FREEHOLD – The Monmouth County Mosquito Extermination Commission has created a checklist to help residents identify and eliminate places in their yards where mosquitoes live and breed.
There are many things homeowners can do to reduce the mosquitoes found in their backyard and neighborhood, including:
- All standing water should be eliminated. Avoid over-watering lawns.
- Dispose of all useless containers and those that are saved should be turned upside down. Tires, especially, can breed thousands of mosquitoes.
- Recycling containers should have holes drilled into their bottom to allow for drainage of rainwater or have tight-fitting lids.
- Roof gutters and drainage ditches should be maintained and cleared of debris.
- Canoes and other boats should be covered or turned over for storage.
- Properly screening windows and doors will keep mosquitoes and other biting insects outside—away from you, your family and your pets.
Residents with pools, birdbaths and ponds are offered the following tips for mosquito control:
- Fish will readily eat mosquitoes and, therefore, should be placed in ornamental ponds.
- The water in birdbaths and troughs should be changed weekly.
- Swimming pools and wading pools should be emptied or covered when not in use so water cannot collect in them (or the cover).
Monmouth County’s Mosquito Habitat Checklist is available on www.visitmonmouth.com.
Those who have a mosquito control problem or would like information, may call the Monmouth County Mosquito Extermination Commission at 732-542-3630 or visit its website at www.visitmonmouth.com.
