<p>I’d really like to be able to enjoy my backyard this summer. For the past 10 years or so H and I have huddled like hermits inside our house in the evenings. We can’t go outside because we get eaten alive! I don’t want to slather myself with DEET in order to sit on my patio. Citronella candles don’t do the trick. We’ve tried electric mosquito zappers with limited success. We’ve also tried wearing devices that emit a high-pitched sound to scare the little vampires away. They don’t work. Anyone have any ideas?</p>
<p>I think our real problem is the storm sewers that the city installed 10 years ago. We have two access ports/drains (I don’t really know what they’re called) in our backyard and two at the curb in front of our house. There’s almost always water in the storm drains and I’m sure the little suckers are breeding there. All of the advice I’ve seen says to get rid of standing water. I can’t!!! No way is the city going to get rid of the storm drains.</p>
<p>we have a lot of them too. I;ve heard that putting a few drops of dish soap or oil into standing water can help. Putting up a bat house can help if you an get the right bats attracted to your yard.</p>
<p>Hate mosquitos and could bend your ear about all sorts of factoids. We settled this by putting a (quiet) fan outside when we’re there. Otherwise, you have to look for all possible standing water, even a glass left outside, garden containers, etc- not just obvious. A gardener advised us to pour a bit of bleach in our house’s rain drain- I don’t know if that’s allowed. You may also be able to take a hose to the sewer drains, since they supposedly can’t breed in moving water.</p>
<p>Mosquitos are strange creatures. They land on my H in droves and have everyone on our patio beating their arms and legs to get rid of them. Yet I sit there not even knowing there are mosquitos around - they never bite me, ever. I must have some weird deet-infused dna.</p>
<p>If you don’t like bats (and you really should like them), try to attract birds; especially swallows and wrens. Plant marigolds and catnip. Catnip oil is suppose to be 10 times more effective than DEET. Just think, you could repel mosquitoes and attract cats all at the same time!</p>
<p>Mosquitos really do not travel more than 100 feet from where they breed! The cutter, which is used with your garden hose on your lawn and plant beds, will keep them away for 2-3weeks. Also, I have a mosquito magnet which works but is very difficult to keep running . It seems to stall when the propane gas needs to be changed ( every 21 days or so). I dread setting it up each year . I believe most individuals, who have owned a mosquito magnet, have given up on its use after 3 years or so. Any experience out there?</p>
<p>Apparently the distance varies by species. But I found this hint: “Mosquito Dunks and Mosquito Bits can be used to kill mosquitoes in their breeding area while they are still in the larval stages of their life cycle before they mature into biting insects. Gaining mosquito control over breeding grounds will drastically reduce the mosquito population on your property.”</p>
<p>There’s an organization around here that hires kids in the summer to bike around and drop this stuff into storm drains and catch basins.</p>
<p>For the drains in your back yard, you could try covering them with screen, that would let the water in but prevent the mosquitoes from getting out.</p>
<p>I have wetlands around my house that are part of a national wildlife refuge, and the administrators no longer allow Bti spraying because it also kills some sort of midge which is the only things certain birds will eat. Apparently, a dumb bird is more important than preventing West Nile and EEE in humans. </p>
<p>Our ultimate solution was a three-season porch.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the ideas. We already have a bat house and bird feeders, which attract lots of wrens, doves, goldfinches, and cardinals. I wish we could screen in the patio, but that’s not in the budget :(.</p>
<p>Liberty55, what is the cutter you referred to ?</p>
<p>I read the EPA’s website this evening. They suggest putting cooking oil into standing water that can’t be drained. The oil suffocates the emerging larvae. I’m going to try that one.</p>
<p>The EPA also had a list of DEET alternates. The various Avon Skin-So-Soft mosquito repellants are effective for up to 2 hours according to them. I think I’ll order one of the Avon products to see how well it works and to see if it’s less unpleasant than the DEET products I’ve tried.</p>
<p>Lookingforward, I may try bleach in the storm drains after I experiment with cooking oil. I will definitely plug in a fan outside ad see how that does! I will have to look up mosquito dunks and mosquito bits. I don’t know what they are or how they work. </p>
<p>H and I vacationed on the New Jersey shore a few years ago. I remember seeing what looked like fairly large metal barrels all over the town that the natives said were used for mosquito control. We did not encounter any mosquitos during our stay, so I guess whatever the contraptions were, they worked! I’ve wondered ever since what they were and where I can get some :).</p>
