It seems like you can’t take five steps outside before you’re attacked by Mosquitoes. But how nasty will the bugs be this season? Brandon Hicks spent several years removing a multitude of mosquitoes and other pests working with Doctor Mosquito. He says people should start making a plan.

“The summer was predicted to be warm and seasonably stormy, which we’ve seen so far. It’s been pretty seasonably stormy,” Hicks said. “So we predict that they’ll probably stay active a lot this summer, and we’ll be seeing a lot of them, just throughout the summer.”

Preventing a multitude of Mosquitoes from getting to out of hand this summer starts with a few easy steps. Hicks says taking the time to clean out gutters and drains collecting water can help in the long run to seeing fewer pests.

“The best advice we have for homeowners is to make sure there’s not things around the yard collecting water. Tires are really bad,” Hicks said. “They breed in those, like old winter stuff, sleds, wheelbarrows, stuff like that. That’s collecting water, you wanna dump that out.”

Hicks said standing water, like puddles after a thunderstorm are the perfect breeding grounds for Mosquitoes.

“It goes back to standing water and trying to mitigate that as much as possible. Dumping it out is when you see it, not having things that collect it,” Hicks said. “They breed very rapidly, and they breed, quite a lot at a time, so it doesn’t take much water.”

There is still some practical steps to not get too many Mosquito bites this summer. Hicks recommends people use DEET bug spray or permethrin on their clothes to keep Mosquitoes away.

“Mosquito nets and stuff like that, that works pretty good. Doing sprays at the yards, those are really useful for a lot of people,” Hicks said. “Especially people that have cabins and stuff like that, where you’re out in the woods and there’s really no escaping them. Spraying your clothes probably rather than your skin would be my opinion, something I would do.”

There’s also several tips from the Mayo Clinic on how you can treat Mosquito bites.

• Applying a lotion, cream or paste (Using calamine lotion or a nonprescription antihistamine cream can help prevent itching the Mosquito bites. Reapply the cream or the paste three times a day until the itch is gone.)
• Rubbing with an ice cube (Try soothing an itchy bite by rubbing it with an ice cube for 30 seconds.)
• Applying pressure (Another way to soothe an itchy bite is by applying pressure for 10 seconds.)
• Taking an oral antihistamine (For stronger reactions to Mosquito bites, try taking a nonprescription antihistamine that doesn’t cause sleepiness, such as cetirizine (Zyrtec Allergy, others) or loratadine (Alavert, Claritin, others).

For more information on treating Mosquito bites you can look here. Also for another story on dealing with Mosquitoes you can read more here.