eroded areas rarely have good soil conditions for growing anything but weeds, and if they are washing out now, it will be difficult to keep them from washing away the re-constructed lawn.

14. Weep holes. Are there vines growing into them, or that could grow into them? Are they clear of debris and dirt. Blocked weep holes won’t let the condensate out of your wall cavities, and air into them. I have seen mold problems develop from this. This is usually accompanied by insect problems.

I5. Are there existing “problem plants?” If there is kudzu growing along the creek bank behind the homes wooden fence, it is only a matter of time before it grows into the fence and into your lawn and landscape!

16. Look at the existing outdoor lighting. Some types of lighting, placed over lawns, will fuel an invasion of June beetles. The June beetles will leave behind eggs which will become grubs, the grubs will be a tasty treat for moles and armadillos, which will dig up your lawn and landscape.

Pest control checklist

The 50 items listed below, are some of the things you should be looking for. I will flesh the list out as time permits. Just use the more detailed items above as an an indicator of how to look at all of them. You will have a pretty good idea of what your insect and weed situation would be like if you were living there.

50 Point Checklist

Roof:

1. Gutters,
2. Vent caps,
3. Vent screens,
4. Eve vents, are they screened?
5. Trees far enough away from house?

Home General:

6. Vines around house?
7. Tree roots close to house?
8. Weep holes free of soil and vines?
9. Shrubs far enough away?
10. Lines free from limbs and vines?
11. Windows sealed inside and out?
12. Doors sealed inside and out?
13. Weather strip good?
14. Door sweeps good?
15. Sealed around inlets for plumbing?
16. Electrical sealed?
17. Cable sealed?
18. Dryer vents screened?
19. Ventahood screened?
20. Loose or missing mortar?
21. Cracks in brick or slab near trees?
22. Sealed windows and doors inside?
23. Sealed plumbing electrical inside?
24. Weather stripping inside doors?

Lawn and landscape:

25. Weeds?
26. Vines in bad spots? (windows, electric lines etc)
27. Shrubs clear of house?
28. Clear of debris?
29. Rotting wood?
30. Condition of adjacent property?
31. Right of ways?
32. Streets and drives?
33. Erosion?
34. Outbuildings condition and placement?
35. Patios?
36. Shade?
37. Light?
38. Heat?
39. Airflow?
40. Existing bugs?
41. Existing weeds?
42. Existing problem plants?
44. Rodent damage?
45. Street lighting?

Lakes and ponds:

46. Existing weeds and other problems? What type are they?

Adjacent areas, within 300 feet. ROW etc:

47. Maintained?
48. Weed free?
49. Brush free?
50. Swamp free?

Big picture:

What are the Conditions like within a mile of the home?

Lawn care and lawn pest control

In this, like most other activities, balance is the key. Balancing your lawns water and fertilizer needs with your mowing schedule, and balancing the right mowing height between too long and too short, will give your lawn the best look, and the best health. The best defense against insects, disease, fungus, and weeds is a healthy lawn. Like a healthy body, a healthy lawn will ward off attacks by invaders. Proper lawn care will give you a healthy lawn, which will in turn, give you, the best lawn pest control.

The list below gives a few details about  lawn care, as it relates to lawn pest control.

• Scalping your lawn, weakens the scalped area’s turf, and allows weed invaders to take the place of the weakened grass.
• Not mowing the grass at a low enough level, leaves cover for insects and allows some low growing weeds to reproduce seed under the mowing height.
• Thatch hides insects, and should be removed or cultivated, and not allowed to build up. Good mowing practices will stop it from building.
• Waiting too long between mowings, can allow weeds time to reach seed head maturity, and plant themselves in your nice green lawn. Too much growth also provides cover for insects.
• When you have waited too long to mow, change your mowing height, so that you take off less leaf blade, and then mow again in a few days at a lower cutting height. Do this in increments until you reach your desired cutting height.
• You should never remove more than one third of the top at a time. Taking too much off at once will leave your lawn in a weakened condition, inviting more bugs and weeds to take over.
• Avoid mowing weedy outside areas before you mow your lawn. If you have to do this for some reason, stop and thoroughly clean your mower between the two areas.
• Mow away from your landscape beds and toward your lawn. Care should be taken to avoid throwing grass, weed clippings, and seed into them.
• Don’t “over water” your lawn and landscape beds. Many weedy lawn pests, and bug pests enjoy excess water, and may decide to take up residence in the new sea side resort in your landscape. Over watering fuels fungus, and bacteria as well.
• Over fertilization leads to most of the same lawn care problems as over watering.
• Don’t fertilize your lawn too late in the year. If you do, you may be fertilizing winter weeds instead of grass. This will have a bad effect on your lawn pest control efforts in the spring.
• Avoid aerifying late in the fall. Aerifying at that time, will plant the weed seeds that would have otherwise rotted on top of the ground.
• Avoid lawn compaction. Areas with heavy foot traffic, are likely to have poor quality turf, and are subject to invasion by weeds that like compacted areas. If you have compaction, loosen it by aerifying.
• If the problem is human pests, and an area is getting so much traffic because it is convenient to walk in that direction, a good lawn care tactic might be to add a paved foot path through the area, or you could plant or build a traffic barrier to make it less convenient.

