Mosquitos: If you want to breed mosquitoes you will need to provide them a place to breed such as standing water and old discarded tires. Otherwise, you are encouraged to rid your home and surrounding areas of standing or stagnant water and discarded tires. Make sure your gutters are clean and free of standing water.
Rats: According to the Marion County Public Health Department, rats are a problem in selected areas, due mostly to the regular availability of food. The first things rodents need is a “regular” source of food as they can eat up to 40% of their body weight daily! Our representative from the Marion County Public Health Department described a housing complex that has daily trash removal but a rodent problem none the less. At night the residents put tied bags of trash outside for pickup early the next day. They are picked up by the housing complex trash team. However the regular overnight source of food keeps the rodents coming back. If we have pets that we regularly feed in bowls outside our houses and bowls are left out at night after the pets come in, this could be a problem.
Bed Bugs: Bedbugs are a nuisance but do not cause disease. If you or your child sleep in a bed, or sit on a chair or sofa that has bedbugs, you may carry them to your own home. Though the Marion County Public Health Department does not to remediate this problem for you, you can contact the SleepTight Initiative at 221-2155 for educational resources on the management and remediation of bedbugs. Once again, our thanks, to the Marion County Health Department and Mark Foster of Rodent Control for their continuing support of our clean up efforts.