County AG Report: Mosquito Prevention

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - Warmer weather brings more opportunities to get outside and enjoy, but also brings the return to mosquito season. These pests continue to be a nuisance for outdoor lovers all season. In this week’s County AG Report, Rob Koenig sat down with a couple of experts on how to deal with mosquitoes, and what steps everyone can take to mitigate the problem.

“A mosquito larvae, to make it through, only needs a tablespoon of water. So, you don’t need a lot of water for a mosquito larvae to make it.”

Jim Dill is an extension professor at the university of Maine, specializing in pest control and prevention. Dill has been studying the species of mosquitoes for many years, and receives phone calls this time of year from people concerned about an increase in number.

“Every year I get calls from people saying jeez, you know it seems like there’s going to be a lot more, or there’s a lot of mosquitoes around. What’s happening, can you make a prediction? I always give them the same prediction, is that if you had a million mosquitoes in your backyard last year, and it’s a really bad year, and you’ve only got half a million this year, do you really notice a difference?”

While there’s not a way to predict the amount of mosquitoes present in an area, there are some homemade solutions to reducing the number of mosquitoes that land on and bite you, according to Natalia Bragg, an herbalist at Knot II Bragg Farm in Wade.

“Now this is user friendly, and you see the oils remain in the top. Before you use it the first time, you shake it one time, and then you wait a few seconds and let the oils return to the top. Now you are spraying highly scented spring water. So then, close your eyes, it smells good. But the bugs don’t light on ya. They’ll still buzz around ya, but they won’t light on ya.”

While Bragg wouldn’t say what’s in her homemade solution, she says that it’s great at keeping the mosquitoes from bothering you. This, however, doesn’t necessarily reduce the number of mosquitoes on your property. Dill provided one easy thing landowners can do to help reduce the number of mosquitoes in the future.

“The best way to manage the population in your yard is police your yard every week looking for standing water. Whether that be a stuffed-up gutter, if it’s a five gallon plastic bucket… so you need to be going around and emptying all of those things.”

Following some of these tips can help reduce the number of mosquitoes seen, as well as prevent yourself from becoming their snack.

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