Good lawn care is great lawn pest control. See more on lawn care and lawn pest control on our lawn management pages.

Moles create slightly raised areas along the top of the ground as they tunnel in search of food and shelter.

How moles tunnel

They tunnel by pushing soil up and to the side, as opposed to gophers which actually mine the dirt and remove it from the tunnel in those familiar horse shoe shaped mounds. Moles can create mounds, but they are not normally as large as those created by the pocket gopher.

What moles eat

Moles can be omnivores. They will sometimes eat anything that happens to crawl across their path. They prefer a diet of grubs and worms, and if you have moles in your yard, this is what they are after. Moles will eat earthworms, but by far, their favorite food is white grubs. Moles in your lawn usually mean that white grubs are present. Grubs are the larval stage of beetles, and in the U.S. that beetle is likely to be the June beetle, or June bug commonly seen buzzing around outdoor lighting in the summer. This is significant when it comes to mole prevention efforts.

Methods of mole control

Mole control trapping

Trapping moles is notoriously difficult.There are a number of different types of mole traps available, but honestly, none of them seem to work very well. I will not make any specific recommendations, other than to say, that I recommend using other methods of getting rid of moles!

Other mole control methods

Some  methods of mole control can range from the silly to the absurd. Old wives tales abound. Some of the methods are so superstitious as to be just slightly short of voodoo, some simply don’t work. Some are even more of a danger to the homeowner than to the mole. Other methods I believe to be designed by practical joking friends or neighbors for the purpose of making other friends and neighbors look just plain silly!

Chemical mole control

There are mole baits available that will work. However, there are many factors involved which may limit their effectiveness for mole control. When using such products, be sure to follow the label directions perfectly, it is both the law, and the only hope you have of success when using them. There are chemical available which will offer protection from moles, although they are not made for targeting moles. Let me explain.

Mole prevention

By far, the best method for a mole free lawn is mole prevention. Mole prevention, like any other type of pest prevention involves depriving the pest of what it wants, and what it needs to survive. Pests need cover, food, and water to survive. If you can remove one or more of these factors, they will go away. Since water is an element, it would be hard to remove it from the great outdoors, and a moles cover is the ground, which also cannot be removed, we are left with the food supply. Get rid of that, and you get rid of the mole.

Mole control eliminating the food supply

Since mole are attracted by grubs, and grubs are the larvae of June bugs, and June bugs like outdoor lights, then it would be logical that mole prevention, would would involve getting rid of, or changing something about the lights. A little change in the direction of outdoor lighting can make a big difference. A change in the color of the lighting can make an even bigger difference. That is what needs to be done. The lighting should be oriented away from lawns where June bugs want to lay eggs. Lights with a yellow color do not attract June bugs, so, yellow is the color of choice. In some cases, a complete retooling of the outdoor lighting may be needed.

Exclusion

Another tool for mole prevention is exclusion. See: Gopher exclusion for more details on mole prevention by exclusion.

Grub control for mole prevention and mole control

There are ways to practice mole control with chemicals, and although it is an indirect method, it will work. The proper use of grub control chemicals will eliminate the grubs, and keep moles at bay. There are some newer products on the market that will give season long control, when used in conjunction with other chemicals in the early spring, and fall. Check with your local farm and ranch supply, or your home and garden supplier for details, and again, always follow the label directions!

Before you let insects get the drop on your lawn, there is a method you can use to determine the likelihood of an infestation or invasion. Consider it a sort of low tech radar warning of incoming enemy troops. You can do this simple test with items you already have around your home. It is called a “soap test.”

