Mosquitos? (Little Rock, Jonesboro, Wynne: environment, housing, companies)

[desederada]

We just purchased some property east of Little Rock in a highly agricultural area (rice). Is there ANY way to control the mosquitos or do you just have to learn to live with them? I love the property but am hesitant to move from my FL home into this mosquito infested area

[Stormcrow73]

And here I thought FL was a horrible place of mosquitoes!! Isn't that why you have the so-called Florida rooms instead of patios?? Or is it only parts of FL that have horrible mosquito problems?

[desederada]

I guess those that complain about the mosquitos in Florida must live in the swamp. We live near Gainesville and have never had a mosquito problem.

[ecloebl]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow73

And here I thought FL was a horrible place of mosquitoes!! Isn't that why you have the so-called Florida rooms instead of patios?? Or is it only parts of FL that have horrible mosquito problems?

I am not sure what Florida has to do with it, but Arkansas has its share of mosquito's.

[desederada]

Originally Posted by ecloebl

I am not sure what Florida has to do with it, but Arkansas has its share of mosquito's.

Read previous additions to the thread

[btoverdrive]

I lived in Wynne and Jonesboro for several years and there's not much you can do other than stay indoors during the months when the rice fields are flooded. They provide a perfect breeding environment for the mosquitos and no farmers that I knew there ever treated their fields for mosquitos. I always had good luck using Avon Skin So Soft as a repellent and it smelled good too.

[CupidsPet]

I can't remember the birds names.... but we have those big bird house's on those tall poles where the house's look like they are in the air?? Are the birds warbles or something like that?? I don't know but they sure keep the mosquito's down around our place... hope that helps...

[rackensack]

Originally Posted by CupidsPet

I can't remember the birds names.... but we have those big bird house's on those tall poles where the house's look like they are in the air?? Are the birds warbles or something like that?? I don't know but they sure keep the mosquito's down around our place... hope that helps...

Purple martins. They don't help as much as people think:

from Attracting and Managing Purple Martins

Martins are not, however, prodigious consumers of mosquitoes as is so often claimed by companies that manufacture martin housing. An intensive 7-year diet study conducted at PMCA headquarters in Edinboro, PA, failed to find a single mosquito among the 500 diet samples collected from parent martins bringing beakfuls of insects to their young.

And that's from an organization whose stated purpose is to study and promote habitats for the species.

Bats are a better option. They're proven to feed on mosquitos, and because they're nocturnal, their active periods overlap more with the busy feeding times for mosquitos near dusk. And in a place that's simply conducive to mosquitos (woods, open fields that aren't flooded, etc.) they may be enough. But in the middle of rice fields, they're just a mitigation of the problem. Nothing will eliminate the mosquitos from an area with thousands of acres of standing water, or even make that much of a dent. If you're going to spend any time there in the warmer parts of the year (and in eastern Arkansas, that's roughly from March to November), you're going to have to learn to deal with them.