Mosquito Control Tips for Louisiana Residences

A mosquito biting someone in Baton Rouge LA - Dugas Pest Control

One long-standing joke that many Louisiana residents enjoy is that the mosquito should replace the pelican as the state bird. With their overblown regional prominence, there might be something to this idea! If you live around Baton Rouge LA, you know that it’s near impossible to avoid mosquito problems for most of the year, especially if you don’t take them seriously. This is why our technicians at Dugas Pest Control have decided to lay out all of the tips and tricks that we know to help you avoid mosquitoes on your property on your own!

Standing Water—The Number One Mosquito Attractant

Although they are frail insects and live short lives, mosquitoes as a whole are able to thrive every year due to their lightning-fast reproductive cycle. Mosquitoes lay their eggs on standing water, so eliminating sources of standing water in your yard will help to prevent them from using your property as breeding grounds. Standing water often builds up in these areas:

  • Trash bins, buckets, and other containers
  • Gutters and drains
  • Birdbaths and wading pools
  • Old tires, tarps, and other clutter

Some standing water sources can’t be drained. If you have a pool in your backyard, make sure to keep it covered when not in use, and consider buying an agitator or fish for your pond, if you have one.

Other Natural Ways to Repel Mosquitoes

As we know here in Louisiana, sometimes it’s impossible to avoid or remove stagnant water. With our climate and landscape, the Baton Rouge LA area is the perfect place for mosquitoes to live and breed. Thankfully, there are other strategies that you can try at home to control mosquitoes on your property. These include:

  1. Using insect repellent on exposed skin
  2. Installing fans in outdoor areas to block mosquitoes with wind
  3. Placing mosquito netting in high activity areas
  4. Planning outdoor activities in the midday, their time of least activity

Professional Mosquito Treatment in Baton Rouge LA

Many people find that their mosquito outbreaks are simply too large to handle without professional help. Our expert technicians at Dugas Pest Control are trained to conduct complete property inspections to determine the best strategy for a barrier treatment. We only use top-tier, environmentally responsible products that are safe for you, your family, and your pets. If you need the mosquitoes in your yard gone today, reach out to us for a free quote!

What Just Bit Me? Identify Common Bug Bites

A mosquito biting a person in Baton Rouge LA - Dugas Pest Control

Bug bites of any kind can be worrisome. Especially when you don’t catch the culprit, bug bites can leave you anxious, wondering what got to you and whether or not there are more of them waiting. Many people that wake up with bug bites after a night’s sleep misidentify the markings, which leads to a drawn-out process of catching and removing the biting pests from your home. If you’re wondering what bug bit you in Baton Rouge LA, read on. The pest experts at Dugas Pest Control are well-versed in the habits and attributes of biting pests in the region and can help you identify and remove the ones that you’re dealing with.

Pests that Draw Blood

Some blood-sucking pests might not appear as menacing as other biting bugs but are able to transmit dangerous diseases to humans. Because of this, it is important to be able to identify which kind of bite you’re dealing with. Blood-drawing pests in Baton Rouge LA include:

  1. Mosquitoes: Mosquito bites start out as a raised, white welt and turn into an itchy, red bump, usually no more than 1/2“ across. They usually don’t come with any side effects besides pain and itchiness, but mosquitoes in tropical regions can carry deadly diseases like malaria and the Zika virus.
  2. Ticks: Depending on the species, tick bites can look like a mosquito bite or a smaller, darker mark. They can develop a light red ring that circles the bump at a distance. If you catch a tick bite early, they will still be latched onto your body. Ticks are known for spreading the dangerous Lyme disease.
  3. Fleas: Fleas bite our pets more often, but they bite humans, too. It won’t often result in initial pain, but it will be itchy. The worst outcome of a flea bite is an infection caused by excessive itching.
  4. Bed bugs: If you wake up in bed with tiny, red bites aligned in a zigzag pattern on your skin, you’re dealing with a bed bug infestation. Bed bugs do not pass on diseases through their bites, but they can pick up and carry diseases on their bodies through their travels.

Other Biting Pests in Baton Rouge LA

There are other kinds of biting pests in our region, but the aforementioned pests are the ones that you should be more worried about. Some kinds of pests in Baton Rouge LA either rarely bite or cause nearly negligible symptoms. Ants, cockroaches, and centipedes fall into this category. Some ants, like fire ants, bite someone that’s threatening them only to latch on to deliver a more acute sting, similar to a wasp. Bites from these pests are very rare, though.

A few spiders in the area are able to deliver painful bites, but again, only in rare circumstances. Wolf spiders, brown recluse spiders, and the feared black widow fall into this category. If you experience a black widow bite, seek medical attention immediately.

Need Protection from Biting Pests?

If you are worried about bug bites this summer, reach out to your local pest control company to see how they can help. Our technicians at Dugas Pest Control have experience identifying and removing all of the biting pests in Baton Rouge LA and can teach you exclusion efforts to help you keep them out of your home once we’ve dealt with them. For a free quote, contact us today!