Concerned about my kids being exposed to "Mosquito Squad" spraying

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those of you who use mosquito squad despite the sock puppeting:

You say "oh yeah, the sock puppeting is bad, but..." does it not concern you that if a company is that deceptive on a website, that its employees are sock puppeting (and from the amount of times it appears to happen on many websites, not this one, my guess is that it is systemic and encouraged by the owners), the company might be more inclined to cut corners, lie to the customers in other ways (because that's what they are doing - lying to customers and potential customers, and no less), or otherwise behave as they have led you to expect they'd behave? Are you concerned that if you have a complaint with this company, they will treat you with as much respect as they've treated these anonymous people on a website? That they might SAY they've fixed the problem but haven't, really?

Are you home when they spray? If you're paying for the natural service, are you SURE they're not using pesticides? How would you know? (The pesticides are cheaper, btw). If you're asking them not to spray your children's toys, are you SURE they are not spraying that? Are you SURE they're doing what they're supposed to do?

You have nobody but yourself to blame if you're getting more chemicals than you bargained for from this company, or chemicals in places you don't want chemicals, etc. There have been a number of posters who have complained on these forums that Mosquito Squad people have come to their house and routinely just spray indiscriminately, without waiting for the homeowner to close windows, spraying down children's play equipment, etc.

And you trust these people to spray your house / yard / belongings with toxins?

+1 from NP. Our neighbor sprayed their yard for mosquitoes, though I don't know if they used MS. I'd never actually seen spraying, but the guy had this huge blower and it was going all over the place due to the force. It covered walkways, windows, yard toys, was floating into the air on top of the car parked out front. Her kid got very sick, and I realized that it was right around that time. It could very well be from the spraying. We bought an antique piece of furniture once and when they delivered it, my son broke out in hives. It smelled funny, so I think they had sprayed or cleaned it with something. When I took my kid to the doctor, she went through a list of questions that included "have you brought anything new into the house." Bingo. There was a post here a while back about how a woman in this area got really sick after having her home sprayed for bugs. I think the whole argument about us surviving toxins doesn't correlate. There are so many more environmental toxins now than in the 70s, and our processed food wasn't as processed. I can't believe that people will tolerate MS sock-puppeting--that's telling our corporations to misbehave. Crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its their yard and their right to do it. Mind your own business. Do them a favor and keep your kids out of their yard and then its a non-issue for both of you.

you must be a Republican!

What an idiotic answer.

I get upset when my neighbors spray stuff. They are the only ones in the neighborhood that do it and they have little yellow signs telling the kids and animals to stay off the grass. That doesn't keep the wind from blowing or from wild animals spreading the poison into my yard. I have one child on the autistic spectrum and I try to limit his exposure to pesticides the best I can. For whatever reason he has a difficult time when he's not fed organic foods. I learned to control the mosquito population by making sure there isn't any standing water but our yard gets pretty boggy and all I have to do is put a little bit of cooking oil where the water tends to be and it keeps the mosquitoes from hatching. I also use an organic spray made from oils and peppermint to keep bugs off my grapes and vegetables. I've also been known to pick off bugs by hand to kill them or find preying mantises to put in my garden. So much for your Republican theory. I love my planet and do all I can to protect it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please don't even try to use West Nile or Lyme as your justification for use of these companies. Your chances of catching them are much, much lower than being in a car accident or dying from a heart attack. Really just slim to none. This is done for convenience only. Donttrytonportray it as mitigating a risk-- it isnt or you wouldnt drive or eat unhealthy foods. Which is totally fine in my book but I do find it odd that there are so many people on DCUM who only shop at Whole Foods/eat organic and also so many who use MS. I wonder how many are in both categories.

i shop at whole foods and only eat organic meat and fruits.
and yes, i have MS spray our yard.

i don't understand what the disconnect is for you. and i do use it b/c of Lyme disease. we live in a deer-infested neighborhood.

Wash your clothes in Mrs. Meyers lavender detergent and use a lavender scented soap. It keeps the ticks away. We live in a deer infested neighborhood as well and this is the only way I have been able to keep ticks at bay. I've had Lyme before so I know a thing or two about natural prevention. Oh and the lavender seems to keep mosquitoes away too. I have been to countries that don't use window screens so they put sprigs of lavender on the window sills.

[Anonymous]

To the posters saying that its safe because they use the same chemicals in dog flea/tick repellents a flea/tick medication killed my brothers dog. It's not safe that stuff is dangerous!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a bad experience with Mosquito Squad. They actually accidentally sprayed my dog with all the chemicals. It was through a chain link fence and they claim they did not see him. My neighbors were the ones spraying -- not me.

We had to take the dog to the vet and he got very sick. He is OK now but this was after round and rounds of vet visits. After abut 4 weeks, he seemed better and the vet thought that the chemicals eventually left his system.

OMG, that is awful. AWFUL.

Did Mosquito Squad pay the vet bill?

[Anonymous]

MS customer here - I posted before. I did request that they don't spray around my veggies and herbs or the patio furniture. The technician left a handful of green flags for us to use on places that should be avoided - so they do have a system in place to handle customer requests like this.

I am not at all thrilled with chemicals in my yard, believe me - we do eat mostly organic, I cook a lot of our meals from scratch, we conserve and recycle wherever possible, but I couldn't watch my younger kid with the sensitive skin get dozens of huge red and painful welts every time she was outside for more than a minute or two and I figured spraying the shrub and trees would be better than spraying her skin.

[Anonymous]

I have been to countries that don't use window screens so they put sprigs of lavender on the window sills.

