# Mosquitoes ( skeeters)



## Jeeps (Apr 12, 2012)

Hi All, 

First post, and it certainly is a nice DIY forum you have here. ...

Summer is coming fast and my wife and I love our back porch and yard but, the skeeters love us more. We have the kind of skeeters that bites *through* the shirt....

I have been on line searching for relief from these hateful bugs. There are so many companies claiming their product works the best to ward off the winged demons, that I am getting dizzy reading about them....

I would rather hear from the consumer what works. Anyone on here have any successful skeeter control program stories to share? thanks in advance


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## tinaanddave (Jan 18, 2012)

We have terrible mosquitoes! We have tried everything! Mosquito Magnet, professional spray treatments, etc. Best solution is first, make sure yoy have no areas for rain water to collect. No buckets, or kids toys, etc. Next, get "Bug Free Back Yard" its a spray you attach to a hose. Spray all bushes and trees and mist the air in your yard. Do this every 10 days. Do not skip a week or you will regret it. Also, look into the storm drains near your home. If you see water, this is a likely breeding spot. Get some Cutter mosquito tablets and throw 1 or 2 in there every 10 days also. I also place planters with repellant plants near where people sit on patio-marigolds, sage, etc.


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## Evstarr (Nov 15, 2011)

I just send the kids out until the skeeters are full then we go out!


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## creeper (Mar 11, 2011)

I think if you find an easy fix you will be very rich. Like Tina said make sure you empty stagnet water, even in the smallest amount. Some people say citronella plants or candles work, but I can't see the diff. Avoid soaps and perfumes. (good luck with that one) Try a raid coil on the deck when you are out there. 

Install a bat house...they eat thousands nightly
Mozi's come out pretty thick at dusk so wait until later to go out so they aren't as bad
Finally, they prefer some people over others. Like me. I'm the bug magnet. Find out who they like the best and don't sit near them . Unless its you, then just spray yourself with Off.


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## Jeeps (Apr 12, 2012)

Evstarr said:


> I just send the kids out until the skeeters are full then we go out!


 
:laughing: Good one ! Our kids have flown out of the nest so I wonder how long it would take my wife to notice I am not going out on the deck/porch, the same time as she does ? 


Lots of good tips, thanks...

There is a church with a lot of woods/acreage right behind our privacy fence that has an abandoned fish pond. As the crows fly, its about 150 ft away from our fence. The last time I walked passed it I noticed it was full of green slime. Skeeter central probaly.....

I like the bat idea but my neighbor that lives next to me probaly would not. He opened his garage door one day and a bat flew from inside the garage and bit him on the shoulder, then flew out the open door. He had to take those painful rabies shots.


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## asbury park (Dec 29, 2011)

Have you tried ThermaCELL? Works great on my deck and when I go hunting.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

I haven't heard of a bat bite in ages and myths about them being major carriers of rabies are just that. The insect eating ones don't bite or get bitten by anything that carry rabies. Poor creatures get a bumb rep I fear. I used to caretake a summer home in Lake Tahoe that had no screens on windows and one of my jobs was to round up the bats that got trapped inside mornings. The owner could certainly have afforded screens but found the bats controlled long visits by guests she really didn't want hanging around in the first place. 

Sounds like you need to request the church treat that pond and if they won't I suspect the County will come out and do it and bill them for it. They certainly don't want mosquitoes breeding if there is an obvious way to abate the situation. 

It think repellent with Deet and foggers your best bet. Things like fabric softener sheets and citronella candles are supposed to confuse them or something but this has never worked for me. Those ultrasonic repeller ads just crack me up.


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## Jeeps (Apr 12, 2012)

asbury park said:


> Have you tried ThermaCELL? Works great on my deck and when I go hunting.


If that is the little green coils that are lit and then they slowly smolder emitting skeeter scent blockers, then yes I have. They do work very well. I am little bit concerned about the inhaling of the smoke though. They should have at least made it smell like a King Edwards cigar.


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## Jeeps (Apr 12, 2012)

sdsester said:


> I haven't heard of a bat bite in ages and myths about them being major carriers of rabies are just that. The insect eating ones don't bite or get bitten by anything that carry rabies. Poor creatures get a bumb rep I fear. I used to caretake a summer home in Lake Tahoe that had no screens on windows and one of my jobs was to round up the bats that got trapped inside mornings. The owner could certainly have afforded screens but found the bats controlled long visits by guests she really didn't want hanging around in the first place.
> 
> Sounds like you need to request the church treat that pond and if they won't I suspect the County will come out and do it and bill them for it. They certainly don't want mosquitoes breeding if there is an obvious way to abate the situation.
> 
> It think repellent with Deet and foggers your best bet. Things like fabric softener sheets and citronella candles are supposed to confuse them or something but this has never worked for me. Those ultrasonic repeller ads just crack me up.


