BEAUMONT, Texas — After a rainy day like Tuesday in Southeast Texas, you can expect even more mosquitoes to come out.
If you have any standing water in your yard, that's the perfect breeding ground for these pests. They're more than just pesky. The mosquito can be downright deadly.
"There always is a threat, not just the annoyance of the bite, but actually having some kind of disease," said entomologist Bart Foster with Bill Clark Pest Control.
With diseases like West Nile and the Zika virus, Foster said mosquitoes could be multiplying in your own backyard.
Mosquitos like to breed in standing water, and Foster said there are some hidden breeding grounds you need to be on the lookout for.
"You walk around your own home and you end up finding, you know, a dog dish or something that's full of mosquito larva and you realize you're the problem," Foster said.
Beaumont resident Bill Westbrook loves to be outside.
"I'm outside and ride my bike and doing all stuff outside," Westbrook said.
But, he said he thinks more can be done to keep the bugs at bay.
He would like to see the city address any drainages issues and spray more frequently to battle the bugs.
"It's a little aggravating to deal with mosquitoes," Westbrook said.
Now at your home, what can you do to deal with those annoying pests?
Foster said people can follow these “four D's.”
- Drain any standing water within toys and tarps.
- Avoid outside activity at dusk and dawn.
- Dress in long sleeves and long pants when you can.
- Use a repellent with DEET.
Monday, Jefferson County mosquito control went up in the air to spray by plane to help squash out some of these bugs.
"That's designed to put some residual material in the resting places where mosquitoes will be found in the yard and just to reduce that population so you could get out to enjoy the yard and do things that you'd like to do," Foster said.
If you follow those four D's, you’ll be on your way to controlling mosquitos in your yard.
