A few weeks ago I arrived home in West Texas from Dallas. Anyhow, I have a small garden in the backyard and was checking for the two foot, baseball sized zucchinis I’ve been getting after being gone just a few days. I was outside literally just a few minutes when I looked down and saw about five mosquitoes on my shirt and legs. Needless to say, I immediately ran inside! I’ve always been one that attracts mosquitoes, but apparently Amarillo had an influx of mosquitoes lately. We’d been getting quite a bit of rain, but we didn’t have any standing water in our yard so the source of the mosquitoes was somewhat peculiar. However, after talking to a few friends, it turns out that the entire city was under the attack of mosquitoes the entire time we were out of town, which was only about three days.
So it’s no surprise that the Texas AgriLife Extension department in College Station is really concerned about mosquitoes after Hurricane Ike. As there are more than 105 flood affected counties due to the hurricane. The storm surge of rains from the hurricane has also significantly increased mosquitoes in other parts of the state as well. The flood lands are an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes. However, the Texas AgriLife Extension office reports that the first wave is usually just an annoyance. These mosquitoes come from salt marshes and pasturelands being flooded. The mosquitoes we really need to be concerned about are those from the second wave of mosquitoes which are the ones breeding in the stagnant flood waters, as they carry most of the diseases. The main diseases they are concerned about are West Nile and St. Louis encephalitis. So, just about anybody in the state of Texas needs to make sure their horses are vaccinated and boosted, especially their young horses.
Additionally, it’s always smart to cover yourself and follow the Four D’s:
- Drain bottles, cups, tires, plant pots and anything that might breed mosquitoes. It’s also a good idea to go ahead and dump stock tanks and buckets and sanitize them. They recommend you do this every three days, as that’s how long it takes to breed and hatch mosquitoes.
- Use DEET picardin products, oil of lemon eucalyptus or IR3535.
- Restrict activities during dusk and dawn. You might want to bring the horses in during these times of the day and turn them out after the mosquito attack time has passed.
- Dress in light colored, long sleeve shirts and pants. If you have fly sheets, it probably wouldn’t hurt to put those on your horses after you give them a good dousing in repellent.
For more information on mosquito management, you can download free info on the AgriLife Extension websites at http://www-aes.tamu.edu.
