Mosquitoes Love East Tennessee’s Rainfall

As I’m sitting here writing this blog, I’m enjoying the fact that sunshine is streaming in through the window. The first full week of July featured cool weather and rain showers every day, and though June had its fair share of heat, it was also a noticeably wet month. In fact, the combined rainfall for the month of June and the first week of July was 15 inches! That’s huge, and you can bet that the pest populations love the abundance of water and the break from July’s usual blazing heat.

If any pests (besides termites) are happy about the water, it is the mosquitoes. I took a walk in my neighborhood last night and realized that the mosquitoes are preparing for a blood bath (really, it’s more like a blood feast for them, but still). Every low place that can hold a pond has one, and the drainage ditches are so full that whole sections of yards are rivers that will eventually become stagnant lakes. This is just like Christmas in July for the mosquitoes because their young have an entire life phase in the water. Normally, they have to be picky about where they lay their eggs to ensure that moisture will be available for the larvae. Now, the higher water levels offer them an abundance of new real estate, much of which is in or near yards and, consequently, near houses.

We have explained the mosquito life cycle in a previous post, but let me hit the high points again. Mosquitoes require blood to reproduce, and a female mosquito will only bite a human when she is preparing to lay eggs. This means that every bite you receive this summer directly results in the hatching of about 300 new mosquitoes. This is not good news. We have done another article about mosquito habitat control that you may want to check out as well. It is very important that you get out into your yard as soon as possible and remove as much standing water as you can. This could mean emptying the bird bath or turning over your children’s toys to eliminate the puddles.

Russell’s Pest Control can do an inspection on your property to help you find mosquito habitat issues and make some good adjustments. We can also set you up for a monthly mosquito service to run through the remainder of the warm season to get some control of the mosquitoes that are going to be popping up in your yard.

We hope that you enjoy the sunshine when it’s out and enjoy the fun that comes with the summer months. Just give us a call if there’s anything Russell’s can do to make these next few months even more enjoyable for you.