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Mosquitoes are some of the most adaptable organisms on the planet. They're up there with ants and cockroaches. To wipe them out is going to require some serious genetic engineering chops, which we may or may not actually have yet. But wipe them out we must, because sooner or later they will pick up the next nasty virus and become plague carriers.
What burns me up is these bio-ethicists, people with a Ph.D. in a made-up field sitting around asking: "Yes, we could wipe out mosquitoes, but should we? Would it be right?"
To which I would reply: KILL! SQUISH! NUKE THEM FROM ORBIT!
The world survived quite well before mosquitoes, and will survive fine without them.
My husband just cleaned out our gutters and found water, and bugs, in there. Are we supposed to do this for our Snowbird neighbors gutters too? Suzy? Sure, they have people come check the place out every few months, but I doubt their friends will do something like that. One is in Pa. and the other in England (government issued travel warning to Florida) and won't be back until November. I highly doubt either couple is going to worried about coming back here. One couple is in their 60's and the other in their 80's. No babies.
Again, as I have said, infected people can spread this in other place by being bitten by an uninfected mosquito. When officials went door to door testing people in that area, they found asymptomatic people. Nobody ever leaves their own neighborhood? With no symptoms, these would not have been tested. Could have even flown to another city and gotten bitten. Will MLB Miami (Tampa) home games be cancelled now too? Will players on these teams need to be tested before going to other cities to play games? Just imagine that!
Suzy, it is virtually impossible to eliminate every single mosquito is the USA, or to prevent people from leaving the state and traveling elsewhere. You cannot know who might have Zika but be unaware of it.
It's not necessary to kill every mosquito. Reducing the population will help, as will taking measures to reduce the risk of getting bitten: cover up and use insect repellent.
I think we went through this before, but neglected properties can be reported to the Public Health Department. If you do not want to check your absentee neighbors' properties (which I , for one, would be willing to do), and you have no way to contact them and ask if whoever takes care of their homes while they are out of town will be checking for standing water, contact the Health Department. It's what a good neighbor would do. What would you do if the house next door caught fire while the owners were away? Get a lawn chair and a beer and watch it burn?
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Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts
The Aedes mosquito is quite adaptable and can breed in something as small as a bottle cap.
Clogged, water-filled rain gutters are absolutely a paradise for these bloodsuckers.
Absentee snowbirds are being irresponsible if they don't have someone maintaining their property and getting rid of standing water. I might toss a mosquito dunk into their gutter as I wander by. Harmless to the gutter, but kills the larvae.
We had that problem with a foreclosed home two doors down, in Arizona during the housing crisis. The owner, a mortgage broker of all things, suddenly moved out over the weekend, leaving a half-finished swimming pool which became a swamp breeding unknown numbers of buggies.
We tossed a couple of dunks over the fence. Illegal? I doubt the bank was going to complain. Then we called the county, which said they were swamped with similar complaints. Eventually they sent a truck, and they tossed these fish into the pool that eat mosquito larvae. I think they also send a bill to the bank.
But what you do about the neighbor with the tires and buckets full of standing water all over the yard who would shoot you or sic Puffy the pit bull on you if you came near?
Report anyone who is not doing his part to reduce habitat for breeding mosquitoes.
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Originally Posted by Ghengis
lets also blame the snowbirds for all the water left in the swamps that we haven't got around to draining yet
You do what is possible. Treat areas near human habitation. Those visiting the swamp need to cover up and use repellent.
I don't know how much experience you have with Florida Snowbirds who come here just for "Season", but I will tell you that they do not have to worry about having babies with birth defects when their own childbearing days are decades in the past.
The development where I live you would be hard pressed to find anyone here under the age of 50. Your neighbors might have babies with birth defects? Not likely. How far can a mosquito fly outside of a 1,000 home development?
The median age in Naples, Florida, is 62 years old for year round residents. Snowbirds? lol Those few who are of childbearing age will have a major problem with their majority elderly away neighbors. BTW, almost everything here is a gated development. Feds would probably need a court order to get inside.
We are 130 miles from Miami. Can a mosquito fly that far unless they hitch a ride in somebody's car? Now you want to get in infected PEOPLE traveling from place to place, that is another topic.
Snowbirds have children and grandchildren who are childbearing. As you note, it's infected people traveling who are part of the problem.
Not everyone feels the way you do about having a responsibility to help others avoid potentially devastating infections. We are quite aware that you do not care if others get sick because of something you do or do not do.
Snowbirds have children and grandchildren who are childbearing. As you note, it's infected people traveling who are part of the problem.
Not everyone feels the way you do about having a responsibility to help others avoid potentially devastating infections. We are quite aware that you do not care if others get sick because of something you do or do not do.
