MORRIS COUNTY, NJ – COVID-19 may be front and center on most fronts this Spring but Morris County’s pesky mosquito population could care less.
While residents seek social-distanced refuge in their back yards and decks or parks and trails, these persistent bugs are ready to take an outdoor bite out of your already reduced fun.
Morris County’s mosquito control teams are attacking wet areas of the county, treating and eliminating breeding grounds for mosquito larvae. They also are spraying infested areas — targeting sections of Montville, East Hanover, and Florham Park in recent days.
Upcoming spraying schedule can be viewed here.
While those efforts can pay major dividends in minimizing infestation, individual property owners have the ability to make a major difference, too
If everyone would take steps around their own homes to eliminate standing water, it could reduce the number of mosquitoes by many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, where you live,’’ Morris County Mosquito Division Superintendent Kristian McMorland said.
Steps you can take to reduce mosquito populations include:
- At least once a week, empty water from flowerpots, pet food and water dishes, birdbaths, swimming pool covers, buckets, barrels, and cans;
- Check for clogged rain gutters and clean them out;
- Poke holes in trash cans and recycling containers;
- Recycle discarded tires, and remove other items that could collect water;
- Check for containers in places that may be hard to see, such as under bushes or under your home;
- Aerate ornamental pools or stock them with fish like fathead minnows;
- Do not allow water gardens to stagnate;
- Clean and chlorinate swimming pools, including those not in use (mosquitoes may even breed in water that collects on pool covers);
- Dispose of cans, plastic containers, ceramic pots or similar water-holding containers that have accumulated on your property
In addition to the nuisance, mosquitoes also bring the possibility of diseases such as West Nile Virus, Eastern equine and St. Louis encephalitis, which are transmitted through mosquito bites.
For more details on mosquitoes, click here.
