Mosquitoes are not just annoying. They carry a host of diseases ranging from West Nile Virus to Malaria. For many years, the answer to mosquito control was to spray and spray some more. However, there are ways of combating those pesky mosquitoes without having to poison yourself or your environment.



Create a pleasing environment for the predators of mosquitoes like predators include birds, bats, dragonflies, fish particularly the mosquitofish and guppy. Mosquitoes, just as most wildlife does, have natural predators. When you eliminate those predators through the spread of unnatural surroundings you allow the imbalance of the mosquito population. If you are interested in eliminating mosquitoes, you need to recreate nature's balance between predator and prey.

Welcome birds into your garden. Plant a few trees and bushes and flowers which will attract them. Birds will nest and feed in covered dense areas for safety so create those types of areas. Even before planting, make sure to make your soil rich with compost and add a few earthworms. This will attract insect eating birds, even as your plants begin, as a soil rich with nutrition is a soil rich with critters which are a delicacy to birds that like eating insects such as mosquitoes.

Bats are a huge predator of mosquitoes. In fact, an average bat can eat over 500 mosquitoes in a single hour. Welcome bats into your garden by adding a bat house. You can either build one yourself or you can buy one. There are bat houses that hold hundreds of bats at a time. Imagine the mosquito control you can get with one of those!

It is always best not to have standing water environments, as they will attract a heavier mosquito population. If you have a standing water environment such as a pond or pool, add a water feature which circulates the water.

If you can't, then add a few rushes or sedges to create an attractive environment for natural predators such as dragonflies and fish. These predators are quite good at combating the mosquito problem, too, because they live in similar environments and conditions. Although there is really no real way to ensure the attraction dragonflies, a pond with sedges and rushes added should do the trick.

As well, if you have a pond or anywhere with standing water, add a few fish. Mosquitofish adapt well to almost any water condition so they are the best to add to almost any still or standing water. They are also the best in combating the mosquito problem, with the ability to eat over 150 mosquito larvae an hour.

However, other fish like guppy and minnows also will do the job. It is always best not to have standing water. However, in cases where there is no way around it, use fish and dragonflies to balance out the mosquito problem.