All these frickin' mosquitos

(in the Northeast)

I was pleasantly surprised when I moved to this particularly town a few years ago - no mosquitos!

Little did I know.

Apparently the ones that carry West Nile Virus prefer drought conditions, and the last few years were pretty dry, but the other kind (whatever that is) is dormant and can stay so until it gets moist. This has been a relatively wet summer, and the damned things are now everywhere. I was this close to giving away my mosquito magnet, and now I'm glad I didn't. I don't care what PETA thinks - the next one near me will know the sound of one hand clapping.

Made for a pleasant weekend with relatively few mosquitos

I hate the smell of garlic; it would be a tossup between the garlic and the mosquitoes.

:yoiks:

that doesn't smell like garlic, which I also hate. Citronella candles, maybe. Not garlic. :puke:

I wish there was something for all the spiders. I'm surrounded by trees, so don't think I can do much about them. Some do come inside, so I keep the vacuum handy to suck them off the walls, ceilings, etc (call it my spider-sucker).

One bit my lip a couple of months ago. I swelled so badly, I was nearly unrecognizable for about a week (had to go on antibiotics).

sigh .....

I don't fight them. They are more afraid of us than we are of them. I really try not to kill them but relocate them outside of my house. I spray deterents around, mostly citrus based. I do have problems with Black Widows and will kill any one of them that is really aggressive about entering my house. I hate it though because it seems like every time I kill a spider other spiders do get aggressive around you like you said biting your lip. I have a life long recurring infection problem from a spider that bit me in Panama when I was eighteen years old.

and of course I had to take a shower as soon as I came in the house

Works too! Safe for pets and all.

Mosquitos are going to abound this year,I'm afraid.

LOL! It's not that we don't get the darlings where I live but it's a lot drier and not so hospitable for them.

during the early evening hours ... they loved him dearly and the poor thing would have whelps all over. That was when my husband started driving to the Sno-ball stand ... :-(

your wetlands. Other than that, I find "Off" and citronella candles do help.

my theory is low iron

I went for a walk by this small river I live by and got eaten alive by those things. They were literally following me as I was walking, I was swatting them away but to no avail. Luckily I was wearing a hoody and jeans so I they only got me around the neck and face area which itched like crazy for about 1-2 weeks. I can't stand them either, next time I'm putting on some kind of mosquito repellent when I go out like that.

I've lived in New England long enough (nearly a half century (!))

Black flies like moving water (rivers, streams, whatever)

Mosquitoes like standing water (swamp, little pools in the unused tire swing, that three inches of water you always step around)

Chances are that by your river you have standing water, which is where the little bastards are hanging out.

Sucks (no pun intended) because you either get black flies or 'sqitos. At least the black flies are just for a short amount of time. I think the mosquitoes are the worse.

When I first moved to a certain place, I rented a house - it abutted a natural forest preserve and I thought "great" - acres of land that I don't have to pay for but can use. Well, there was a small rivulet in between, and little puddles of water, and the biggest mosquitoes I have ever seen. I couldn't even put the garbage on the back porch (time outside = 20 seconds) and make it back in without risking a ton of bites. These were big bastards.

Mosquito Magnets do work, and you don't have to buy all the damned nets they want you to. You just need a couple of tanks of propane for the summer and some attractant and you're set. Only drawback (unless they've changed it) is that you need electrical power.

In my current location, that's not a problem.

I'm happy to put up a bat house, but I don't think my wife will tolerate one inside, which is where I need it right now. (safety note - don't run a mosquito magnet inside - it won't have a place to safely vent and you could die from carbon monoxide poisoning. OTOH, the skeeters won't bug you any more. Your choice.)

worst thing is- they're thickest in the strawberry patch, and the berries are ripe and ready.

I don't know what it is about strawberries - but you're right.

I also used to get nailed in the woods in Maine blueberry picking, but I don't know if that was the lake we were next to or not.

Makes the miserable little buggers seem friendlier!

You wouldn't think we'd have them here on the desert but they are everywhere. They treat me like I'm a real delicacy!

They were deciding whether to eat me on the spot or cart me off for a more leisurely meal.

The winner of the argument said that if they tried to carry me off one of the big ones might take me away from them.

I ran like hell to the car and drove off..

Rimshot..

that you burn atop this little holder. They really work well.

Also, the galvanized pales with citronella candles in them work great. They put out a lot of smoke.

Make sure your gutters are not holding standing water. That is one mosquito factory often overlooked by homeowners.

We put ceiling fans on our carport and now we crank them up on high and watch the skeeters try to hang on to us. It's actually kind of funny in a perverse sort of way.

Stoned cats.