Mosquito Control

Here are tips to reduce mosquitoes in your yard:

Each of us can do our part to help reduce the number of mosquitoes in our area. The items listed below identify actions we can do as a community to reduce the mosquito population.

• Keep pools filtrated. Unused pools should be drained, taken down or treated with Bti, altosid, or a home remedy by pouring a capful of common cooking oil on the surfact of the water.
• Properly discard old tires, tin cans, buckets, pots, drums, and other containers, or store them so they don't collect water.
• Cover or store boats, canoes, and wheelbarrows upside down when not in use.
• Empty your small plastic wading pool and birdbath weekly.
• Fill holes in trees with sand.
• Empty and refill pet water dishes daily.
• Change water and rinse ornamental containers holding plants once a week.
• Repair leaky pipes and outside faucets. Don't let stormwater runoff accumulate.
• Clean clogged roof gutters and drain flat roofs.

Mosquitoes develop only in water. Water standing for over one week can produce a crop of mosquitoes. If you wish to spray your yard to control mosquitoes, your local hardware store can recommend insecticides or natural repellants that are effective and approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

St. Louis County stated that there are two over the counter foggers that have the same ingredient that they use for spraying.

1. Ortho Mosquitoe Be Gone, it hooks up to your garden hose
2. Cutter Yard Guard

These products are sprayed on your vegetation leaving a residue. When mosquitoes hide in the vegetation from the sun, they get the chemical on their legs and it kills them. This spray will last up to 4 weeks even with light rain but after a heavy storm it washed away.

Vector Spraying

to request spraying, call St. Louis County Vector Control directly at 314-727-3097 and at www.stlouisco.com/doh/vector/mosquitos.html for additional information on mosquito abatement.