Locals--Do You Use Mosquito Repellent? (Miami: live, eat, lizard)

[elchevere]

not really....but I've walked the beach, Lincoln Road Mall, hung out in Sunset Harbour. They find me and bite me.

[Dakster]

Are you sure those are mosquitos and not sand fleas/flies or no-seeums?

The trick at "home" is to eliminate all standing water. This means keeping your yard clean as palm fronds collect water. No old tires, etc... Keeping hedges trimmed helps too. Those propane mosquito magnets are incredible. One neighbor got the ato sprayers that go off around his house which also helped us out too. They are the worst at dawn and dusk as well.

I don't LIKE to use spray, but if they are really bad I will use it. I try to get away with just putting it on my clothes first...

I am a mosquito magent too, I tend to get bit when no one else does.

Here is another thing to consider, there are a couple of really nasty mosquito born viruses out there. They haven't hit Miami-Dade hard yet.... But trying to not get bit even now is in preparation for that day.

[StarfishKey]

Miami does not have malaria, but we have had a few reported cases of Chikungunya, which is quite serious especially if you are immuno-compromised for whatever reason. We have also had reported cases of West Nile Virus. Neither is not by any means common, but does exist. Key West did get an outbreak of dengue fever in 2009, which has since subsided. The thing you have to consider is that often such diseases come from the travel of people in areas where such diseases exist and are carried by mosquitoes. All of SFL, particularly Miami, does get a large amount of traffic from countries with such problems. It is not common, but is possible to spread such disease if a visitor accidentally brings a live mosquito with them that say got stuck in their luggage and made it out into the Miami air alive, or a person carrying a tropical disease gets bit by a mosquito here and that mosquito then transfers the disease to another person. The likelihood of such occurrences is not very high, so it's not a cause for mass hysteria, but it does happen sometimes.

Especially if you or a loved one has a compromised immune system, whether because elderly or an infant, or due to an illness, you need to be especially careful just in case.

[Tanjim]

Hey guys, newbie on the forums. Saw the conversation tilt toward mosquitoes so I thought I'd reach out. I'm a PhD student at the University of Miami and my dissertation focuses on mosquito vector ecology. If any of you ever have any mosquito related questions, you can reach me on twitter @mosquitomantra where I also have links to email and such if you want to get more detailed (that's twitter.com/mosquitomantra).

[Pincho-toot]

When I lived there, yes. Mosquitos were especially a problem in my backyard when I had a pool, and after heavy rains. I'd take them over lizards though, lizards are disgusting.

[valicky]

Oh, if only Miami could have lizards instead of mosquitoes. That would be another strike I could remove off the "what makes Miami unbearable" list. Lizards eat bugs. That's a great thing in the type of climate we live in where bugs flourish year round. They've got 4 legs instead of 6 or 8, no antennas, don't fly, will generally never bite you. Yep, way better than mosquitoes.

[pslhomie]

Mosquitos are afraid of me. Don't know why but they don't attack me. Up north they tie dryer sheets to their belt loops. Another way to avoid them is to smoke cigars.

[elchevere]

I smoke cigars--except not when lying on the beach.

There was a similar thread on a Tripadvisor travel forum board for Rio de Janeiro and it was stated there are products containing a chemical, DEET, that repels mosquitoes and is available for sales here in the States.

[ElGuito]

Originally Posted by Tanjim

...
If any of you ever have any mosquito related questions, you can reach me on twitter...

Originally Posted by elchevere

I smoke cigars--except not when lying on the beach.

There was a similar thread on a Tripadvisor travel forum board for Rio de Janeiro and it was stated there are products containing a chemical, DEET, that repels mosquitoes and is available for sales here in the States.

I'm no PhD, but don't the mosquitoes track You by the Carbon Dioxide You exhale? Once they locate that, it is a mystery to me how, exactly, they locate the vein or artery. At the clinic, highly trained nurses take minutes, minutes to find a vein, yet the mosquito does it in the dark, and anesthetize You before you feel the prick.

And yes, Deet, after many years we haven't grown an extra head, so that's the way to go, don't ingest anything. For babies, maybe a Pediatrician in South Florida can give advice.

West Nile virus, Chimichanga (or whatever you call it) could very well be, but possibly if many, many infected people from Endemic regions arrive and all in a matter of days.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by valicky

Oh, if only Miami could have lizards instead of mosquitoes. That would be another strike I could remove off the "what makes Miami unbearable" list. Lizards eat bugs. That's a great thing in the type of climate we live in where bugs flourish year round. They've got 4 legs instead of 6 or 8, no antennas, don't fly, will generally never bite you. Yep, way better than mosquitoes.

The Burmese Pythons ate all the lizards?