Bat bite: I think when any wild creature bites a human the medical service folks take it serious and go the "better safe than sorry" route. If the bat could have been captured my neighbor would not have had to endure the rabies shots...

Church pond: In our back yard right behind our 6 ft.tall wood privacy fence on the church side, are 8 ft. tall wild honeysuckle bushes that give us total privacy and blocks the view to the church parking lot, the total yard privacy was one of the reasons we bought the house. My bat bit neighbor started trimming the same line of honeysuckle bushes and throwing the trashed limbs back over the fence back onto the church property. I think the church members took his laziness as a sign that he did not like the bushes. So....

One Saturday morning last summer I hear a chainsaw and look out and see the beautiful 8 ft. tall honeysuckle bushes on my bat neighbors back fence falling over. The church work group has about 6 men it it and they cleared his 80 ft wide fence in about 30 minutes and was starting to cut them down behind our fence..... 

I ran and got a 6 ft. stepladder and climbed up on the fence and asked the saw operator to please leave the bushes behind our fence. He said o.k. and they loaded up and went home. Whew. If I hadnt been home that Sat. morning, I would be looking at a parking lot right now rather than the white flowers on the heavy green foilaged bushes. SO, moral of story is, I am going to try to control the skeeters and not P off the church people.  

I have tried the bounce fabric sheets and they did work until the skeeters got to liking the smell of them. Citronella candles just make me want to go eat a orange and really doesnt repell these Zombie skeeters that we have. ...

I noticed a Mosquito Squad van in town the other day. I suppose they are treating the whole yard with some type of repellant spray. I may give them a call and see what kind of $$$ they want. I hate not getting to enjoy our back yard as we have put a LOT of labor and money in landscaping it the last 4 years just for our viewing pleasure. I will keep looking in to personal protection also, rather than whole yard. thanks for the info.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

I'd be tossing some of these in the pond next door. Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, Amazon.com and hundreds of other places sell them.

http://www.pestproducts.com/mosquito_dunks.htm

Lyme disease was so bad in my area that the county was giving them out for free.


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## dortress (Apr 12, 2012)

I think I'm going to try a variation on this: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/health/27mosquito.html?_r=2&ref=global-home While they didn't give ratios, I figure since this non-toxic, it's worth a shot.... 

Cheap, easily done and stuck in the ground around the house in non-descript places...


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## mikegp (Jul 17, 2011)

Just be happy you don't have Asian Tiger mosquitoes. They come out at any time and are aggressive biters. At least normal ones come out after sunset.


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## Jeeps (Apr 12, 2012)

dortress said:


> I think I'm going to try a variation on this: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/health/27mosquito.html?_r=2&ref=global-home While they didn't give ratios, I figure since this non-toxic, it's worth a shot....
> 
> Cheap, easily done and stuck in the ground around the house in non-descript places...


The article I read in your link said they sprayed the poison mix on the surrounding trees. I would be concerned about the butterflies getting poisoned as they may not have been included in their "beneficial" insect list, that didnt get harmed by the spray..


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## Jeeps (Apr 12, 2012)

mikegp said:


> Just be happy you don't have Asian Tiger mosquitoes. They come out at any time and are aggressive biters. At least normal ones come out after sunset.


 
We may have. These skeeters are out at 10:00 am for brunch till dark. Aggressive, yes, I smacked one and squashed it on the top of my hand while another one was on top of my squasher hand, drilling for platelets.


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## mikegp (Jul 17, 2011)

Are they black and white with stripes?


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## Jeeps (Apr 12, 2012)

I have not had the pleasure of squashing one yet this spring but, I will note its color scheme the next time I get one flattened .


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## knotquiteawake (Mar 15, 2012)

dortress said:


> I think I'm going to try a variation on this: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/health/27mosquito.html?_r=2&ref=global-home While they didn't give ratios, I figure since this non-toxic, it's worth a shot....
> 
> Cheap, easily done and stuck in the ground around the house in non-descript places...


Dortress, have you tried this yet? I am considering the same thing. When I turn on the porch light I see what look like hundreds of mosquitos lined up against the sliding door waiting to come in, stepping outside is like getting my blood drawn... 
There is no standing water on our property but the house next door is foreclosed so I would venture a guess that there are several puddles, buckets, pool remnants, gutters or whatever with stagnant water in it.
So I think poisoning them off might be the best option since I can't control the breeding grounds next door.


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