KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Sun, pools, and cookouts are all signs of summer. And so are mosquitoes. This year, the website pests.org predicts the Midwest will have a slightly above-average mosquito season.
Local pest control experts agree with the website focused on resources and reviews.
"There are a lot of pools where they are having babies in and they are coming out right now and hatching. So there are a few mosquitoes, but give it about two or three weeks and we’re going to have thousands of mosquitoes everywhere," said Mitch Shipman of Blue Beetle Pest Control in Kansas City, Missouri.
Shipman said rainwater is "fertilizer" for mosquitoes. During breeding season (typically from July to September), the insects lay their eggs in standing water. The more rain the Midwest receives before July, the more places mosquitoes have to hatch.
Pouring water out of birdbaths, tires, ashtrays, clogged gutters, children's toys and anywhere else it may pool is the first step in keeping mosquitoes off your property.
Companies like Blue Beetle Pest Control can spray an insecticide on bushes, eaves, and yards to kill mosquitoes. Shipman recommends getting the service about once a month in the summer.
"And you have to talk to your neighbors because mosquitoes come over from your neighbors’ house," Shipman said. "Have a meeting with all your neighbors and encourage them to clean out their gutters and tip over their birdbaths and get water out of their yards."
Besides being annoying, mosquitoes have a dangerous side. They spread diseases such as malaria and West Nile Virus in humans and heart worm in dogs.
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