Ottakee Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Last year I honestly had ONE mosquito bite all year. Granted it was record drought weather. This spring though we have had record rains and lots of standing water all over the township/county/side of the state. The mosquitoes are SWARMING. I tried to take my horse out for a ride and despite spraying him with Mosquito Halt (for horses) and Off for me they swarmed us......up my nose, in my ears, down my boots, and he was covered with them. I want the kids to be able to play OUTSIDE as much as possible but not be eaten alive and risk west nile. What are your BEST hints? Are there any perimeter sprays (do it yourself or professional) that would cover 5 acres? Do those recipes you see on facebook really work---the yeast and brown sugar ones? I am desperate as 2 weeks ago we had temps in the 20s and still bits of snow on the ground in sheltered places and now we have swarms of bugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 I'm wondering this too, this year we have a swamp In the woods in front of our house :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimtaxi234 Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 We now live in an area that amazingly doesn't have mosquitoes, but when we did, we looked for standing water and treat those spots - something like this ... At our last base, we were lucky that the city sprayed weekly and they treated our standing water every 60 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrn Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Good luck finding something. I've never had anything work well. I can be covered in bug spray sitting in a circle of citronella candles, have a bug zapper and bats in the yard and still get eaten by mosquitoes. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Sorry, I don't have advice for large areas of land. But when it gets really bad here, I use heavy duty mosquito repellant spray even though I don't like to. A couple of times we have camped in mosquito infested areas, and then I actually wore netting, like this: http://www.campmor.c..._gpa=pla&ci_kw= When my daughter traveled to Africa last year, this spray was recommended to protect against malaria: http://www.rei.com/p...nt-deet-2-fl-oz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
violamama Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 The old fogies in Alaska swear by using Skin So Soft after a bath, but really the only stuff that works is 100% Deet. It eats through nylon gear, though. My childhood there smelled like mosquito picks. If you're googling, try "mosquito repellent coils". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 I wouldn't treat a large area, the best you can do is use a strong repellent spray. Maybe plant some mosquito repellent plants near the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted May 9, 2013 Share Posted May 9, 2013 Citronella plants do help, especially with keeping them away from entry points to the home. I have yet to find a home remedy that really consistently works. The Skin So Soft works okay if you reapply regularly AND are not one of those people skeeters travel 10 miles just to swarm. The all natural store bought sprays are, IME, crap. Take your money, open the toilet, flush it down. It will be the same as buying one of them. Last summer I had good luck with the Bullfrog DEET free spray, but I don't think it was our worse year ever and our city sprays regularly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 bat houses. especially if you are talking large acreage. bats love to eat mosquitos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted May 10, 2013 Author Share Posted May 10, 2013 OK, so there really is nothing that works that great except to take a bath in DEET and head out............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Get bats. :-D A bat can eat 500-1000 mosquitos in one hour. AND, you wouldn't even have to train them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 Another crazy idea is taking steps to encourage bats. Bats like to eat mosquitoes. There are various websites that tell one how to do that. :hurray: we have a bat house that DH made. it is attached to the gable of the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathmarm Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 I would do my best to treat standing water on my property , get Mosquito nets for the house, windows etc, DEET and what about a Bat House? A Bat can eat hundreds of Mosquitoes in an hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 I've read that you can't get enough bats to make a big difference. Chasing the bats out of your house with the doors and windows open and the bugs flying in, everyone carrying on, well it makes quite a picture in my mind. I've never heard of anything except spraying outside your house. I have a friend that did that for a wedding. But it doesn't last. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 See we also have 3 horses, soon to be 4 that the mosquitoes drive nuts so I was looking for something that would really be effective on our 5 acres. I am sure it is not good but when the blueberry farmers around spray their crops with the crop duster (airplane) it really does help a great deal if you are close enough to the fields they spray Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 The bat house is good because if you can get a colony of bats to move onto your property it is a long term solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 I've read that you can't get enough bats to make a big difference. Chasing the bats out of your house with the doors and windows open and the bugs flying in, everyone carrying on, well it makes quite a picture in my mind. I've never heard of anything except spraying outside your house. I have a friend that did that for a wedding. But it doesn't last. This has not been our experience at all. We have lived in our current house for almost 15 years, and the mosquitoes used to be so bad that my highly mosquito-allergic daughter could not be outside even for a minute during the summer without being sprayed. Then the bats moved in. We have always seen the stray bat flying about here and there, but we now have a colony living in the attic vents above my bedroom window. The vent is sealed, thank you very much, so they are not IN my attic, but man oh man have they made a dent in the mosquito population. They have made a huge difference. I don't know why we were lucky enough to have them onsite, but we had a bat house that never attracted bats. Apparently they have to be up pretty high (50 feet, maybe?) to be attractive to bats, and we could not get ours that high. Our attic vents, though, are apparently ideal. If there's anything you can do to invite the bats in, they've great neighbors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.