As strange as this sounds mosquitoes are the most deadly insect on the Earth. Every year they cause more than 1 million deaths! The most common type of mosquito that we see in our service areas (Ozaukee, Waukesha, Milwaukee, Washington counties in southeastern Wisconsin) is the Southern House Mosquito. In 2013 mosquitoes caused people all over Milwaukee, Wisconsin problems due to their constant attacks on homeowners. It was the worst mosquito season that any of us have seen in quite some time. Homeowners were forced to cancel outside activities due to their yards being overwhelmed with mosquitoes.
It’s pretty astonishing to think that 1 female mosquito, in one season, can have 4 million descendants. As we have seen first hand, evidence with the Ebola Virus. Infectious diseases are spreading geographically much faster than any other time in recent history. Unfortunately, mosquitoes are capable of transmitting diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, dengue, and different types of encephalitis including; St. Louis encephalitis (SLE), Western Equine encephalitis (WEE), La Crosse encephalitis (LAC), and West Nile virus (WNV)] to humans and animals.
Our “Mosquito Season” can vary, but most of our customers are sprayed between May-September with the worst time of the year is usually throughout July. It’s important for our customers to understand that no treatment will leave the yard mosquito free, but it’s always a goal to strive for! The single most important thing that you the customer can do to prevent mosquitoes in your yard is to make certain that you don’t have any standing water!
Why should I have my yard sprayed for mosquitoes? We don’t try and scare people to use our services, but it’s important to provide factual reasons why it’s important to be treated for mosquitoes.
“As of 2014 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) received reports of 36,437 cases of West Nile Virus in the United States. Of these, 15,774 resulted in meningitis/encephalitis and 1,538 were fatal. The CDC estimates that there have been over 1.5 million infections and 350,000 cases of West Nile Fever, but the disease is grossly under-reported because of its similarity to other viral infections.”
(source/ The American Mosquito Control Associations (AMCA’s) website, www.mosquito.org)
La Crosse Encephalitis – This is known as the California strain of encephalitis which is the most frequent strain found in Wisconsin.
Dog Heartworm – Dog heartworm is caused by roundworm which is a serious disease that threatens all types of dog breeds throughout Wisconsin. Dog heartworm can result in death of your dog! Parasitic worms can accumulate in the heart in large numbers causing the blood flow to be impeded from the heart causing stress on the dogs body. Most dogs can be given preventative drugs to prevent roundworm from developing.
Malaria – Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by parasitic protozoans of the Plasmodium type. So what does that mean? Basically in a nutshell, Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting and headaches. In severe cases it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma or death. The symptoms don’t usually begin until ten to fifteen days after you have been bit.
Yellow Fever – Other names for Yellow Fever include yellow jack or yellow plague. Yellow Fever is transmitted by mosquitoes and is an acute viral disease. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains particularly in the back, and headaches. In most people the symptoms typically improve within five days of the bite. In some cases within a day of improving, the fever comes back, abdominal pain occurs, and liver damage begins causing yellow skin. Complications from the liver being damage include bleeding and kidney damage.
Bird Baths: Old stagnate water can lead to breeding site for mosquitoes. Change and clean the water every few days.
Cans and Buckets: Make sure to discard them or store them upside down so water doesn’t accumulate.
Canoes and Boats: Cover with a tarp and put them upside down.
Cesspools and Septic tanks: Again make sure everything is covered.
Drainage Basins/Un-level ground: Add dirt to areas where water accumulates after rain, grade dirt to correct the problem areas. Sometimes French drainage systems are needed.
Flower Pots: Drain standing water.
Gutters: Clean out leaves and debris that trap water, we provide these services as well.
Leaky faucets: should be closed tightly as water build-up can create breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
Old Tires: Don’t allow them to retain water in the yard.
Toys: other objects around the yard should be placed in an area where they won’t collect rainwater.
Small Ponds: You can stock these with fish that will eat any developing mosquitoes.
Storm Drains: Check them frequently to insure water flows freely.
Swimming Pool Tarps: Try to have them sloped so water runs off and doesn’t accumulate on the tarp.
Wheel barrows: Store them upside down and do not allow them to store large quantities of water.
Yard waste: Lawn cuttings and raked leaves should be removed to prevent potential breeding sites.
(If you want to just try it, having a party or have just a few mosquitoes… this is the treatment.) A one-time spray is a very effective treatment against mosquitoes, results can vary based on weather. Water obviously dilutes the spray and constant rain after a treatment can minimize overall spray effectiveness. While we do guarantee our sprays, we cannot control the weather so we practice a common sense approach to re-treatments. If the spray is in-effective we will come and re-treat for free, but please keep weather in mind regarding re-treats.
Monthly Sprays:
(If your loaded with mosquitoes this is the treatment plan for you!) This would be the most effective treatment option for mosquitoes. This option insures that your yard will have minimal mosquito activity during the mosquito season. The treatments are extremely effective and become even more effective if your neighbors join in.
Two Spray Treatment:
(A popular choice for most owners.) Usually you have a ton of mosquitoes, but just don’t want to spend that much money on monthly treatments, you can usually get by on 2 treatments.
Neighborhood Treatments:
This method doesn’t require that everyone participates, but it is a proven fact the more neighbors that use our spray treatments, the control is better. We will give discounted price to 3 or more in a neighborhood who wish to use our services.
Bi-Weekly (twice a month):
This is the… “You never want to see a mosquito plan!” If we treat you ever two weeks you will not have a mosquito problem or we will give your money back for that treatment period. We do this treatment for outside weddings, big parties, and people who hate mosquitoes.
Treatment Guarantees:
One spray treatment is effective up to 4 weeks depending on weather. Water obviously dilutes the spray and constant rain after a treatment can minimize overall spray effectiveness. While we do guarantee our sprays, we cannot control the weather so we practice a common sense approach to re-treatments. Heavily wooded or neighboring properties are not guaranteed to eliminate all mosquitoes, they must land on treated areas to be affective.