larger view

Using common sense never hurt anybody.

Here are some tips from Canadian Living on how to avoid West Nile virus:

• Fill any holes in the ground around your property with dirt. When it rains, mosquitoes breed in these damp, wet spaces.
• Turn over any unused flowerpots in your garden. They provide ideal egg laying ground.
• Clear your eaves trough of leaves and twigs. They are magnets for mosquitoes.
• Cut your grass frequently — mosquitoes are attracted to long grass for relief of the heat. 

Add these to the pointers that we regularly run in The Californian.

• Eliminate all sources of stagnant or standing water.
• Avoid being outdoors at dawn and dusk.
• Wear long sleeves and pants while outdoors whenever possible.
• Use insect repellent containing DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
• Make sure the doors and windows in your home have tight-fitting screens with no holes or tears.
• Contact the appropriate mosquito abatement district if there is a significant mosquito problem where you live or work, for a supply of mosquito fish to control larvae in troughs and ponds, or to report an abandoned swimming pool. Call the Kern Mosquito and Vector Control District at 589-2744, Westside Mosquito Abatement District at 763-3510, Delano Mosquito Abatement District at 725-3114 or South Fork Mosquito Abatement District at 760-376-4268.
• If a home with a green pool is vacant, feel free to call the broker or the Bakersfield Association of Realtors at 635-2300.
• Avoid over-watering lawns.
• Call the state’s hot line at 877-WNV-BIRD (877-968-2473) upon finding a dead bird or squirrel.
• Consult veterinarians to properly vaccinate horses.
   

And if you're keeping score at home, Kern County still stands at one West Nile-infected bird for the year. No humans, horses, mosquito samples, chickens or squirrels have yet been found to be infected.