Why do a soap test?

Many of the little critters that cause lawn damage are already present before the problem becomes obvious. Eggs are laid on the ground or in the thatch, some are laid in the ground by burrowing insects like mole crickets, and they hatch and live much of their early life in the soil. This method will help to bring them up so they can be counted. Why would you want to count them? Well, so you will know if there are so many of them that you can expect an invasion, and do something about it before the major invasion takes place. The soap test gives you the ability to make a preemptive strike.

The purpose of the soap test is to determine the approximate types and numbers of insects in the soil. This will aid in knowing what we have to deal with, and whether the numbers of insects per square foot warrant treatment.

What you will need for a soap test

Material:

Large coffee can with both top and bottom removed.
Dish soap.
Water.

Solution:

Mix 1 ounce of dish soap with 1 gallon of water.

Method:

• Place the can on the ground and push it partway into the ground.
• Pour in the water, soap mix.
• Wait.

What you will learn:

If there are any pests in the ground, this soapy solution will irritate them, and they will begin to rise to the surface where you can count them and determine whether an infestation is present. This will be determined by what levels of each type of pest are considered acceptable. These rates are usually expressed in terms of numbers of pest per square foot. Specific data on individual pests is available from county agents, various university horticulture and agriculture departments, and other places on the world wide web.

To control pests, like everything else, the best form of control is prevention. Preventive pest control provides a solid base for your entire pest control system, and, if carried out properly, will provide almost all the pest control you will need.

What to check 0utside your home

Frequency: Monthly

1. Check the outside areas of your property for weeds and brush.

2. Check for trash, rubble, and debris. These provide cover and food for insects and rodents. Remove anything found.

3. Check all containers like bird baths, pet food or pet watering bowls for stagnant water, and left over food. If you are feeding more than your pet needs, you are inviting predators to dine on your lawn. If you leave standing water, you are inviting mosquitoes to breed.

4. Check for puddles, and standing water. If you find any, be certain to make and execute plans to provide permanent drainage.

5. Check the effectiveness of your mowing program. Look for the presence of thatch. If the grass is getting a little too high between mowings,  you may need to add an extra mowing day. High grass and thatch allow insects and rodents to move undetected in your lawn, and allows weeds time to mature and replant themselves. See also: Lawn Mowing Tips Mower Size Lawn Mowing Tips Mowing Frequency Lawn And Garden: Less Lawn More Garden

6. Check for tree limbs, shrubs, vines, and landscape plants touching your home. Trim them back if they are. They provide a roadway for insects to get onto, and into your house.

7. Check for holes, cracks, and poorly sealed plumbing, electrical, and communication line openings, and seal any you find with caulk or other appropriate materials.

8. Check doors and windows to be sure that screens fit tightly, that the caulking  joints are in good order, and that weatherstripping and sweeps are are not letting light, and pests through.

9. After these steps have been taken, any outdoor pests remaining can be treated with the appropriate insecticides and herbicides. There should be few if any, if the above steps were taken correctly.

What to check inside your home

1.  Check all entries corresponding to those outside, such as cable, plumbing, and electrical entry, and door and window frames. Make any repairs needed.

2. Make sure that the inside of your home is clean, free of  clutter, and free of food crumbs.

3. Look for signs of insects and rodent entry and activity such as feces, and gnawing marks. Use traps for rodents before using rodenticides if at all possible. Use insecticides sparingly if needed, and then only according to label directions.

See also: Home Pest Control Theories and Practices and Home Mosquito Control And Prevention

Aquatic weeds can be a huge problem for the property owner. If you use your lake primarily for recreational activities, lake weeds can put an end to your fishing, and other water sports in a matter of weeks if the wrong conditions exist. A lake weed invasion can also cause other problems, like pests in general, and mosquitoes in particular.

What is the best way to handle lake weed problems?

That depends on the nature of the problem. If the problem is an overly fertile body of water, you will need to lower the fertility.

Too much fertilizer

Excess fertility can be caused by nutrient runoff ending up in your lake. These nutrients can come from agricultural sites like adjacent farms and ranches existing upstream from your lake, or from over fertilized lawns in your area, which could even be your own.

Low fertility.

Low fertility means that the pond or lake is not getting the nutrients it needs to produce plankton. If plankton is not produced in sufficient quantity to tint the water enough to keep light from penetrating to the bottom, light will reach the bottom, and plants will grow up from it. This includes the filamentous algae that is often seen floating on a lakes surface.

