Just a single tire in someone's backyard can help breed up to 10,000 blood-sucking mosquitoes over the course of a season.

That's why Monmouth County's Mosquito Control Division is offering a "mosquito madness" tire pick-up program for residents in Long Branch.

Freeholder Deputy Director Susan Kiley, who is also the liaison to the Mosquito Control Division and the health department, said the complimentary tire pick-up program is done every year in a different location in Monmouth County. This year it is in Long Branch from March 1 through April 15.

She said the county identifies areas where there are very small lot sizes. Even one tire on a property can affect a lot of people if it's filled with water and collecting mosquitoes.

Even though the program is only done once a year, Kiley said Monmouth County residents can always bring their tires to the reclamation center all year.

With this tire pick-up program in Long Branch, Kiley said residents do not have to leave their tires at the curb for pickup. All they have to do is make arrangements for the pick up. They can either call the Monmouth County Mosquito Control at 732-542-3630 or send their name, address, the number of tires they want picked up and the location of where the tires are on the property to mosquitoes@co.monmouth.nj.us.

The only thing residents have to do is remove the rims from the tires. The county will not take tires with rims.

This is such an important annual program, Kiley said, because tires hold water, which breeds mosquitoes. Mosquitoes need little water to grow and within a week they can go from an egg to an adult mosquito.

"People often ask: Is it going to be a bad season? Well, if we can do things like emptying containers that might be outside that have stagnant water sitting in them, we are proactively trying to reduce that mosquito population," Kiley said.

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