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RUN! MOSQUITOS!!!!! — Brooklynian

RUN! MOSQUITOS!!!!!

god
god
edited November -1 in Prospect Heights
My family and I are getting eaten alive!!!!! Screens don't work! Sprays and lotions don't work! Citronella candles no effect! Has the city sprayed at all this summer? Are any of you getting bitten? Can't......STOP....Itching!!! ARRRGGH!

Comments

  • rose
    rose
    I have four or five new bites after eating dinner in my backyard tonight.
  • armchair_warrior
    armchair_warrior
    couldn't you just smite em?

    anyway i'm skeeter food :(. they love to eat me alive :(.
  • god
    god
    armchair_warrior wrote: couldn't you just smite em?

    anyway I'm skeeter food :(. they love to eat me alive :(.
    I would love to smite them! But I think they're "No-see-ems" and
    are impossible to kill. Die! Gnats Die! :twisted:
  • ben
    ben
    I bought one of these mosquito trap things and I think it's actually working. Before I bought it I saw them all over the place. Since I've gotten it I rarely see them although it was unplugged for a couple days and I started noticing them again. Plugged it back in and I haven't seen them since.

    The one I got was the Alpha from Megacatch - http://www.megacatch.com/alpha.html I bought the optional octenol lures as well.

    Also, be sure you have no standing water in your yard as that acts as a breeding ground for them.
  • leet
    leet
    I bought a mosquito net for my bed, and it's worked great. They were getting me while I slept, and I'm allergic. I get huge 2" welts from mosquito bites that last for weeks.

    C'mon God, can't you do something about the mosquitoes?
  • dakotas way
    dakotas way
    You need some bats in the neighborhoods to eat the monsters
  • poot
    poot
    I had the same experience last summer (actually, a lot of people did: there was a thread here that just wouldn't die for months and months about it.) This Spring I planted lemon grass and citrosa at the front end of the garden - where the bbq is - and that worked ok. We still get bitten, but not rabidly attacked.
  • dakotas way
    dakotas way
    What about Skin so Soft? I've heard that's better than even using the heavy duty Cutter's or other bug sprays, and much better to put on your body.
  • vanilla
    vanilla
    poot wrote: I had the same experience last summer (actually, a lot of people did: there was a thread here that just wouldn't die for months and months about it.) This Spring I planted lemon grass and citrosa at the front end of the garden - where the bbq is - and that worked ok. We still get bitten, but not rabidly attacked.
    you mean, this thread?

    http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5763
  • d-miriam
    d-miriam

    Subject: is it getting worse?

    I posted last year about the mosquito problem. It was really bad in October, 2006. But I must say, this year has been far worse, at least for our family. I'm wondering if anybody else has noticed an increase in bites or insect activity in PH. And any theories about why it seems to be getting worse? I'm also wondering if we're getting bitten by no-see-ums rather than or in addition to mosquitoes. We already had an exterminator in to check for bed bugs and he couldn't find anything.
  • emily
    emily
    I went through a bedbug panic this spring that also turned out to be nothing. So far this week I have three bites on my face and one on a pinky finger that's so swollen I can barely bend it. I am at my wits' end! Wearing insect repellent to bed helps but is, you know, sort of repellent. :?
  • whyfi
    whyfi
    I don't have a problem with them at home, but they can be a nuisance at the store - I was camping in Canada last week, and I got fewer bites there than I normally do in the same amount of time at the shoppe.

    My crackpot theory: they're hatching in the water (from the condenser) in the AC unit.
  • stacey
    stacey
    dakotas way wrote: What about Skin so Soft? I've heard that's better than even using the heavy duty Cutter's or other bug sprays, and much better to put on your body.
    My son and I are like a Smorgasbord to the mosquitos but I swear by Skin So Soft. I have been using it on myself and my son and we have been bite free for the past 2 summers.
  • poot
    poot
    vanilla wrote: [quote=poot]I had the same experience last summer (actually, a lot of people did: there was a thread here that just wouldn't die for months and months about it.) This Spring I planted lemon grass and citrosa at the front end of the garden - where the bbq is - and that worked ok. We still get bitten, but not rabidly attacked.
    you mean, this thread?

    http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5763

    Yes! It made me feel like the mosquitos - typically summer nuisances - never went away. Our crackpot theory is that there is standing water on our plentiful Brooklyn roof tops.
  • bandman
    bandman

    Subject: Mosquito Hell!!

    Had the same issue all last summer. There was a whole tribe of them living right inside our apartment!
    Just for fun, I'm trying a new prescription this year. Dryer Sheets! Sounds stupid, yes, but I haven't seen but one all this summer. I stuck dryer sheets in the sides of each window, and I haven't woken up with loads of bites like last summer. Got the idea from an idiotic forward at work, but since it costs next to nothing, I tried it. Seems to be working for now.
    P.S. doesn't seem to be having any effect on the swarms of flies congregating around the windows and sending in five at a time to keep me on my toes! :(
  • caseopele
    caseopele
    One of these little bastards bit me on the right instep of my foot at work tonight! One of the guys was helping me up front and we both got eaten alive until he killed it. Why must I be so succulent?!? :lol:
  • bricktop
    bricktop

    Subject: is your Megacatch really working?

