Mosquito Help

[nomad100]

Last night, for the first time, the mosquitos were out in full force.  It was bad.   They were swarming me and Willow in the 5 minutes we were outside watering the garden.  I was totally unprepared since the day before I didn't see a single mosquito.

Is there anything you can spray in the yard that will keep them at bay or am I doomed to smell like bug spray for the next 4 months?  Skin So Soft has never really worked for me since I still get bitten when I have used it.  I am concerned about the mosquitos because we live in an active West Nile Virus area with a number of cases diagnoses in the area every year.

We have been vigalent about removing any possible places that water can pool in our yard but we do live in a wooded area so who knows what is going on in other peoples yards or in the wooded areas.

Our usual go to's (cintronella candles and torches) work pretty well when we are sitting pretty still and we can create a ring like barrier of burnign citronella products around our eating area but in the garden or the yard this doesn't work as well since I am moving about. 

Any ideas, products, tips or tricks you can share?

[mouse]

Were you watering in the evening? That's not a great idea because water attracts insects and mildew and other disease can develop when your plant doesn't have time to dry before the sun goes down. If you're not watering in the evening, the mosquitos might not come out in full force either.

Mosquitos can lay their eggs in less than a quarter size puddle, so be sure to empty containers (like toys, watering cans, etc) and if you have anything that collects water like a tarp or bird bath, dump the water out frequently. My understanding is that mosquitos don't travel far, so eliminating sources in your own yard can help a lot.

[nomad100]

May 16, 2013 9:40:03 GMT -5 mouse said:

Were you watering in the evening?

I don't usually but yesterday evening (about 6:30) was the first time I was able to access my garden hose with our trees getting taken down.  After 2 warm sunnt days, things were so dry I was afraid to wait.

I normally water in the AM and even this morning when I went out to water the flowers in the front, I was mobbed by mosquitos.

Scarily, after doing some research, there is one type of mosquito (not found in my area thankfully) that has been know to fly 20+ miles.    Looks like most in my area have a range of 0-3 miles, which is still pretty scary.

[treedimensional]

You should look for where they are breeding and dump the standing water.
Most mosquitoes live their entire lives within 30' of where they hatch. Not miles! We have 2 main species in the US. They only go as far as they NEED to. Most of the time, they never leave the area, because it's a good area to live!
There has to be standing water somewhere close by, like maybe a clogged gutter, a tarp, childrens toys, something. They only need a tablespoon of water.

[simpsongal]

We back to a park with running streams and lakes, so I don't think there's anything we can do to eradicate mosquitoes. I feel your pain

[pamela]

Keeping the grass really short helps us. For sprays we use the Cutter lawn spray. We've also had good luck with the chemical that stars with a D, but its become hard to find. It's what the mosquito trucks use.

I really wish we could screen out porch. I can count 20 Mosquitos on the walls of my living room now. And a bunch of spots I need to go magic eraser off the walls. Ugh, I hate it here. The Mosquitos never left this winter.

And why is auto correct capitalizing the plural of mosquito?

[nomad100]

mockingbird
That is an interesting suggestion. I hadn't heard of that before but it does makes sense on some level. Now I would just need to figure out where I would create a space like that. Those Asian Tigers are the ones that carry West Nile so those are the ones we are more concerned about. I saw a couple on Thursday night and so know they are out and about right now.