How do you control mosquitos? (2013, live, dangerous)

[poppydog]

If you're just wanting to sit out on your deck or something like that, a fan works really well to blow them away. They're not very strong flyers and a stiff breeze is enough to send them sailing away.

[CHTransplant]

Bats are not an effective means of controlling mosquitoes.

[RFMan]

Fan, screen porch, personal applications of DEET...

Even with DEET, I use long pants when doing yard work. Sweating and putting out a lot of CO2 brings them on in even if I have applied repellant. And stirring up a bunch in brush while working in the yard...well, they're ticked off and will hang around long enough for a butt-chewing before they leave

[CAbornNClivin]

Anyone concerned about spraying the yard with little ones running around? My twins still put everything they find in their mouth

[RDUBiker]

Originally Posted by CAbornNClivin

Anyone concerned about spraying the yard with little ones running around? My twins still put everything they find in their mouth

I have a 4 year old. The stuff settles after 15-20min and I don't let her out until it's all settled. She won't put things in her mouth now, although I've been spraying since she was 2. The stuff is supposedly safe and is EPA approved according to the company. She and I are big mosquito magnets so we'd get eaten alive otherwise and I figure I would rather try this than constantly spray her with chemicals that are in direct contact with her skin.

[poppydog]

We don't spray chemicals. Mosquitos are just one of the hazards of living in NC. Occasionally we use a little natural bug repellent, but if we're grilling out on the deck, we bring the fan out there and blow them away. Otherwise they don't get on our nerves too much. We do have tons of them, but it's just not something that bothers me enough that I feel the need to spray poisons. Few things would, though. Got two kids, too. So basically, I don't worry about "controlling" mosquitos beyond trying to cut down on their potential breeding places. We also capture spiders and release them outside, fwiw. I do kill ticks and will happily swat a mosquito that lands on me, but there are plenty of mosquitos in our neighborhood so if I were to treat my yard, they'd probably just come over from the neighbors' and harass us anyway.

You can make a good homemade mosquito repellent with cloves. I can't remember where I fist saw there recipe, but you make a tincture of whole cloves in alcohol and let that sit. Then you mix it with a carrier oil (like olive oil, or your choice) when you want to apply it. I tried it and it worked for me. Here's a study that indicate cloves are an effective mosquito repellent: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16041723 .

[agingdisgracefully]

Originally Posted by CHTransplant

Bats are not an effective means of controlling mosquitoes.

What makes you say this? The reason I ask is that about a year ago in a different context I had heard the opposite view asserted.

[ragdolls4me]

Originally Posted by poppydog

We don't spray chemicals. Mosquitos are just one of the hazards of living in NC. Occasionally we use a little natural bug repellent, but if we're grilling out on the deck, we bring the fan out there and blow them away. Otherwise they don't get on our nerves too much. We do have tons of them, but it's just not something that bothers me enough that I feel the need to spray poisons. Few things would, though.

We don't spray chemicals either; was hoping someone would suggest a good alternative. We have a honey bee hive and wouldn't dare risk harming them or any of the other beneficial bugs in the garden. I hate mosquitoes, too, but I guess I'm a "tree (bug) hugger" and don't want to risk adding to the decline of bees or other good bugs.

[CHTransplant]

Originally Posted by CHTransplant

Bats are not an effective means of controlling mosquitoes.

Originally Posted by agingdisgracefully

What makes you say this?

Math. Bats do eat insects, but mosquitoes are something like 1% of their diet. They don't eat enough to make much of a dent in the population of mosquitoes. And the bats and mosquitoes both move around - you'd need a huge number of bats to cover the territory in which the mosquitoes are breeding and feeding.

[agingdisgracefully]

Interesting. In terms of movement, some mosquitoes move around. I've heard that many Aedes (the genus that includes the dengue carriers) usually doesn't fly more than 100 yards from its birthplace but many Anopheles (contains many of the malaria carriers) do move around more. A couple of years ago I'd asked someone why dengue was (likely) worsening in cities in South Asia and the person I spoke to (knowledgeable in dengue matters) suggested that one (of many) factors was the probably decline in bat numbers due to terrible urban air pollution. But Aedes Aegypti, which doesn't move around much, is the dengue carrier there, so maybe that goes toward proving your point.