Becoming BITE Smart to Stay BITE Safe

Behaviors

Slight changes or awareness of behaviors can help protect you from bites.

• Anti-tick examples: Stay clear of tall brush, grasses, and leaf litter; regular tick checks.
• Anti-fly & mosquito examples: Avoid heavy fly times of day; reduce time spent near stagnant water.

Identification

Pest identification is important to knowing the types of pests you're dealing with ​so that you can use the appropriate preventative and control tactics.

Tools & Tactics

Using a variety of tools and tactics are important to avoid resistance in pest populations and to ensure more effective prevention and control.

Environmental Management

We can use pest behaviors against them by reducing the environments they need in order to breed and thrive.

• Anti-tick examples: Ticks crave water, try using shorter grasses or drier materials (mulches) in areas you or animals spend time.
• Anti-fly examples: Many flies love manure, try strategies that reduce moist manure (adding tarps over top, spreading in thinner layers).
• Anti-mosquito examples: Reduce stagnant water or stir-up enclosed water spaces (adding aeration, mosquito-fish, or bti to ponds and bird baths)

BITE Smart Integrated Management Strategies

There are many strategies and tools available to help protect yourself from bites. Become BITE Smart to reduce the risk of bites for you, your family, pets, and livestock animals.