Standing Water

Mosquitoes that breed during colder months do not carry West Nile Virus. They live mainly in sewers, wet or damp cellars, or in blocked drains. If you have mosquitoes in your home in colder months, you should:

• Inspect basement walls and ceilings for mosquitoes
• Use caulk to fill gaps between waste pipes entering your home and the floors or walls
• Install fine metal screens on all tubs and sinks
• Hire an an exterminator certified by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Mosquitoes are attracted to light. They will fly to bright windows at night and gather on and around doors with outside porch lights. Mosquitoes can easily fly into homes when doors are opened.

The following steps will help prevent mosquitoes from entering your home:

• Repair any holes in window screens.
• Place door sweeps on doors that have large gaps at the top or bottom.
• Replace porch lights with yellow bulbs (mosquitoes aren't usually attracted to yellow bulbs).
• Close gaps in window mounted air conditioners.

Mosquitoes can breed in very small amounts of water. You can prevent mosquitos from breeding by following these steps:

• Discard unused items where water can accumulate and breed mosquitoes, such as buckets, discarded tires, cans and bottles.
• Remove water from flower pots, bases and saucers, and use sand to absorb excess water.
• Remove water from garbage and recycling pails, plastic bottles and cans.
• Remove leaves from roof and balcony gutters.
• Remove leaves from birdbaths and change the water every 2 to 3 days.
• Cover swimming pools when they are not being regularly used.
• Remove water from pool covers, discarded tires and barrels.
• Place lids tightly on pails or place holes at bottom of pails that cannot be covered so that any water can drain.