    Ben wrote: I bought one of these mosquito trap things and I think it's actually working. Before I bought it I saw them all over the place. Since I've gotten it I rarely see them although it was unplugged for a couple days and I started noticing them again. Plugged it back in and I haven't seen them since.

    The one I got was the Alpha from Megacatch - http://www.megacatch.com/alpha.html I bought the optional octenol lures as well.

    Also, be sure you have no standing water in your yard as that acts as a breeding ground for them.
    Ben -- now that it's been awhile, please report in and let us know if your Megacatch is still working -- or if anyone has alternate successful methods for reducing or eliminating the biting buggers.
  • dr f
    dr f
    Try B vitamins. Not sure which one works but either B6 or B12 (can't remember which one so I take a B complex) causes something to be emitted through the skin that mosquitos don't like. Doesn't work for everybody however. I had maybe 3 bites all last year and none so far this year while my wife is getting eatin alive. They land on me and then don't do anything. I wouldn't expect it to work after just one day, I'd take them everyday for 7-10 days and then judge how it works.

    I know it sounds crazy but what have you got to lose. I thought it was stupid too but I'm not scratching anymore so maybe there is something to it.
  • doctorj
    doctorj
    Dr F wrote: Try B vitamins. Not sure which one works but either B6 or B12 (can't remember which one so I take a B complex) causes something to be emitted through the skin that mosquitos don't like. Doesn't work for everybody however. I had maybe 3 bites all last year and none so far this year while my wife is getting eatin alive.
    I think the key here is the wife part, not the vitamin B. Works for me (and doubly bad for her).
  • d-miriam
    d-miriam
    Either Vitamin B1 (riboflavin) or B2 (thiamine) is supposed to help ward off mosquitoes. You can purchase a general B vitamin which contains both. But you have to take one everyday.
  • MOD
    MOD
    Has anyone tried non-deet sprays?
    Any advice on Burts Bees?
    http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=45539&catid=82240&aid=335944&aparam=burts_bees_herbal_insect
  • ben
    ben

    Subject: Re: is your Megacatch really working?

    Bricktop wrote: [quote=Ben]I bought one of these mosquito trap things and I think it's actually working. Before I bought it I saw them all over the place. Since I've gotten it I rarely see them although it was unplugged for a couple days and I started noticing them again. Plugged it back in and I haven't seen them since.

    The one I got was the Alpha from Megacatch - http://www.megacatch.com/alpha.html I bought the optional octenol lures as well.

    Also, be sure you have no standing water in your yard as that acts as a breeding ground for them.
    Ben -- now that it's been awhile, please report in and let us know if your Megacatch is still working -- or if anyone has alternate successful methods for reducing or eliminating the biting buggers.

    It's been pretty good but I did start to notice more of them recently. I then realized that the octenol lure had been in a little over 3 weeks and after reading the package realized that it may need to be replaced. It says it lasts approx. 30 days, depending on the weather. I'm guessing that the amount of rain we have had may have decreased the life of it shortly.

    So I put in a replacement lure, I need to give it a day or two to see if the numbers go down again but my general feeling is that this thing is working.

    I don't think it's 100% but I think it is helpful for controlling the population. All in all I'm happy with it.
  • whyfi
    whyfi
    Mamacita wrote: Has anyone tried non-deet sprays?
    Any advice on Burts Bees?
    http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=45539&catid=82240&aid=335944&aparam=burts_bees_herbal_insect
    [shill]We (NH) don't carry that, but I've had good results with the Badger Anti-Bug Balm. [/shill]
  • tuckpendleton
    tuckpendleton

    Subject: No see-ums...

    I had been getting eaten alive, thinking it was mosquitos. After installing a mosquito trap with no luck, came to the conclusion it was no see-ums.

    http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_diseases_pests_insects/article/0,1785,HGTV_3580_1390295,00.html

    Here's what I've been doing, with 95% success. (I did just get some bites last night -- but I think the excessive rain drove more no-see-ums inside.)

    Make the bedroom COLD. Talkin' 65 degrees. (They don't like cold.)

    Burn a vanilla scented candle right up until I go to bed. (Tip from someone at a natural foods store.)

    Also put some soapy water and vinegar in a big bowl. Apparently the vinegar attracts them, and the soapy water drowns them.

    I run a fan at high speed right by my head. NSMs are not strong fliers, so a fan can keep a lot away from you.

    I will also try the B vitamins and dryer sheets.

    The problem with NSMs is that they are SO small that they fit through most standard mesh screens, AC filters, etc.

    If the "dryer sheet" person is still reading...exactly where do you put them?
  • jianm
    jianm
    Ben-
    What is the final verdict on the megacatch? Is it worth purchasing for next summer? How was August in your backyard?
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