HOUSTON, Miss. (WTVA) -- With hot, humid weather comes the return of an insect few want to put up with: the mosquito.
However, the numbers of those bloodsuckers may vary depending on where you live.
"We've been fortunate," Houston resident Amy Gardner said. "We haven't had a bad mosquito problem in our area."
Gardner said part of the reason mosquitoes haven't been around as much is because of the drought-like conditions many counties have experienced despite recent rains.
The more rain an area receives, the more likely standing water will be left, which is ideal breeding ground for them.
And that poses a dilemma for public works officials: how do you stop them?
"We have a spray rig which mounts on the back of a pickup truck and mixes with a mineral-based chemical that sprays the mosquitoes through town," public works supervisor Ricko Nichols said. "It's a contact killer. The mosquitoes actually have to fly through the spray."
And that presents its own form of challenges.
City workers do this usually twice a week to keep the numbers down, but that's not their only strategy.
They also use insecticide briquets, which is designed to be dropped into an area of standing water. It kills mosquito larvae and eggs before they have a chance to hatch.
"You have to try to get them before they get grown, and once they get to their flying stage, then you spray them and try to get them in the air," Nichols said.
The chances of a mosquito carrying West Nile Virus or something else is minimal, but Nichols said that's not the point.
"People have a general fear that they all are carrying disease, which they don't," Nichols said.
Another resident chose to mow his lawn -- in part -- because they're considered hiding grounds for mosquitoes.
"I try to keep my ditch banks pretty well cut," resident James Crump said. "I keep my yard mowed and make sure there are no water holes."
Experts say tall grass can attract almost as many mosquitoes as standing water, which makes mowing essential during the summer.
Nichols said those who have wheelbarrows or buckets that may hold water should dump them to keep from attracting mosquitoes.
He also said bug zappers don't kill mosquitoes, because they're not attracted to light.
