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Cities begin spraying their streets for mosquitoes

Summer heat brings out mosquitoes who want to lay eggs in standing bodies of water.

BIG SPRING, Texas — First Andrews, and now Big Spring.

Cities have begun to notice the rising levels of mosquitoes and are taking to the streets to combat them.

They are using a technique called "fogging," or spraying to lower the amount of mosquitoes on the streets.

Fogging can either be done by trucks, who mainly hit the city streets, or by planes, who usually take on the rural and hillside areas that the trucks can't get.

Michael Nickell, a naturalist and museum scientist at Sibley Nature Center, said the main targets are standing bodies of water. This is where the mosquitoes like to lay their eggs.

"That's where they're going to have most of their resources available to them," Nickell said. "They have an aquatic larvae, so whenever we have any standing water, like in flower pots, or lakes, or puddles of water, or for that matter after you water your yard, there's standing water, and that's what they need to lay their eggs in."

Stormy weather usually results in puddles of water, but any body of water can be a new home for a mosquito. They can also come in the form of bird baths, abandoned tires and running hoses.

Mosquitoes are certainly annoying, but they also carry diseases that can transfer to anybody they bite. This is why spraying and fogging is so important.

“Here in the United States, there are different viral-type diseases like equine encephalitis," Nickell said. "There are several types of viral diseases, and different types of viruses are more dominant in some years than in others.”

Even when the city fogs down every street they can, there are bound to be survivors.

However, you can avoid getting bit by following some simple safety tips.

“Wear light-colored clothing... loose-fitting clothing is probably one of the best things you can do," Nickell said. "If you want to use any type of chemical treatment, some kind of spray that contains 'DEET' is very effective. So you can spray that on your skin or on your clothes.”

The spray the cities use is safe for people to be outside for and is safe for those with asthma.

You can go inside to avoid the the fogging, but it isn't necessary.

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