Should You Spray Your Yard for Mosquitoes and Ticks?

After the Zika outbreak in 2015, along with the list of mosquitoes– as well as tick-borne illnesses rising, the insect-control industry is flourishing.

“There has been a growth of businesses that are carrying out mosquito management these days,” according to Stanton Cope, the head of the American Mosquito Control Association. “You can find them everywhere. However, there are some who are more skilled and professional than others.” As a matter of fact, consumer affairs agencies throughout the U.S. are on high alert for businesses that spray without the right accreditation, practical knowledge, or tools.

Spraying is an important business, Cope states. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has authorized several pesticides that can be used by homeowners, stating that they are risk-free when used correctly; however, any chemical spray presents a few risks. These risks are going to be much worse in case the person using it is not well-trained.

Novice sprayers might result in you wasting your money by using the chemicals incorrectly or by using those that do not work. Plus, they could also subject you to avoidable risk. Chemicals applied incorrectly could imply that more toxic compounds could get to your kids and pets. In addition, they could also cause harm to plants and insects. They could also build insecticide resistance, which can make any current insect problems a lot worse.

You can prevent all these problems caused by Mosquitoes by following the tips provided below.

Begin Slowly

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as the EPA, integrated pest management (IPM) is best first step when it comes to lowering the insect population in your house.

That is, well before you think about spraying, you need to try simple mosquito-control methods such as getting rid of standing water (where most mosquitoes prefer to reproduce) from pet pan, old car tires, bird feeders, and so on. You also need to fix screens on windows and doors and make use of your air conditioning system, if you could, so you could keep mosquitoes from entering your home. You also need to use an insect repellent that is EPA registered.

In case your lawn is already swarmed with insects or you are concerned about pest attacks for a certain reason (for instance, there is a brook or pond near your home), it is recommended to get in touch with your mosquito-abatement district since those are generally manned with experts. Contact your county or town government to check if you have one in your place because not everybody does. They might spray your yard for free or for a nominal cost when the risk of spread or infestation is high enough.

Ask Questions, Verify Credentials

In case your county does not have a mosquito-abatement group available and DIY options are not enough, the next alternative would be to hire a Myrtle Beach pest control company. Before you choose to hire one, there are a few questions you need to ask:

Check their license or certification, the label for the insect spray used, and the equipment they will use. A professional pest control company in Myrtle Beach must have these things prepared. In many states, they’re legally necessary for any pest control business. The license must be current, and the content label needs to show what ingredients the company is using.
Ask if they have a strategy to protect nontarget plants and creatures. The ingredients used to get rid of mosquitoes could also wipe out good insects, such as ladybugs, honeybees, and butterflies. Professional sprayers are going to have great strategies in place to reduce the drift of potentially harmful substances into nontarget locations.
Ask if they make follow-up appointments to make sure that their treatment works. Reliable companies are going to visit every now and then to check the area and that their sprays have done their job as expected.

Be Cynical

The legitimacy of any pest control in Myrtle Beach is not the only factor that you have to check. You need to remember a few other things:

Think about “all organic” promises. Be sure to double-check to make sure that the company you hire delivers on their promise.
Turn down mosquito misting units. The use of these programmed spraying systems which act like automatic water sprinklers, is becoming more popular. However, the equipment is not approved by the EPA, and Cope suggests that you skip them. They are also a bit costly. And since they do not permit any nuanced strategy to pest management (they typically include spraying one chemical throughout the whole yard), they could breed insecticide resistance.
Keep an eye on insecticide resistance. In the 2015 Zika epidemic in Florida, the CDC revealed that infection-control steps did not work as expected, partly because mosquitoes in Myrtle Beach had built the ability to resist a few of the chemicals that were used. This was also a problem that was evident in Puerto Rico as well as other locations that were hard hit by the virus.

How Does This Relate To Your Yard?

The way in which individuals manage their pest problems – the chemicals that are used and how they are sprayed can worsen the resistance problem. Therefore, it is vital that you make certain that the company you hire knows how to manage these chemicals conscientiously. An expert knows that changing chemicals year after year is an effective method to avoid this resistance problem.