Mosquito Treatment

greeneyedlady

greeneyedlady

Duchess of Comedy
Jul 4, 2002
173
0
0
MD, USA
Mosquito Treatment
> >
> > Pass this on to anyone who likes sitting out
> in the evening or when they're having a cook
> out. So you don't like those pesky mosquitoes,
> especially now that they have the potential to
> carry the West Nile Virus? Here's a tip that
> was given at a recent gardening forum. Put
> some water in a white dinner plate and add a
> couple drops of Lemon Fresh Joy dish
> detergent. Set the dish on your porch, patio,
> or other outdoor area. Not sure what attracts
> them, the lemon smell, the white plate color,
> or what, but mosquitoes flock to it, and drop
> dead shortly after drinking the Lemon Fresh
> Joy/water mixture, and usually within about 10
> feet of the plate. Check this out--it works
> just super! May seem trivial, but it may help
> control mosquitoes around your home,
> especially in the South and elsewhere where
> the West Nile virus is reaching epidemic
> proportions in mosquitoes, birds, and humans.
> >
 
Dang! I was psyched to give this a shot (and as luck would have it, my mother uses Joy lemon!). This weekend, at 1pm, in broad daylight, a HUGE mosquito landed on my son's forehead. I slapped him before he could get bit (and god help me if any of the neighbors saw that, they'd think I was abusing him because who ever heard of a mosquito out at 1pm, and in hindsight perhaps slapping his forehead wasn't the best method of removing the mosquito, but he's only 2 and I fear the WNV!!??). I saw a few more while we were outside playing that day. And Sunday, and last night (still daylight, around 5:30).

We do not live in the country, we're in Medford, a suburb about 10 minutes outside of Boston. We have a few trees in our backyard, but nothing 'woodsy'.

What's worse is I've always been allergic to mosquito bites (swell up like the goodyear balloon and they take weeks to heal), so I'm pretty used to swatting myself, and wearing OFF - but now it looks like i'll have to douse myself w/ OFF everytime I want to play outside even if it's light out, and my son too, out of fear of WNV!

DANG MOSQUITOES!!! :rant: :rant:

Thanks for letting me get that big rant off my chest, aaah, I feel much better now!

:)
~Tara
 
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I put in a bat house in the backyard, and the mosquito population has dropped alot.
 
Mosquitos can and will reproduce in any standing water they can find--doesn't matter where the water is located. Make it a habit to review your surroundings and locate and empty containers of water--old tires, tubs, pots, etc--or treat them with a biological larvicide (harmless to most other aquatic life but lethal to mosquito larvae). DEET containing sprays are the only ones proven to repel mosquitos, citronella and such are not proven effective. Mosquitos locate targets by detecting CO2 in your breath, no way to avoid it. And, like sunscreen, read the label and know how often you need to reapply, based on the product you're using, and the activity. If you are outside daily, you might want to look into buying one of the propane based mosquito control units. A bit pricier, but very, very effective.
 
Thanks OG. Every night before we go inside, I tip over all of my son's buckets and empty out his little pool to avoid standing water. The guy who used to own the house put a new back deck on before we moved in... he didn't pave under there, and his landscaping guys who came over twice a month never, ever raked under there. There's piles of leaves under there... so I'm pretty sure that's where they are coming from, tiny puddles/pools of water. I was thinking maybe once the weather gets colder and I'm sure there aren't any mosquitoes left under there (maybe after first frost), I'll venture under there and see what's going on...

I hate citronella candles. My brother and sister in law insist on lighting them all over their backyard whenever they have a cookout and they stink, literally smell gross, and stink because they don't do jack squat to keep the skeeters away. I *heart* my DEET!

Slip ~ What's a bat house... a house for bats, like instead of birds living in there, you put bats???

~Tara
 
Slip ~ What's a bat house... a house for bats, like instead of birds living in there, you put bats???

~Tara[/QUOTE]


Yep, I think that's what he made. Alot of people build them just for the reason of getting rid of pesky insects.

Romeo.
 
yup, just like a bird house, but for bats. Of course, now I have to watch out for rabid bats... but rabies doesnt seem real common around here.
 
How do the bats know to go in there and live? Why don't birds go in instead? Where do you even get bats? Hmmm... this is all quite fascinating to me... :D

~Tara
 
Ditto on the propane fogger idea from OG. I have two of these, they are fabulous and well worth the 50 bucks or so spent. With my scout troop, we are constantly in misquito infested areas, repellent with Deet, coils, and the propane fogger are lifesavers.
Around the house I can't even get the D#$% things to breed. I wanted white worms for my guppies, and I've had a bucket of clean water behind my shed most of the summer. nothing but algea growing there. Go figure!

And since this is General chit chat, has anyone but me ever batted bats?
dave
 
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