Mosquitoes

[from Luis Duran]

With the recent increase in temperature, I started thinking about the upcoming spring and summer months. Of course, like most people, I started getting a little excited: no more cold, snow, ice, shoveling our walkways...

However, I then started thinking back to last summer - first summer here in the neighborhood. I remember cutting the grass and coming back into my house only to find that I had been bitten over a dozen times by mosquitoes. That's the first time I found out about the HUGE mosquito problem in our neighborhood. During the warmer months, this "mosquito menace" makes it difficult to enjoy the outdoors - whether just sitting on one's porch or gardening. 

Last summer, I did a little research and it seems that the mosquitoes in our area seem to be two different kinds: 1) those that live in trees, and are a lot more difficult to get rid of since trees easily retain water which mosquitoes need to survive and flourish; and 2) the regular kind, that breed in any standing water - puddles, gutters, bird baths, etc.

With respect to the first type, my (limited) research revealed that there seem to be some neighborhoods in other states that have dealt with their mosquito problems with the help of the state government. As for the the second type of mosquito, they may be easier to get rid of with some work on our part (e.g. limiting standing water around our houses).

Anyways, I think it would be great if the community banded together to try to solve this problem. I don't know how far reaching the "menace" is but it would be great to take back our yards from these intruders.

I'd love to see people's thoughts/ideas on how to tackle this issue.

Comments

[Luis]

Hmmm... So I am thinking an ENORMOUS fan and A LOT of beer...Just kidding... Thanks for the great info Tim. Who would have thought - thousands upon thousands of flying asian tigers in our little neighborhood... amazing.

[Tim]

Well, the reality of mosquitos is that the one that we have around here now, The Asian Tiger Mosquito, is an invasive species that has completely taken over from the native species, which were not as fertile or as industrious as the Asian Tiger. And just like Kudzu, Japanese Honeysuckle, Common Periwinkle, European Starlings, et al...it's an invasive species (gotta love that global economy!) They came over in a shipment of used tires from Japan back in 1985. And they now inhabit all states East of the Mississippi. These things are amazing, several hundred can breed in a bottle cap! They actually prefer to breed in small spaces as opposed to large marshes, like our native species. This makes spraying for them completely ineffective. They also feed during the day, which means if you did spray for them it would have to be in the daytime....when most people are outside...and people don't like to be sprayed with insecticide. Furthermore, they don't make that "whine" that we characterize with mosquitoes, so you have much less of a chance of swatting them before they get you. Good news is, they hate the wind and they tend to stay less than ten feet off the ground, although drifting currents change that, and they don't travel too far from where they breed. Your most effective thing to do is make sure you have no standing water, i.e. flower pots, pet dishes, toys, swimming pools, bird baths, drains, etc. Either dump the water, make the water move or use Mosquito Dunks (totally safe and non toxic). A ceiling fan on your porch at full speed moving air around makes a big difference (and cools you down as well). And then there is a screened in porch. I love screened in porches ( I grew up in the South) and we had one put on the back of our house...live out there most the summer (we aren't big fans of air conditioning). And of course window screens and DEET Spray. Whenever I work out in the yard during summer I put on DEET. I don't know why, but when I do get bit I don't swell up and scratch that much (maybe cause I lived with mosquitoes so long) but my wife is English and man oh man, she welts up. Her remedy is to put ice on it immediately and DON"T SCRATCH...no matter how bad you want to. As for what the city can do...a couple of years ago a neighbor dug a big hole in his parking space in his back yard and left it. The damn thing filled up with water and was a huge breeding site for mosquitoes. After a summer of this, I called the city Pest Control office and I guess they contacted him because a week later he was out there filling in the hole. Did it make a difference? Not that I could tell but still doesn't hurt. Call the city to pick up trash, litter, abandoned vehicles, etc. But with all the trash in the alleys and litter on the streets...well, put on the DEET and try and make the best of it. And screened in porches rock anyway. Now you can try and get your neighbors to help out as well...with these houses so close together...it's everyones problem. There is one other way I deal with it, I apply beer, liberally, to my insides and it makes the hot summer just a little more less buggy...at least it SEEMS to.

[Lisa Swansno]

Where can we get a flock of bats?

[Markus]

Last summer I learned that mosquitos are apparently not interested in large hairy Latvian men. That's how I won that battle.

However, if we could all band together as a community and get rid of the 90 degree + lots of humidity weather, that'd be great. Maybe build a massive window unit we could place at the Old Soldier's home instead of greenspace? I'm just thinking out loud here...

[nathan]

I long ago gave up. There are just too many trees in my neighborhood to combat them.

[John King]

I surrendered last year, and contracted to have a screened-in porch built in my backyard. Mosquitoes, you win!