Glad to know it is not just us. The Asian tiger mosquitoes in our backyard are terrible this year. They are a constant thorn in our sides and just about anywhere they can find bare skin. We rarely venture out in our backyard, day or night, from about June through September because they are thick as thieves. If we must brave the great outdoors, we coat ourselves with insect repellent. However, because the chemicals in the repellents are not for children under three, Haven has only been acquainted to her backyard during the cool months.
I contacted the health department earlier this week and they came by on Monday to do an assessment of the mosquitoes in our back yard. Either I sounded desperate or the health department employees were eaten alive, because today they stopped by with some sort of trap in order to figure out exactly how bad our adult population is.
Tomorrow they return for the trap to get a head count of the adult mosquito population in our backyard. I’m dying to ask them how the trap is made. Honestly, it looks like with a trip to the hardware store and auto store, you can easily buy all the supplies. And, damned if those those nasty mosquitoes were swarming around the contraption.
But, the traps only take care of the adults. The baby mosquitoes grow wherever there’s water, so while they were here they went around with their little ladles dipping into our storm drains looking for breeding grounds, treating the water where mosquito eggs were found.
I am hopeful that we will win the war against the mosquitoes. Or, at least squash the population.