As Santa Barbara County slowly dries up from the rainy season, standing water brings a new threat — mosquitoes. With the recent heavy rains, mosquito season is starting earlier than expected.

“We’re already starting to see the effects of all the extra water that’s out there,” said Brian Cabrera, general manager of the Mosquito and Vector Management District of Santa Barbara.

Heavy storms mean more standing water is left in areas as large as the Goleta Slough or as small as a puddle in someone’s backyard. Female mosquitoes lay their eggs in standing water, and the larvae live in the water, feed on particles in the water, and then go through four life stages before emerging as adult mosquitoes from the water, Cabrera said.

“In the drought years, a lot of sources of stagnant water were all dried up,” Cabrera said. “But because of all this rain we’re having, I think we’re gonna see a lot more areas that could have standing water so that means that those areas will be producing more mosquitoes.”

Cabrera said the Mosquito Vector and Management District is expecting more mosquitoes this year than in previous years.

According to Cabrera, peak mosquito season is often midsummer into early fall—the warmest times of the year. However, this year, because of standing water, the pests are starting off early.

Besides the annoying, itchy mosquito bites, mosquitoes can carry some deadly diseases, Cabrera said.

“Mosquitoes are basically like little hypodermic needles,” Cabrera said. “When they feed on someone, they pick up blood from somebody, and then they fly around and they start feeding on someone else and they basically inject that next person with whatever virus or disease organism they’ve picked up from another person.”

Female mosquitoes suck blood, which makes them prone to spread disease to humans and animals. Cabrera said. West Nile virus is one that is found throughout California that is spread through mosquitoes.

There are two species of invasive Aedes mosquitoes that are in California and in other parts of the world. Those mosquitoes only require enough water to fill a bottle cap in order to complete their development. 

“Those mosquitoes carry viruses that can cause diseases like yellow fever, Chikungunya, Dengue and Zika,” Cabrera said.

Since mosquitoes can kill animals and humans, the Mosquito and Vector Management District has a hotline where people can report dead birds, and the district will collect the carcasses and test them for West Nile virus as long as they are in good enough condition.

To report a dead bird by phone, residents can call 877.968.2473 (877.WNV.BIRD). The California Department of Public Health also has a dead bird reporting webpage at westnile.ca.gov/report. 

In order to reduce mosquitoes and mosquito bites, Cabrera said residents should look through their property for any standing water and dump it.

“No water equals no mosquitoes,” Cabrera said. “So just the simple action of dumping out water will be enough to prevent mosquitoes from completing their development.”

In addition to dumping standing water, people can also protect themselves from mosquito bites by wearing long shirts and pants and using a bug repellent approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“I hate mosquitoes,” Cabrera said.