If you live on a retention pond...

[cyrece]

For mosquito control..you can contact Jea and request Mosquito Control via online. Our neighborhood has them come ever 2 weeks or so to keep them (and no see-em's) out! I always tell my customers who are fearful of snakes to get a bag of moth balls! I'll be honest though, I've lived in Florida all of my life but I have NEVER encountered a snake..call it luck!! *going to knock on wood now**

[fsquid]

I'm just a city boy, so I'm sure there will be a bit of shock and then I'll get use to them.

[Joe 4520832257]

Keep in mind that mosquitos prefer still water. Many retention ponds are going to be way too big to be mosquito breeding grounds. Unless your pond is really tiny, I wouldn't worry about it.

A far bigger problem, like others have said, are small pools of standing water in a swampy area. Or if one of your neighbors has birdbaths or leaves upright buckets outside that will collect rainwater.

I wouldn't give the pond a second thought. Now, depending on if you're close to a natural creek, you might get a gator ...

[FLPL75]

Please please be careful using Mothballs
Especially if there are children as well as family pets around.
Mothballs are toxic. They can cause harm to animals livers.

[riveree]

There are some other considerations for a lake lot:

Fences: In an older neighborhood, you can probably put up any type of fence you want on a lake lot since there will only be city regulations to follow. In an HOA neighborhood, you usually can't have a fence higher than 4 feet on a lake lot and you also have to keep it at the crest of the lot, so you may not be able to fence in all of your yard. There is usually a specific fence type/pattern that you need to have so all fences around the lot are consistent in style. This is assuming you can have a fence at all, of course ! Some HOAs don't allow any fences. I don't know about you, but I have dogs and a 4 foot fence wouldn't hold them for a minute. I have a hard enough time keeping one of my dogs from clearing my 6 foot fence right now.

Lake Cleaning: Yeah, this means you! While there will be a maintenance crew for the lake water, the cleaning of garbage from the water's edge often falls on the lakefront homeowners. Watch those property lines. If your property line goes clear through the lake and over to the other side, you need to clean the garbage off of that side of the lake as well! Read those convenants before you sign.

Geese: They'll be in your yard and leaving poop. The closer you are to the lake, the more goose poop you'll have. Nothing you can do about it, it's nature and it's part of lake living.

All of these reasons above were determining factors for me in choosing a conservation lot over a lake lot in a previous neighborhood. Fences were a big one since I have to have a fence for the dogs.


As for the mosquitoes...in my personal experience, the houses directly on the lakes get it the worst for mosquitos, but we all have to deal with them to some degree. As soon as we get a good rain, out they come .

[Jax32256]

Originally Posted by riveree

There are some other considerations for a lake lot:

Fences: In an older neighborhood, you can probably put up any type of fence you want on a lake lot since there will only be city regulations to follow. In an HOA neighborhood, you usually can't have a fence higher than 4 feet on a lake lot and you also have to keep it at the crest of the lot, so you may not be able to fence in all of your yard. There is usually a specific fence type/pattern that you need to have so all fences around the lot are consistent in style. This is assuming you can have a fence at all, of course ! Some HOAs don't allow any fences. I don't know about you, but I have dogs and a 4 foot fence wouldn't hold them for a minute. I have a hard enough time keeping one of my dogs from clearing my 6 foot fence right now.

Lake Cleaning: Yeah, this means you! While there will be a maintenance crew for the lake water, the cleaning of garbage from the water's edge often falls on the lakefront homeowners. Watch those property lines. If your property line goes clear through the lake and over to the other side, you need to clean the garbage off of that side of the lake as well! Read those convenants before you sign.

Geese: They'll be in your yard and leaving poop. The closer you are to the lake, the more goose poop you'll have. Nothing you can do about it, it's nature and it's part of lake living.

All of these reasons above were determining factors for me in choosing a conservation lot over a lake lot in a previous neighborhood. Fences were a big one since I have to have a fence for the dogs.


As for the mosquitoes...in my personal experience, the houses directly on the lakes get it the worst for mosquitos, but we all have to deal with them to some degree. As soon as we get a good rain, out they come .

Thank you so much for the enlightening post!

[ShakenStirred]

Originally Posted by Jax32256

...do you have issues with mosquitos (more so than the average amount in Jacksonville)?

We're househunting & DH is convinced we can never live on/near a pond because of this. I'm just curious what real people living near ponds have experienced. TIA!

I live on the Marsh and next to a retention pond area. Because we had a really cold winter, the mosquitoes are not very bad at all this year. In year's past though, a mild winter will mean more mosquitoes for sure! Wet and dry seasons also affect things as well. Considering how wet it's been this year, the mosquitoes aren't bad at all!