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What You Can Do

What residents can do to protect themselves from mosquitoes.

Prevent mosquito breeding around your home! Check these objects after it rains and dump standing water to prevent mosquito breeding: Old tires, laundry tanks, uncovered tanks/cisterns, drums/barrels, discarded buckets and other containers, pet dishes, construction blocks, bottles, discarded tin cans, tree holes and bamboo, bottle pieces on top of walls, old shoes, flower pots, discarded toys, roof guttering, bromeliad plants, garden containers and tools, brick holes, and unmaintained wading or swimming pools.

The most important things you can do are reducing mosquito breeding habitat and preventing mosquito bites. 

To reduce mosquito breeding habitat, check your yard for standing water and either dump or treat it, especially after it rains. Even small amounts of water can be mosquito breeding habitats.

  • Dump standing water found in:
  • Trays beneath potted plants
    • Used tires
    • Trash, discarded buckets, and other containers
    • Children’s toys
    • See infographic for other potential breeding sources
  • Maintain by cleaning weekly or adding a mosquito dunk:
    • water fountains 
    • pet dishes
  • Maintain and treat pools
  • Cover rain barrels with a fine mesh, can also stock with mosquitofish
  • Backyard ponds (can stock with mosquitofish)
  • Check flat roofs for pockets of water in shaded areas and clogged rain gutters

You can also use mosquito traps to reduce the number of mosquitoes in your yard or home. BG-sentinel traps use dry ice (which can be bought at a grocery store) and/or a scent bait to attract mosquitoes and are very effective. The City uses BG-Sentinel traps when conducting mosquito surveillance. Ovitraps can be used to attract females that are ready to lay their eggs. It is important to maintain ovitraps by adding a mosquito dunk or they will become breeding habitat.

Call 311 to report mosquito breeding habitat such as an unkept swimming pool.

To prevent mosquito bites: 

  • Wear long pants and long sleeves and an EPA-approved insect repellent
    • EPA-approved insect repellents include those containing DEET, picaridin, and oil of lemon eucalyptus
    • For a full list, see the CDC website. 
  • If you can, avoid being outdoors at times when mosquitoes are most likely to bite (dawn and dusk)
    • However, the mosquito species Aedes aegypti is active during the day.
  • Check window screens and doors for holes and repair any holes with sticky screen tape