Keeping mosquitoes and ticks out of the yard

When Jessica Picon was bitten by a deer tick about 15 years ago, she was treated for weeks for possible Lyme disease, although test results were inconclusive. Ever since, she has been cautious, and for the last two years has had the yard of her summer home in Oakdale sprayed every four weeks to kill mosquitoes and ticks.

"It's not perfect," but it greatly reduces the number, she said. "It kills the ticks, which I'm more worried about."

This summer, experts have urged Long Islanders to take extra care to avoid ticks, as some believe the tick population has increased in recent years. Dr. Luis Marcos, associate professor of medicine at Stony Brook Medicine and an infectious disease specialist, said he believes the COVID-19 pandemic allowed ticks to flourish as the animals that carry them, such as deer and mice, moved about more freely while people were locked down at home.

And then there’s the mosquito situation. Long Island experienced plenty of rainfall this summer as well as high humidity and heat, which create ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

"Standing water is your biggest enemy in terms of mosquitoes" because they lay eggs in it, said Jack Rule, owner of Locust Valley-based Long Island Tick and Mosquito Control, who calls the recent weather "mosquito heaven." His company charges $100 and up for each treatment, spraying every 18 to 21 days for mosquitoes and three to four times a season for ticks, from early spring through October.

It’s hard to predict whether a certain locale will be particularly buggy, said Scott Campbell, entomology lab chief for Suffolk County Department of Health Services. "When it comes to diseases and pathogens that cause them, it’s very localized," he said. "So my yard can be more risky than your yard."

The Nassau and Suffolk health departments as well as the Centers for Disease Control recommend using bug spray to prevent mosquito bites and transmission of West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis and other diseases.

To prevent mosquitoes around the home, dump water that collects in any type of container, including kids’ toys, tires, gutters, abandoned pools and pool covers, and spray with repellent.

There are many components that drive tick populations, including the local populations of mice and deer that carry ticks.

To prevent ticks, which can cause Lyme and other diseases, trim long grass and bushes, and remove lawn debris and leaf litter, as well as rodent nesting spots like woodpiles or holes in stone walls.

When these steps don’t do enough to allay the mosquito and tick population on residential properties, some homeowners turn to companies that spray.

Rule said that he chooses a natural cedarwood oil-based mix over the more widely used insecticide Bifenthrin. "It’s a good, natural pesticide, and I use other oils in conjunction with them," Rule said, adding that the application works on mosquitoes as well as ticks.

The treatments are a liquid that get sprayed throughout the yard. Residents are advised to remain indoors with their pets for about an hour afterward.

Picon said she pays $55 for each treatment every four weeks from Mosquito Joe South Shore at her Oakdale home. The company sprays a combination of six pesticides, all registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, she said.

The main message is prevention, said Campbell, of Suffolk's health services department. "The more you know about mosquitoes and ticks and how to prevent them, the less worried you should be about acquiring these diseases."