Yeah, my snowbirds neighbors next door not only have children in their 60's, they have Grandkids in their 40's, GREAT-Grandkids in their 20's, and GREAT-GREAT-Grandkids in their Toddler years. Just imagine all the younger generations THEY could infect!!!! I am sure they, and many others, are not going to cancel their Winter Season in Florida in the home that they own here; AND invite their younger family members to come visit.
Go do a Google search. Pew research. 77% of Americans are not worried about Zika. JUST Me? While one can never know how many people are wearing DEET, they certainly aren't walking around wearing long pants and long sleeves in Florida's Summer Heat doing what the almighty CDC SAYS to do. Only people doing that are the Mosquito Sprayers, and they are also wearing masks with breathing apparatus.
So anyone who ever gets a mosquito bite in Florida, better RUN and tested, according to Suzy. Hope you have $200/$300 to pay for that test because it's not covered by your insurance, but you MUST do everything you can to protect others.
Suzy, actually, I like your posts. They are very funny and very irrational.
Yeah, my snowbirds neighbors next door not only have children in their 60's, they have Grandkids in their 40's, GREAT-Grandkids in their 20's, and GREAT-GREAT-Grandkids in their Toddler years. Just imagine all the younger generations THEY could infect!!!! I am sure they, and many others, are not going to cancel their Winter Season in Florida in the home that they own here; AND invite their younger family members to come visit.
Go do a Google search. Pew research. 77% of Americans are not worried about Zika. JUST Me? While one can never know how many people are wearing DEET, they certainly aren't walking around wearing long pants and long sleeves in Florida's Summer Heat doing what the almighty CDC SAYS to do. Only people doing that are the Mosquito Sprayers, and they are also wearing masks with breathing apparatus.
So anyone who ever gets a mosquito bite in Florida, better RUN and tested, according to Suzy. Hope you have $200/$300 to pay for that test because it's not covered by your insurance, but you MUST do everything you can to protect others.
Suzy, actually, I like your posts. They are very funny and very irrational.
I never said anyone should be tested, much less everyone.
All I have said is that everyone should do what he can to reduce breeding places for mosquitoes. I realize that you do not care if you get Zika and pass it on to someone else - even someone in your own family who might get pregnant - but fortunately others do not feel that way.
Despite the heat, covering up is a good idea. I live in Georgia. It gets hot here, too.
Yeah, my snowbirds neighbors next door not only have children in their 60's, they have Grandkids in their 40's, GREAT-Grandkids in their 20's, and GREAT-GREAT-Grandkids in their Toddler years. Just imagine all the younger generations THEY could infect!!!! I am sure they, and many others, are not going to cancel their Winter Season in Florida in the home that they own here; AND invite their younger family members to come visit.
Go do a Google search. Pew research. 77% of Americans are not worried about Zika. JUST Me? While one can never know how many people are wearing DEET, they certainly aren't walking around wearing long pants and long sleeves in Florida's Summer Heat doing what the almighty CDC SAYS to do. Only people doing that are the Mosquito Sprayers, and they are also wearing masks with breathing apparatus.
So anyone who ever gets a mosquito bite in Florida, better RUN and tested, according to Suzy. Hope you have $200/$300 to pay for that test because it's not covered by your insurance, but you MUST do everything you can to protect others.
Suzy, actually, I like your posts. They are very funny and very irrational.
I'm not sure where you would get "irrational" from Suzy. Good luck with your skeeters.
This will all fade in a few months. A pregnant woman up in Michigan will be more worried about tripping in the snow than getting a mosquito bite.
Florida? In a couple of months Rainy Season will be over, no rain for weeks or months at a time, no standing water around. Water levels go way down and it dries up like a prune. Nights can, and do, get into the 40's, even in South Florida in Winters.
This will all fade in a few months. A pregnant woman up in Michigan will be more worried about tripping in the snow than getting a mosquito bite.
Florida? In a couple of months Rainy Season will be over, no rain for weeks or months at a time, no standing water around. Water levels go way down and it dries up like a prune. Nights can, and do, get into the 40's, even in South Florida in Winters.
Okay, let's look at this logically. Zika has been around for quite some time and it's not been causing hundreds of babies to be born with disfigurements or microcephaly. Even the original article posted states that "Zika causes only a mild and brief illness, at worst." It's only been recently since they started adding Pyriproxyfen to the water that women have been giving birth to these babies.
The only proof they will have that Zika is to blame for the microcephaly is if an infected pregnant woman living in FL (never traveled to Brazil) gives birth to a deformed baby. Otherwise, I wouldn't be so quick to blame Zika for the recent showing of birth defects in Brazil. I see this as a way for the chemical companies to both cover their butts and also to create more profit (via the "we need to use MORE!" mentality).
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While one can never know how many people are wearing DEET, they certainly aren't walking around wearing long pants and long sleeves in Florida's Summer Heat doing what the almighty CDC SAYS to do. Only people doing that are the Mosquito Sprayers, and they are also wearing masks with breathing apparatus. 