They probably also throw salt over their shoulders to keep the devil away - or spit.

[Anonymous]

Except lavender really does keep bugs away.

[Anonymous]

Mosquito spraying is under the Maryland Department of Agriculture. There are at least two forms you can fill out to opt out of mosquito spraying. There is a participation form where you can deny the right to spray. Then there is a Request for Exemption From Adult Mosquito Control Serices. The spraying of mosquitoes is very innefective from what I've read. It will only work on adult mosquitoes who just happen to be flying in that particular air at the exact moment of spray. What it does effectively do, however, is coat everything with deadly pesticides that cause cancer and birth defects. It kills birds and bats, who eat a vast quanity of bugs every day, so it makes no sense. Why do we think dogs get so much cancer? A lot of it is from the food we give them, and a lot of it is from yard chemicals, pesticdes, etc. The "Objection to Adult Mosquito Control" states that there must be a 300-foot buffer on all sides of the property excluded. I had a tons of honey bees at start of summer, but when the mosquito spraying started, I now have none. They are not supposed to spray in the rain, and there are lots of other guidelines they are not following. A good movie to see on netflix is "The Vanishing Of The Bees" and they are disappearing directly due to pesticides but huges chemical companies like Monsant would have you think otherwise. Another thing we can do is always buy organic, it's all intertwined now. Good luck to you and thank you for caring, unlike the other person.

[Anonymous]

That stuff smells terrible. I don't understand how people can sit outside with that disgusting smell, and if you can't be outside anyway, why bother spraying for mosquitos? People are way too casual with bug spray, IMO. I'm with you, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Except lavender really does keep bugs away.

You should contact the Gates Foundation to ask they distribute lavender instead of mosquito nets.

[Anonymous]

OK, if mosquito squad is no good then what would you recommend for spraying when your yard is totally infested! We can barely use our outdoors.

[Anonymous]

dcmosquitosquad wrote:Hello, my name is Damien Sanchez, owner of Mosquito Squad of Greater DC, my company services inside the beltway in Virginia and Maryland and the Southwest side of 270 in the Potomac area. I have been a franchise owner for the past 5 years and have worked extremely hard to build a good reputation in a field that can be extremely sensitive no matter which side of the debate you side with. There is not much to say in regards to the accusations of sock puppeting. I think Jeff has been 100% correct in pointing this out and should continue doing so. I appreciate his honesty and consistency in keeping readers aware of the facts. I do regret that it's my own reputation that has been tarnished by these sock puppeting posts. I have sacrificed so much of my time and energy to build a good reputation in the community and to see it disappear in a few posts is heartbreaking to me. I realize that because most of the readers on this forum live inside my service territory that dishonesty and fraud are now associated with my name.

My goal since the beginning has been to act with honesty and integrity with not only my customers and neighbors of customers but also with individuals who disagree with the services we offer. The original sock puppeting thread has been mentioned in this thread, I was the first to try and address the concerns of the OP which Jeff can attest to. All I could do in response to the previous thread was notify the franchise system what had occurred. As for myself I have only posted a few times on this forum, but have always used my name. I have since registered on the forum so that I am more easily identified in order to not be associated with dishonest business practices. I have notified the franchise system of this incident and I am hopeful they too will work with Jeff to identify those responsible.

To the OP, please give my office a call and ask for me as I would appreciate an opportunity to review the concerns you have expressed on this forum.

Sincerely,
Damien Sanchez
Mosquito Squad of Greater Washington DC

So, was it Mike Nevarr from that thread who logged out and then sock puppeted the thread? http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/45/232488.page

Damien, I think the reduction of pests like mosquitoes is a great business model. However, I don't think using toxic chemicals to achieve the reduction is ok. Premethrin is toxic to most arthropods, yes, but it's also toxic to fish, honeybees, and mammals (yes, mammals -- I don't see any research suggesting there's a safe amount of cumulative exposure, which is why your guys wear protection, right?). Even with great customer service, you will never be able to convince me that I should spray chemicals on my yard that kill beneficial life. If you want to gain additional business, why not offer your natural spray at the same price as the toxic spray, or develop a more effective natural spray? I appreciate that you need to earn a living, but I don't see why that should come at the cost of honeybees, fish, and human health and via misinformation about the risks of the chemicals involved. And I definitely would not support a company whose business practices appear to include sock puppeting an anonymous forum and cheerleading DDT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OK, if mosquito squad is no good then what would you recommend for spraying when your yard is totally infested! We can barely use our outdoors.

Asian tiger mosquitoes are usually best controlled by controlling standing water sources. If you eliminate the standing water on your property (and possibly adjacent properties), you will eliminate their breeding areas. Asian tigers are weak flyers and stay nearby where they were hatched -- they fly about 200 yards max from their birthplace. If you have an infestation, it's worth it to ensure all standing water is dumped every 2-3 days, or to eliminate structures that allow water to pool. Asian tigers can breed in about a capful of water, so you need to be thorough when you review your property.

[Anonymous]

Do you have to be from the DC area to post here? If so, then I'm breaking the rules. I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth. I live in NC and I'm getting my yard sprayed on Wednesday. Why? Because I haven't been outside my lake house in 2 years because of the mosquitos. Now, our granddaughter is spending a lot of time with us. My husband takes her outside, and I cover her in spray. Does absolutely no good. That's why I'm spraying. Besides that, the neighbors on both sides of me are getting it done too. Nobody is happy that we can't use our yards. Glad I live where we are all of the same mind.