The tips for reducing the mosquito population seem to be forgetting one of Cecil’s columns where he calculates how many more bugs there might be now if the reader hadn’t gone on a bug killing spree so many years ago. The upshot of the analysis is that the environment has a carrying capacity for many species that is always full. The bugs can reproduce so quickly that killing or preventing the reproduction of any number of them (besides all of them) is not going to make a long-term dent in their population. If you want to reduce the number of mosquitoes in your area permanently, you would need to get rid of the things in the environment that cause them to be able to reproduce easily.
Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find the column. I remember Cecil’s style of writing specifically. But maybe I’m hallucinating.
If I sit out on the patio/deck in the evening I use an oscillating fan. It works great. Another thing that works pretty good even tho it sounds weird is…fill a spray bottle with the gold Listerine-type mouthwash. I use the WalMart Equate brand which is much cheaper. Spray the floor of your patio or deck with it. It seems to work.
There is actually no real venom in a mosquito bite. It’s just an allergic reaction to the substance the mosquito injects (to prevent clotting while the insect sucks your blood) though it’s certainly annoying! I have always used a mixture of Adolph’s meat tenderizer mixed with water to a paste (can add skin cream to help the tendency to flake) with a bandaid over the application site. I’ve found it very effective over the years. I mix it up and keep it in the fridge.
We don’t have a mosquito problem. We have a deer fly problem. They’re worse than mosquitos, IMO… they attack you in droves. The only solution I’ve found is a blue cup w/ Tanglefoot applied to it.
The fans work great! I use Avon’s Bug Guard when in the woods. Works for mosquitos, biting flies and ticks.
Another kind of odd thing that seems to work on the deck/patio is to spray the floor with Listerine (the gold version - I use the cheap WalMart brand). I don’t know why it works but it does.
Deer flies!!! Hate them. I haven’t seen them out yet but it should be pretty soon. It’s only when we’re in the woods that we encounter them. They’re awful and never give up. When they’re around I have to wear a hood or a face net/hat (found in the camping department).
You know, I’ve been hearing about these for more than 5 years, and have seen snazzy slow-mo videos of mosquitos getting zapped with precision laser technology that make me well up with tears of joy and pride in humanity…but my main questions is why in og’s name can’t we BUY them yet?
According to your link, they’ve actually been at it for 10 years, and have had working prototypes almost that long.
C’mon, there should at least be some $1k “early adopter” versions out there we can buy after all this time! Has Big Mosquito gotten to our politicians and bought them off to keep this vital technology suppressed??
(What mutually desirable consideration Big Mosquito pays politicians in is an exercise left to the reader…blood-sucking parasites, the lot of em!)
I hate mosquitoes as much as the next person. But at least they’re somewhat slow & subtle when it comes to biting you. Deer flies, OTOH, are flat-out evil. They’re very fast and go for the back of the neck. As mentioned, I found that a blue cup attached to a hat (w/ Tanglefoot applied to the cup) works very well. I can kill a dozen of them using this method by simply walking to the barn and back.
While it’s true that the fly (or mosquito) population will always be at equilibrium no matter what countermeasures you take, this does not mean that the countermeasures are useless. Rather, the presence of those countermeasures will change what that equilibrium level is. In a yard with traps and poisons and fans and so on, the equilibrium mosquito population will be lower than in a yard without those things.
My brother-in-law, career army chemist, job was to find repellents that would work on Vietnamese mosquitos.
His findings: DEET and DEET alone.
I also suggest locating a friend who smells better to mosquitos than you, and standing near them. Almost any repellent is effective then. Works well for my husband (I, unfortunately, am the person whom no one smells better to mosquitos than).
My recoomendation every time I point someone to this website is that this stuff is one step up from the stuff you get at the hardware store so follow the directions to the letter.
