Now that temperatures are rising, going outside means short sleeve shirts and probably a pair of shorts. It also means mosquitos are becoming more prevalent.

These small nuisances have been hibernating all winter, at times showing their presence when a warm patch of weather came through.

But now that the last cold snap has passed, we will encounter these flying pests regularly.

If you live in the city limits, then municipal employees will be spraying special chemicals to keep their numbers down. But if you live in the rural areas of the county, you’re pretty much on your own to control the population.

There are several things everyone can do to keep mosquito numbers low, even if you live in the city.

First, you’re going to want to eliminate breeding sites.

Mosquitos breed in standing water, such as puddles, and places where water pools. That can include buckets left out in the rain, old tires around your property or even a tarp on the ground.

By removing these breeding sites now, mosquitos will have less time to spawn the next generation. This weekend would be a good time to look for anything, no matter how small, that could be used by these insects to lay their eggs. Even flower pots, gutters and bird feeders should be examined.

Now that you’ve eliminated places for them to breed, check the screens on all windows of your home.

Replace any that show damage such as holes and look for those that don’t fit the window correctly. While there’s no way to entirely prevent them from breeding, we can take steps to keep them out of our homes.

Remember that mosquitos are most active during the evening and morning, so if you must go outside during those hours take precautions by wearing long sleeve shirts and pants and using insect repellant.

If you’re interested in reducing their numbers further, a number of companies offer mosquito traps to lure and kill these insects.