Shallow lakes

Is your pond or lake so shallow that lake bottom gets light, weeds will grow. The best way to solve this problem is by either raising the water level if possible, or dredging.

Weed types

You should also know which category your lake weeds fall into. Are they submersed, emergent,  floating, or algae. There is a difference when it comes to treating them. There is a great tool from Texas A & M to help in the identification process. It is called Aquaplant. Aquaplant is also an excellent example of what a website should be!

Methods of aquatic plant control

Prevention:

This is the very best method for controlling any situation. If you can prevent it, you won’t have to control it or manage it in other ways. It just makes sense.

Biological control:

Most environmentally aware individuals prefer biological controls to chemical controls. There are some problems with that idea. Biological controls can be unpredictable, and run the risk of getting out of control if conditions should change. After all, you are adding another invasive predator into the mix!

Mechanical control:

Mechanical controls are great for some aquatic weed work, but not for all. Many aquatic weeds can reproduce from fragments at rates higher than fifty percent!

Unless you are resigned to mowing your lake as you do your lawn, it is a bad idea to fragment the living plants. If they can be cut smoothly, without much fragmentation causing vibration, and completely collected , that is great, but the problem will return from the roots.

Chemical Controls:

Sometimes, in fact, most of the time, the best weed management method, the most eco friendly method after prevention, is chemical lake weed control. It can, and should be, selective.

Aquatic weed control chemical types

Chemicals for controlling and managing aquatic weeds, fall into two categories:
Contact, and Systemic.

Contact Herbicides

Contact herbicides, work quickly, and kill all the vegetation they touch.

Systemic Herbicides

Systemic herbicides, work more slowly, but travel to the root of the plant to kill all parts of the plant.
Which one should you use? That depends a lot on the conditions, and the plant you are trying to get rid of. For more information on lake weed control types see:

Lake Weed Prevention

Biological Lake Weed Control

Mechanical Lake Weed Control

Chemical Lake Weed Controls

Home pest control by attrition

Most people approach pest control as though at some point, if we kill enough of them, they will eventually go back where they came from.

There are a few problems with this theory:

• Bugs and weeds do not think, they only react, and their reaction will always be the same as long as nothing changes in their environment.
• The bugs and weeds are already where they came from. When we build a home, we are the interlopers in their territory, and we have displaced them. They will always try to get it back.

Pest control by attrition is a life long commitment to the war against “bugdom”. It is a series of battles that will go on forever, unless something is done to modify the environment. We are occupying territory that they once dominated, and they are always trying to reclaim it!

Home pest control by prevention

In order to make any progress in keeping our property free from these pest insurgents, we have to make our property less inviting, and less accessible to pests. In other words, we must modify our environment to favor us and not the pests. We must make it difficult for pests to gain entrance, and difficult for them to survive. We must create an environment that:

• Denies them what they need to survive.
• Exposes them to natural predation.
• Seals them out.

That is pest prevention in a nutshell.

The practice of home pest prevention

There is a logical sequence that should be followed for controlling home pests by preventing them. The practice involves removing the things that insects and rodents need to survive from the outskirts of your homes environment.

1. Start by clearing away any brush, weeds, rubbish, or rubble from your property. That is what insects use for cover, and for food. If you remove the cover, they will fall back to the next available cover, which will probably be your neighbors yard, so, you might want to share this with your neighbors. Now move toward your home. Remove the things that provide cover throughout your lawn, and mow your lawn more often. I know it is a pain, but it really helps. If the grass is high, insects and rodents use it to provide cover for getting closer to your home.
2. As you move closer to your home, look at your trees. If they are hanging over your roof, or touching your roof, they are providing a way for pests to get to the top of your house, so, trim them back. Don’t just cut the ends off, but trim them back to a lateral branch. If you do this improperly, you could cause an increase in pests, and disease in your trees. Keep your own safety in mind, use ladders cautiously, and pay special attention to power lines.
3. Your landscape beds next to your home are an important area for your pest control efforts. The typical landscape bed is a hotbed for pest activity. Keep vines away from the walls, they provide a road for insects. The same is true for the shrubs in the bed, they should be cut back a foot or more from the wall. Landscape mulch should be kept at least a foot from the homes exterior. This is not standard landscape practice, but it needs to be done.
4. Regulate your irrigation carefully. Too much water invites all sorts of critters into your place. Too little can weaken the lawn, and invite weeds to live in the place of the lawn grasses and landscape plants.
5. Now, to the exterior of your home. Seal everything! cracks, openings around doors and windows, replace worn weatherstripping, caulk around frames, caulk around all pipes, wires, cables, inlets, and anywhere else a bug might get through. Make sure all eve and soffit vents are screened. The same goes for your dryer vent.
6. Do the same inside, with all the corresponding areas. Almost every hole in the outside will have a corresponding hole in an inside wall, and they should all be sealed.

