Category Archives: What We Do

Spring is the beginning of warmer days, longer nights, flowers blooming, and neighborhood barbeques. But you might not be thinking about the other season that creeps up as temperatures rise. Mosquito Joe season! (Also known as mosquito, flea and tick season.)  If you read our blog post highlighting ticks, you know tiny bugs can pack big punches when it comes to your health, your pets, and your home. The next target in our educational series (another of our targets in your yard) is no different. It’s time for a lesson on….fleas.

Why We Hate Fleas
Most people know the common annoyances of fleas for cats, dogs, and sometimes even humans. Their bites are itchy, their saliva can be an allergen causing rashes, and they can cause skin problems when your cat or dog scratches incessantly. What many people don’t know is that fleas actually carry diseases just like mosquitoes and ticks. Fleas find “hosts” and those hosts are warm blooded animals. Naturally they are usually dogs and cats, but they can also be opossums, rats, and other rodents. According to the ASPCA, since fleas can consume 15 times their own body weight in blood, they can cause anemia and a significant amount of blood loss over time. They can even cause tapeworm!

Did You Know?
We won’t call these “fun facts” since there is nothing fun about a flea infestation.

• The flea was actually the cause of the bubonic plague in the middle ages!  It is still the carrier of the plague today, but thank goodness for antibiotics.
• When searching for a host fleas can jump over 10,000 times in a row…the length of three football fields!
• Fleas can bite up to 400 times a day!
• A female flea can lay 2,000 eggs.
• On average, a flea lives 2-3 months.

Flea Prevention and Treatment
With something this determined you want to make sure you are doing everything you can to keep fleas out of your home. If you have pets, veterinarians recommend a monthly flea and tick preventative given once a month during ALL seasons. Only giving your dog or cat flea treatments during spring and summer is not effective. What your vet might fail to mention is the first step in flea prevention is treating your yard. Our mosquito control services also kill and prevent fleas and ticks, so let Mosquito Joe be your first line of defense against these disease carrying pests. Contact us today for a free quote. We have no contracts and no obligations, just mosquito treatment solutions.

Once you have a flea free yard and pet, check out this fun craft project from Modern Dog Magazine for you and your four-legged friend(s)!

Sources: www.healthypet.com, photo credit

In 1897 author David Flanery described an insect by saying it was “the shyest, sliest  meanest, and most venomous of all.” Unfortunately, he was not talking about something out of a horror film, he was describing a mosquito! Mega-mosquito, that is. The “gallinipper” is a floodwater mosquito with a body about half an inch long, making it twenty times larger than the average mosquito, and while the bite doesn’t actually contain venom, it is said to be very painful. While this type of mosquito is nothing new, they’ve made a lot of headlines lately as Florida could be set for an overabundance of the unwelcome insect this season.

University of Florida entomologist Phil Kaufman says in 2012 the state had a surge of the huge, biting insects and there is concern of a repeat. “I wouldn’t be surprised, given the numbers we saw last year,” said Kaufman, an associate professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. “When we hit the rainy cycle we may see that again.”

The female lays eggs in soil at the edges of ponds, streams and other water bodies that overflow when heavy rains come. The big problem with the gallinipper is their eggs can remain dry and dormant for years. All the eggs need to hatch is high waters to come along, like Tropical Storm Debby last year that brought on the surge of gallinippers. With those females having laid eggs, all it would take is one good rain for those dormant eggs to hatch. Even in their larval stage, gallinippers are so tough they’ll eat tadpoles!

The good news? These mosquitoes are not known to transmit any diseases so while they’re a nuisance, they’re not as dangerous as some other mosquitoes. The bad news? Kaufman stated that due to their size, these mosquitoes may be immune to insect repellents that contain the well-known ingredient DEET, meaning Florida residents will need to find an alternative to many of the off-the-shelf mosquito repellent products if they want to avoid a run in with these pesky fliers.

Will these mega mosquitoes become an issue in other parts of the U.S.? That may be the question in a lot of people’s minds as the press about gallinippers continues. Fortunately for communities with Mosquito Joe, the product used in our mosquito treatments IS effective on the gallinipper as well as your every day mosquitoes, ticks and fleas. We’re not in Florida yet but we’re planning to be there soon.

If Mosquito Joe is not in your area, why not become your community’s solution (and hero!) by opening your own Mosquito Joe business? We currently have franchise opportunities available across the U.S. Contact us for more information.

Source: https://news.ufl.edu/2013/03/04/big-skeeter/
(UF/IFAS photo by Marisol Amador )

More and more people are learning about Mosquito Joe and we couldn’t be more excited.  (Did you see Mosquito Joe in the Virginian-Pilot earlier this month?) The work we have done in Hampton Roads over the past three years has been nothing less than rewarding – helping families and friends enjoy their time together outdoors without the annoying need for smelly sprays and citronella candles creating a medicinal aura around the yard.  We are thrilled that we are now going to be able to reach so many more people with our mosquito control services – allowing them piece of mind when they think about the dangers of mosquito-borne illnesses as well as freedom to soak in the sunshine during the spring and summer months without all the smacking and scratching. Below is an announcement of our expansion. We hope you’ll share the news with your friends as well, and anyone you think might want to be a part of the Mosquito Joe family.  With Mosquito Joe, outside is fun again!

Mosquito Joe Expanding, Franchises Available Nationwide

Virginia Beach, VA, January 2013 –Locally based Virginia Beach company Mosquito Joe has been making outdoors fun again for Hampton Roads residents since 2010, using barrier sprays to protect their yards from mosquitoes. Now they are giving you the opportunity to do the same for your area as they recently announced they are offering franchise opportunities locally and nationwide.

Continue reading We’re taking on mosquitoes nationwide! →