I live in Southeastern Pennslyvania. My home has a decent yard and I can't sit outside at dusk at all without being eaten alive.
There is no standing water nearby. I thought mosquito larvae needed standing/still water to grow in?
Anyway, is there anything I can do to reduce the mosquito population, i.e. lawn treatment? But I have a 14 month old, so I'm wary about spraying chemicals.
Keep the lawn short? Right now it's about 2-3 inches I believe.
Thanks!
Oil of lemongrass , garlic, oil of citronella, oil of rosemary. All work as repellants. You can even find blends of essential oils on ebay made for repelling skeeters.
Use Skin-So-Soft as a repellant.
I understand larvae can live in as little as a tablespoon of stagnate water. Given all the home foreclosures and people not tending to pools and homes the "skeeter" population goes up.
Any place water can collect is a problem area.
...."Control: There are hundreds of repellents on the market for mosquitos. An environmentally-friendly option is to bathe in Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap, found at health food stores. Mosquitos don?t like it!
The dragonfly and lizard are nature's way of controlling mosquitos. Introduce lizards to your landscape as a natural predator."... (my water authority web site
I'd introduce lizards, but afraid crows or something would have a feast, or neighborhood kids would have new pets ;)
I'll have to look into Skin So Soft,thanks.
We have part of our lawn that was dug out and small white rocks placed in over the dirt to create a little pathway from from of steps to side of yard to the fence entrance. I wonder, could water pool in there between the rocks or under enough to give skeeters a breeding ground?
They never put anything under the rocks, so weeds keep growing up out of the rocks, pain in the butt to keep uprooting. Thinking of removing the rocks and planting grass again. It's a cosmetic thing that's creating more of an annoyance it seems.
And if skeeters breed in there in those rocks might be more reason to get rid of it.
Take a walk around your property. Inspect for anything that will retain water for a few days. Clean pet water bowls (daily).
I've used Skin So Soft, fishing in the Everglades. I kept skeeters off, but I'm guessing it repelled the fish.
Consider also mosquito repellent plants. Some suggestions here:
The larvae may not be in your lawn. The larvae don't fly, only swim, but the adults do fly and can fly a good distance. I doubt that even if you eliminate all possible larvae areas, you will still have the adults. I suspect you have a lot this year for the same reason we do, we had a wet spring. Next year may be better.
Mosquitoes must have water for eggs to hatch. Check gutters, pots, debris, birdbaths and anything else that could hold even the smallest amount of water. They only need a tablespoon. You can't do much about the neighbors' property. You may need to stay indoors for a few weeks or use DEET.
meatnub wrote in news:e9ff560d-4bb9-453c-93d7- snipped-for-privacy@i76g2000hsf.googlegroups.com:
Have you ever considered concrete? Lots and lots of it? :)
"C. Meeting" wrote in news:T7bjk.5424$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe07.iad:
I heard that you should attach dryers sheets to your clothing. OK, so you won't look so cute, but I tried it and it works.
Skeeter eggs can remain dormant for years and hatch out when conditions are better or best. I read not long ago that entomologists are predicting the possibility of a bumper crop this year due to above average rainfall in much of the country.
There isn't enough active ingredient in most professional grade insecticides approved for interior treatments to hurt a fly. :)
Get some Tempo=99 (Cyfluthrin), by Bayer, and spray all the higher foliage around the house, and under, according to the label directions.
You probably wouldn't want to let the kids waller in the yard where you've sprayed, but Tempo=99 is not a restricted pesticide and is EPA approved for "crack and crevice" application in restaurants in operation, "unoccupied" schools, hospitals and nursing homes, and on any surface "not in prolonged contact with human skin".
I used to park in the middle of nowhere in MT during the evening "Golden Hour" to take pictures and spray my car with Tempo WP =99 and sit with the doors open, in shorts and a T-shirt, waiting for good light (it will attack car wax products).
I have a pool surrounded by woods and I spray the trees and all around the surrounding deck (I use Talstar=99 and it works great, and is also an option for you) to keep down the bugs... and the S/N ratio of SWMBO.
Modern insecticides approved for both interior living space and "turf and ornamental" applications (both Tempo=99 and Talstar=99) offer reasonable safety and persistence, even after rains. UV light most rapidly attacks and degrades insecticides applied outdoors.
Always read, understand and follow all safety precautions when applying any pesticide. -----
- gpsman
Please don't use MORE chemicals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BTW Wasps and bats both get rid of mosquitoes etc. 'on the wing'. Just looked out this beautiful morning and some 50 or more 'midges' were 'dancing' in a patch of sunlight among the approx 60 trees we have planted and grown during the last nearly 40 years. And which overhanging this approx half acre interfere with good grass growth; intermixed with clover because it survives better and resists cinch bugs that attack the grass! Think I like it that way rather than sterile rectangles of grass.
Why not?
I'll notify the wire services.
Sounds very romantic. Do they "bite"?
Yeah, well, people have different likes.
Some don't like exchanging body fluids with mosquitoes, and prefer to enjoy their yards. No insect is an "endangered" species, and pyrethrins exposed to the environment degrade rather rapidly, if their maximum 0.2% concentration of active ingredient ever posed any "danger".
"Better living through chemistry." -----
- gpsman
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