Citizens can win the war against mosquitoes and the diseases they carry by finding and eliminating their breeding sites. Citizens are encouraged to control mosquitoes in the following ways:

• Get rid of old tires, tin cans, bottles, buckets, drums and other containers or keep them empty of standing water.
• Empty plastic wading pools weekly and store them indoors when not in use.
• Repair leaky pipes and outside faucets.
• Move water cooler drain hoses frequently.
• Change water in birdbaths and scrub them twice each week.
• Empty pets' watering pans daily.
• Stock ornamental ponds with mosquito-eating fish.
• Clean clogged roof gutters and drain flat roofs.
• Treat standing water that can't be drained with larvicide tablets (or Bti - see below).
• Remember, mosquitoes breed and multiply in any water that lasts more than four days.

Contrary to popular opinion, not all bodies of water serve as abundant mosquito breeding areas. For example, ponds with steep banks that are relatively free of organic matter, and have little or no vegetation extending into the edge of the water will typically produce very few mosquitoes.

The City of Benbrook no longer carries mosquito dunks, but they can be purchased at home improvement stores. The product is appropriate for use by residents living near larger areas of standing water that cannot be drained and are highly vegetated. The product comes in tablets or donut shaped discs and contains a natural killer of mosquito larvae called BTi. For treatment, the tablets or donut shaped discs are placed in the standing water.

The City does conduct its own aggressive larvicide program in selected creeks and other bodies of water throughout Benbrook.

Because it is probably impossible to totally eliminate adult mosquitoes, citizens can further protect themselves by preventing mosquito bites in the following ways:

• Stay indoors at dawn, dusk, and in the early evening.
• Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants whenever you are outdoors.
• Spray clothing with repellents containing permethrin or DEET since mosquitoes may bite through thin clothing.
• Apply insect repellent sparingly to exposed skin. An effective repellent will contain 35% DEET. DEET in high concentrations (greater than 35%) provides no additional protection.
• Repellents may irritate the eyes and mouth, so avoid applying repellent to the hands of children.
• Whenever you use an insecticide or insect repellent, be sure to read and follow the manufacturer's DIRECTIONS FOR USE, as printed on the product.
• The City conducts mosquito fogging on a very limited basis and only when indicators of mosquito borne disease are present in an area. When fogging is scheduled (normally late night or in the early morning), signs are strategically placed at key entrance and exit points in the fogging area.