<p>Thanks for the link. I see that the mosquito dunks are BTi. I read about the bacillus on the EPA website, but had no idea how to acquire any. I will order some and see if we see a reduction in the mosquito population. (Hmm, I wonder if I could get the city to pay for it. Probably not…)</p>
<p>A fan set on med or high will disrupt their flying and landing ability, diffuse the carbon dioxide you exhale, and cool you off so you don’t sweat and give off lactic acid.</p>
<p>Cutter® BackyardTM Bug Control Spray Concentrate Ready-to-Spray</p>
<p>To enjoy your backyard this summer, create a bite-free zone with Cutter® brand.</p>
<p>Kills mosquitoes and other annoying insects
Controls up to 8 weeks
32 fl oz treats up to 5,000 sq ft
Easy just connect to your hose, and spray</p>
<p>Contact your local public health or environmental health agency that oversees mosquito control and have them come out by your place and check things out with a survey of your problem/home. You don’t want to catch encephalitis or something like that from mosquitoes.</p>
<p>Of course, it’s hard to say what “works”, but I’ve been treating my hiking clothing (caps, shirts, pants, socks) with Permethrin. During the height of the black fly season, I haven’t had a bug land on me yet.</p>
<p>[Sawyer[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I spray the clothes outside and let it dry before wearing them. I started out buying the 24 ounce Sawyer spray bottles:</p>
<p>but found out that there’s a concentrate available. 1 ounce per 24 ounces of water to make exactly the same thing. So, enough to refill my 24 ounce bottle five times for the same price:</p>
<p>I initially bought it because the treated clothing (especially socks and pants) is the best defense against lyme disease ticks jumping on you. But, I am becoming convinced that this stuff really works as a mosquito/gnat/fly repellent as well. On a patio or deck, spraying fabric cushions or chairs would be a good idea. I have also sprayed my backpacks. The more treated fabric, the better the repellent.</p>
<p>From everything I’ve read, this stuff is as harmless as it gets when it’s dry. You can buy pre-treated clothing (same stuff, but washed into the fabric in the factory), but it’s crazy expensive compared to hosing down your own t-shirts, baseball caps, pants, and socks:</p>
<p>Where we live which is Colorado high desert we worry ALOT about west nile. I have personally known several people who have had it- as you know it can be very serious. Ironically the culex mosquito loves arid climate - there is really very little standing water. We have resigned to wearing DEET in the dusk and evening when we go out and know we are going to be taking a shower before bed. You get used to it - like sunblock. The studies I have read do not like the other chemical choices as well and DEET works much longer- the skin so soft worked for like a few minutes. I watch the last and first freeze and go by that as to when to wear it. There are traps all over the county and they report culex counts- unfortunately a week after wards. It used to be that it was safe until late July but now it starts in April/May!</p>
<p>I have a creek behind my house that made me fall in love with the house when I first looked at it. There are lots of ducks and it seems very calm and peaceful and pretty. Then mosquito season comes. I can’t even take out the trash without being attacked. It is very frustrating. I’ve already had West Nile (moderate case- didn’t need hospitalization but was sicker than I’ve ever been before and had bizarre muscular stuff going on). I don’t know if the kids have had it. If they have, they had mild cases. In any case, even without worrying about West Nile for myself, it is so incredibly annoying. I’ve never tried the Cutter stuff, but maybe I will this year.</p>
<p>I have no suggestions other than what’s already been mentioned here. DH and I lived in a house surrounded by wetlands for 25 years and could never really enjoy the outside because of mosquitoes. I feel your pain. </p>
<p>We finally moved five miles away to a house with no wetlands, and the outdoors is great.</p>
<p>I also read the oil tip- and think it has to be re-done every so often, maybe 7 days. But, seems you went straight to a better source. </p>
<p>I think what we use when we’re at lawn concerts/events is also Cutter. The little paper wicks you put into a candle lantern. But clearly your problem is bigger than that.</p>
<p>We had an enormous colony of bats living in our attic (not by invitation) and we still had a terrible mosquito problem. I think bats are worthless… they just have good PR.</p>
<p>I became a big fan of DEET. It comes in many different strengths and can be spritzed on ankles, hems of clothing, shirt collars, etc… if you don’t want to slather yourself in it.</p>