Consider a lawn and landscape makeover

While going through this process, you should also consider major modification to your entire lawn and landscape. Don’t let the word major bother you, this is one area where a little change can be done over a long period of time, and have a major impact, without huge expense. In fact, this could save you money in the long run.

Encouraging natural predation can help lower insect populations. This can be done by adding native trees and shrubs, where lawn once existed, and replacing non natives with native plants in the existing landscape. The native plants will be less susceptible to pests, and the native birds will have more of a reason to hang around and eat the remaining bugs. See: Lawn And Garden: Less Lawn More Garden for more information.

Prevention is always the best means of control, and with mosquitoes, prevention offers the only control that is remotely successful for home mosquito control.

Pesticides offer only limited control for a limited time, mosquito misters are falling under increasing scrutiny, repellents are only moderately successful, and are often dangerous for the user, mosquito magnets and other types of mosquito traps are limited to the ones that are already hatched, and do nothing to stop the larvae, nets and screens are also limited in scope.

There is nothing wrong with any of these methods, they are all helpful in their own way, but they all fall short because they do not deal with the problem at it’s root. To ultimately win the battle against mosquitoes, and the diseases they transmit, attrition will not work. They can always reproduce faster than we can kill them! To win, we need to keep them from becoming a problem to begin with.

Home mosquito control through prevention

Mosquitoes, like any other type of pest, prefer certain habitats. In the case of the mosquito, they need:

• Water for larvae to hatch and grow.
• Cover to avoid predation.
• Blood for reproduction.

Eliminating any of these, will stop reproduction in your area.

Water:

If you have puddles of standing water, buckets, tubs, or any other receptacle for water on your property, mosquitoes can find it, and use it against you. If receptacles are the problems, dump them, and make sure that they can no longer hold water. If the problem is standing water in low spots or puddles, provide a way to drain the water either through surface drainage, that is, fill the low spots and holes, or sub surface drainage, such as a french drain, or a pipe drain with a catch box. If you use the catch box and pipe drain, make sure that the grade on the system is consistent, so that water doesn’t accumulate in the pipe. This could cause mosquitoes to use it as a basin, and become a home for other pests.

Don’t just look at the ground, there are other areas which might hold enough water to encourage mosquito populations such as home gutter systems, which should of course, be cleaned and maintained frequently.

If the water problem is a pond or lake on your property, the problem is not only water, but also cover. In fact, it probably has less to do with water, than with cover.

Cover:

If ponds or lakes exist on your property, you obviously do not want to drain them to get rid of mosquitoes, but you can reduce the amount of cover available. High weeds, and shallow water around the shallow edges of a pond should be removed. If filamentous algae, or pond scum as it is commonly called cover a large part of the body of water, the mosquitoes have a perfect habitat. They have water easily available for producing young, they have blood available from the animals that come to the water to drink, and they have cover in the water for protection from the fish who would otherwise dine on them! Skimming off the algae, or otherwise eliminating it will remove the cover, and and allow the fish to do their job.

If mosquitoes are exposed to natural predators, the predators work very well as a biological mosquito control method. If the predators can’t get to them, they can’t eat them. If you have brush and weeds around your home, it gives mosquitoes a place to hide from the things that like to eat them. It also gives them a place to find small animals for the blood needed for reproduction. If you eliminate hiding places like brush, weeds and high grass, you will drastically lower the population by exposing them to predation by their natural enemies.

Blood:

The female needs a blood meal to produce offspring. That may often come from you! Sometimes it comes from small animals. Reducing the availability of water and cover, reduces the numbers of small animals present to feed the hungry female.

