How to Survive Mosquito Season

With the hot, humid, and dry summer months ahead, we can look forward to being outdoors, and enjoying some summer fun. However, we also need to protect ourselves from mosquitoes, ticks, and other insects. With the West Nile virus scare, along with the general discomfort of mosquito bites, it’s important to protect our skin and stay as safe as possible. Here are some tips and recommendations to make sure you make it through mosquito season without any trouble!

1. Wear long sleeves, pants, and socks when possible to ensure maximum coverage. This is most important when traveling through dense areas of forests, wetlands, and humid areas where it’s unlikely that you will ‘feel’ the bite as it is occurring. Your safest option is to cover up. To prevent heat stroke, be sure to choose soft and light fabrics in light colors. Mosquitoes are attracted to dark colors, so pick your summer wardrobe wisely!

2. Always clean swimming pools, outdoor saunas, and hot tubs with the appropriate equipment, sprays, and disinfectants. Especially if this is used by many people, do take precaution and keep the area well-maintained.

3. Make sure doors and windows have well-fitted screens. You may need to update your screens for the summer, but do make the effort to repair or replace holes and breaks. Getting bites overnight is not fun!

4. Use mosquito repellant. There are a variety of repellants to choose from, but do be sure to do a test-run on a small patch of skin to make sure you are not allergic to any ingredients!

5. Stay away from wet areas when mosquitoes are most active. The most active times are at dusk and dawn, so its best to stay out of dense, humid, and wet areas at these times when mosquito bites are almost guaranteed.

6. Avoid wearing scented perfume. Mosquitoes are attracted to the sweet scent, and will also be attracted to you if you have fruit or sweet residue on your hands or clothing.

7. Use citronella candles. Do burn citronella candles while you’re out on the deck or garden. These are available in a variety of sizes and even colors, so they can serve as a great ‘candlelight’ addition too. Mosquito bites can be drastically reduced with this simple step.

8. Eat garlic. Believe it or not, garlic repels mosquitoes and is often an ingredient in many mosquito repellants.

9. Don’t exercise outside. Sweat also attracts mosquitoes, so stick with indoor activities as much as possible. When you release carbon dioxide from exercise, this can also increase your chances of a mosquito bite as bugs are attracted to this toxin too.

10. Remove or reduce standing water around campsites, houses, and other areas. Ditches and small puddles are great mosquito attractors, so remove them when possible.

Although there is no way to be 100% mosquito-free this summer, there are definitely some smart strategies you can employ to reduce your chances of getting bitten. If you feel that a bite is becoming an infection, do contact your doctor to test for any viruses or oncoming problems. Make use of candles, natural repellants, and tight fitted screens, and you’ll be on your way to a fun and safe summer!