Disney is famous for being built on former Florida swamp land. Given that Florida is known for being a mosquito mecca, how does Disney assure you’re not spending your vacation swatting away bugs? It turns out it’s not just one thing, but a combination of things in an eco-friendly comprehensive program. The heart of the program is a barely detectable liquid garlic spray coupled with constant water circulation and design considerations to prevent standing water. Disney also uses mosquito natural predators like bats along with traps as part of a comprehensive control strategy to target the whole mosquito life cycle. There are even chickens involved in Disney’s mosquito strategy, but more about them later!

Florida is a mosquito mecca, so Disney uses a multi-tiered eco-friendly strategy to control them.

Disney is full of water. Notable bodies of water include the Seven Seas Lagoon in front of Magic Kingdom, Bay Lake, the World Showcase Lagoon at EPCOT and the former Rivers of America. The literally dozens of other bodies of water across the property used for landscaping and even transportation. Mosquitoes love water as it’s necessary for them to reproduce. Female mosquitoes lay eggs in or near stagnant water, which act as a nursery for larvae and pupae to grow into adults. By keeping water moving the process can be disrupted. However, even a thimble full of stagnant water can breed mosquitoes, so Disney takes care in landscaping and building design to prevent areas where water could pool and stagnate.

When you think of mosquito control you usually think pesticides and repellents. Disney does indeed use one, but not a synthetic chemical. Disney actually uses a natural garlic extract. Mosquitoes hate garlic and despise it at levels lower than humans can generally detect it. Vampires and mosquitoes both dislike garlic, coincidence? The use of something eco-friendly like garlic is especially important in areas like Animal Kingdom in order to protect the wildlife. In addition to garlic Disney also uses mosquito natural predators like bats as part of the control strategy. If you put up bat houses and give them an appropriate habit you’ll have your own mosquito eating Air Force. The property also has over 2,000 traps to both catch and analyze mosquito activity across the resort.

The most fascinating part of the whole program is the use of sentinel chickens. What’s a sentinel chicken? Sentinel chickens are flocks placed in secured coops by mosquito control agencies to act as an early warning system for mosquito-borne viruses, such as West Nile and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. They are tested regularly for antibodies, and because they do not get sick or spread the viruses of interest, they act as safe “sentinels” to detect disease circulation. Theses chickens act as an early warning system of a problem and can allow for targeted treatment.

There’s no 100% solution when it comes to something like mosquitoes, but Disney’s multi-tiered program attempts to keep them to a minimum. Florida has over 80 species of mosquitoes to try to combat and there are other rodents, pests, snakes and gators to be considered as well. It is admirable that Disney does use relatively eco-friendly solutions. At Disney there is a whole system in place not to get your attention, but to get you not to notice something. The next time you’re visiting the parks and not swatting a mosquito, realize you probably have garlic, bats and even chickens to thank.