Off site mosquito problems

If you paid attention to the mosquito prevention information above, and followed the suggestions, most of your problem with mosquitoes is gone. There are however, other circumstances that can allow mosquitoes to be a problem for you and your family, and some of them may not be within your means to control. This could include such problems as swampy areas on adjacent properties, or ponds and lakes that exist nearby, and are not properly maintained.  Even if this is your situation, you should still use the home mosquito control methods mentioned above, which will still eliminate most of the problem, and then concentrate on the things you can do about your off site problem.

Neighbors and Officials

Talk with the people who own the adjacent property about the problem. Do this before contacting public health officials. See if there is something that can be done by the owner before involving officialdom. If not, that is your next step. Encourage them to practice long term control rather than short term controls like pesticides. It will cost them less in the long run. If they are reluctant or obstinate, explain the health and public safety issues involved.

Prevention is the most natural of home mosquito control methods because it denies them what they need to thrive and reproduce, and exposes them to natural predators like birds, bats, and fish. These natural predators are the next step in our mosquito control system, biological control.

Biological mosquito control

Biological mosquito control is the next best step in home mosquito control, after we have used the best prevention methods. You have modified the habitat to work against the mosquitoes, now, you should modify the habitat to work in favor of their predators. This can be done by providing shelter and other encouragements for such predators as birds and bats. This can mean providing food sources like natural, native plants that birds enjoy, and a source of clean water like a fountain, or a well maintained, non stagnant bird bath. Bats require the same things. Bird and bat houses differ, but are fairly easily attained.

Other home mosquito control measures

In small areas where water cna not be drained immediately, a light spray of mineral oil over the surface of the water will prevent mosquito reproduction.

There are botanical products available which are effective in killing the mosquitoes that find their way to you. These, used in conjunction with a sound prevention program, work well as a backup.

Mosquito misting systems with plant oils offer a usable tool when used with prevention.

Just because it is cold, and there are no lake and pond weed problems visible, does not meant that the lake and pond weed problems you had last year have disappeared.  They are busy under the surface, soaking up nutrients, gaining energy in each node, preparing for that first warming, chlorophyll forming sunlight to get through when spring is sprung. The sunlight is the problem. Not that it is bad, but if it can reach the lake bottom, weeds will grow. Even pond scum starts at the bottom.

The weeds are preparing, but what are you doing to prepare for your battle with them?

To give yourself an advantage in the weed wars, there are a few things you can do during this season, at least if you are living in the warmer regions of the country.

Pond and lake pH

Check your lake or pond’s pH. If the pH is lower than 6.8,  it is too low to support the plankton algae bloom that prevents sunlight from reaching the bottom of the lake during the warm season. Even if you don’t have lake weed problems, low pH should be resolved. The single cell algae that colors your water green also provides food for the micro invertebrates that feed the bugs and the fish that eat them. This plankton is the beginning of the visible life cycle in your pond or lake.

Lime

You can solve your low pH problems with agricultural lime. If the lime is spread evenly over the bottom of the reservoir, it will provide a barrier to the acidic elements rising from the bottom. This can be done from a tractor and fertilizer spreader set to a headland setting if the body of water is small enough for the spreader to reach halfway.

If you are industrious and want to drain your lake or pond, you can apply the lime directly to the bottom. Draining the water is not necessary though, since the lime will eventually drift through the water to the bottom, and settle there.

Lime can also be spread with shovels from a plywood sheet on the top of your favorite boat. This can be a lot of work. A pump and hose can be used to wash the lime from the plywood if you want to make the job physically less taxing.

One of the nicest innovations of our time is liquid lime which can now be purchased at many agriculture supply stores. You simply purchase the required amount for your acreage, and apply it from your watercraft. It can be poured slowly into the prop wash, or you can poke several holes in the bottom of the container, loosen the lid, and pull it behind the boat until the container is empty. If you use this method, you will need to criss cross the lake several times to assure even coverage. The water will turn a milky white so it is easy to see where you have been.

Treating now with lime will aid any lake fertilization program you use during the warm season.

Dredging

If the reason you have lake weeds is that your reservoir is shallow, that is, under 2 feet deep in places, this is a good time of year to dredge to increase the depth. Water depth is a key factor in lake weed control. Once again, sunlight is the key. The deeper the water, the less the penetration, and the fewer the weeds.

Lake structure repairs

This can also be a good time of the year to repair docks, boat houses, boats, and any other equipment you use in or on the water. So, replace those weak boards and rails, repair the lift, and repair that boat or motor now while you have the time, and in the spring, all you will have to do is enjoy the fishing!