Mosquito Explosion

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
Good grief!! All those days of rain followed by a couple sunny ones and BAM!...more black mosquitoes than I've ever seen. My brother made the mistake of walking his dog down to the shoreline whilst wearing shorts (he was wearing them..not the dog..for Jazz..;-p)
...when he looked down at his legs they were black with skeeters and when he smacked one and drew his hand back, there was so much blood everywhere youda thunk he cut his leg half off.


Just finished spraying 15 acres, and throwing larvicide pellets in the larger areas of standing water. Huge difference in less than an hour....if only the state mosquito control could be half as effective. They were once...20 years and more ago.
 

NorthBeachPerso

Honorary SMIB
Good grief!! All those days of rain followed by a couple sunny ones and BAM!...more black mosquitoes than I've ever seen. My brother made the mistake of walking his dog down to the shoreline whilst wearing shorts (he was wearing them..not the dog..for Jazz..;-p)
...when he looked down at his legs they were black with skeeters and when he smacked one and drew his hand back, there was so much blood everywhere youda thunk he cut his leg half off.


Just finished spraying 15 acres, and throwing larvicide pellets in the larger areas of standing water. Huge difference in less than an hour....if only the state mosquito control could be half as effective. They were once...20 years and more ago.

And you know the reason why. Whiners complained so they had to go to less effective sprays and change the scheduling from a regular cycle to having to do landing surveys before they spray.

What's funny here in the Beach is to watch the spray truck go down the street and shut off the sprayer as it passes houses where the owners have opted out of the spraying and then turn it back on at the next house.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
And you know the reason why. Whiners complained so they had to go to less effective sprays and change the scheduling from a regular cycle to having to do landing surveys before they spray.

What's funny here in the Beach is to watch the spray truck go down the street and shut off the sprayer as it passes houses where the owners have opted out of the spraying and then turn it back on at the next house.

There too, huh? Yeah...it's nuts. Fortunately for us, after taking things in to our own hands, we do keep them under control. My "weekend" neighbors three houses up the shore were waving and cheering when they saw me out with the spray rig. They were confined to their dock..the skeeters owned the shoreline.
 

edinsomd

New Member
There too, huh? Yeah...it's nuts. Fortunately for us, after taking things in to our own hands, we do keep them under control. My "weekend" neighbors three houses up the shore were waving and cheering when they saw me out with the spray rig. They were confined to their dock..the skeeters owned the shoreline.

They offer to dummy up some funds for the effort?
 

twinoaks207

Having Fun!
There too, huh? Yeah...it's nuts. Fortunately for us, after taking things in to our own hands, we do keep them under control. My "weekend" neighbors three houses up the shore were waving and cheering when they saw me out with the spray rig. They were confined to their dock..the skeeters owned the shoreline.

How much would you charge to come spray my little 50' x 150' city lot? I admit to being a tree-hugging, nature nut but when I can't be outside for 3 minutes without 10-15 of the suckers using me for a blood bank, all bets are off! And, no, I'm not going to put up a bat house. It was bad enough getting a squirrel in my ceiling. I sure as hell don't want bats in my attic!
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
How much would you charge to come spray my little 50' x 150' city lot? I admit to being a tree-hugging, nature nut but when I can't be outside for 3 minutes without 10-15 of the suckers using me for a blood bank, all bets are off! And, no, I'm not going to put up a bat house. It was bad enough getting a squirrel in my ceiling. I sure as hell don't want bats in my attic!


Sorry to disappoint you, but it does not work that way. I don't do any aerial spraying of so-called contact insecticides, first of all. And what I do spray is almost entirely larvicidal ground-contact stuff, which is only effective when you treat a fairly large area...15 acres or so in my case. I've had the licenses for insecticide apps since 1976..but there is precious little left that is actually legal to apply so it's almost pointless to bother with anything that is aerosol and local-area applied...sorry...
 

RoseRed

American Beauty
PREMO Member
At least it isn't the malathion spraying going like on in the 80's in California.
 

twinoaks207

Having Fun!
Sorry to disappoint you, but it does not work that way. I don't do any aerial spraying of so-called contact insecticides, first of all. And what I do spray is almost entirely larvicidal ground-contact stuff, which is only effective when you treat a fairly large area...15 acres or so in my case. I've had the licenses for insecticide apps since 1976..but there is precious little left that is actually legal to apply so it's almost pointless to bother with anything that is aerosol and local-area applied...sorry...

Well, dang! There goes my hope. Guess I'll have to rethink those bats...
 
Bats are good. They don't bother anything except the bugs.

But if you're dead set against bats, put up some purple martin houses, if you have a fairly open yard. Purple martins eat a ton of skeeters. Won't help you this year, but if they start nesting in the spring, next year will be better.

What does a purple martin eat?
Purple martins enjoy vast quantities of insects on the wing, and are much sought after for controlling annoying insects like mosquitoes. They love to eat mosquitoes, beetles, flies, dragonflies, and moths.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
At least it isn't the malathion spraying going like on in the 80's in California.

20+ years ago, the state was serious about mosquito control in places like St. George's Island. They used effective chemicals in their truck-mounted sprayers...they deployed people on foot with backpack larvicide pellet dispensers..they operated 6x6 all terrain buggies to treat the large marsh and swamp areas...

Today? They waft a thin cloud of a useless pyrethrine-based mix from a truck sprayer maybe 3-4 times a year. It does nothing.
 

tipsymcgee

Active Member
Don't tell me. Had to move something and it required me to change out the hitch on my truck to fit the trailer. Problem was I hadn't had my hitch removed in a while. Had to lay on the ground with a baby sledge just tapping away for 30-40 minutes while the mosquitoes fed away. They are always bad on Bushwood Wharf Road with the little part of Whites Neck Creek running out back, but not sure I've seen them like this with each leg covered with 10 or so at a time. What can I do there if anything to tame them down!?
 
I use Cutter's Deep Woods. Pretty good at keeping them off while you work. Doesn't smell bad either.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
I use Cutter's Deep Woods. Pretty good at keeping them off while you work. Doesn't smell bad either.

That and the Deep Woods Off...and the Off For Clothing Only stuff. The latter I spray on myself too...figger I'm too old now to worry about side effects or spawning three-legged kids.

I just got a chuckle; the "newer" neighbors are howling bloody murder about how bad the skeeters are. MD skeeter control truck just rolled through my place, wafting its little bit of spray fog behind it. A placebo..is about all it is.
 
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