Is your home mosquito proof?
Ever wondered why despite of your best efforts mosquitoes won’t stop hovering around your home. These vicious blood sucking insects can make your life a living hell, with their potent ability to spread diseases like malaria and dengue, mosquito habitats must be weeded out.
Here are 10 ways in which you can protect your home from turning into a mosquito hotbed.
Adult mosquitoes most frequently lay eggs in stagnated water, any water body which doesn’t have much movement is a haven for them. To effectively mosquito proof your house, such water sources need to be eliminated.
1. Clean swimming pools – Homeowners with swimming pools beware! Keep your pools well chlorinated and cleaned. Whenever on a vacation, do not leave your pool without chlorine or else, you are sure to return to a mosquito cesspool.
2. Check drainage – Gutters and drains need to be cleaned regularly, all drainage needs to be checked for any malfunction. If downspouts don’t drain properly – leaving behind pools of water – then you have a problem. These puddles will become massive breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
3. Clean other water bodies – Ponds and artificial water bodies need to be kept aerated, reason being, moving water will deter mosquitoes from settling in there and laying eggs. Another solution for this could also be to load the pond with mosquito eating fish. This will make sure that you have happy fed fishes and no mosquitoes!
4. Minimalize sources of stagnated water – Containers for feeding birds or bird baths are one more source via which mosquitoes are attracted to settle on your property. Bird baths are stagnated water bodies sans chlorine, which means they are an open invitation for mosquitoes to come and spurt their population in your house.
5. Take care while gardening – House owners with an avid love for gardening may want to overhaul some gardening practices. Saucers under flower pots, excess accumulated water in potted plants, are all breeding pits for mosquitoes.
6. Clean pet water bowls – Pets around the house are always a delight, but leaving your pet’s bowl full of water out in the open for more than a day isn’t a good idea. Not only is it harmful for the members of the house, but also unhealthy for your beloved pet. Replace the water in the pet bowl every once a day.
7. Secure house – Revamp your house fittings by making sure your the windows of your house are protected with mesh coverings. This will help you keep mosquitoes at bay without turning the house into an oxygen-less space.
8. Use sprays – Spray around insecticides in your home. Chemical based mosquito controlling insecticides are widely available in the market. Make sure to read the product’s label, a spray must be guaranteed as effective against adult and larval mosquitoes.
9. Use electric insect killing devices – Bug Zappers might be the modern era’s replacement for a medieval torture device, but they don’t work on their own. So unless you have specially designated a house member with the task of Buz Zapping, it won’t be of much use. However, these devices are effective as quick resort.
10. Use chemicals on clothing- Treat clothing with a permithrin-based product, such as Permanone. Permethrin. These chemicals stay on clothes long after multiple washes and also help to keep mosquitoes from settling on your body!
