s/o: how bad are services like Mosquito Squad for the environment?

[Anonymous]

I found cutter natural works well. But I live by the river. I sparybweekly and as the summer goes on biweekly and before events . I always cut the lawn first. I also keep a citronella plant at me doors and on patio.
Also the hand soaps in kitchen and bath are switched to lemons and lemon verbena.
I think I heard about verbena in Italy.Italian use the lemon verbena

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in a salt marsh in Anne Arundel county. Y'all don't know what mosquitoes are. I get bit 100-150 times an hour, most of the time in peak season. I don't spray, it kills pollinators. I don't use deet, it's a neurotoxin.

I'll tell ya this though. I moved here 15 years ago, and after about 3 years, I stopped reacting to mosquito bites.

That's what happens. Your body eventually stops producing the hystamine reaction to something it recognizes as common.

I still get bit like crazy. I just don't itch or get bumps anymore.


So go out and build your immunity.

This is insane. Go out and get hundreds of bites, for 4 - 5 months at a time, for 3 years?

Mosquitos carry nasty viruses. I seriously cannot believe someone lives this way, let alone recommends it to others. You're honestly not doing yourself any health favors and you are clueless about how histamine reactions work.

[Anonymous]

No way. I got bit by a mosquito in the Adirondacks when I was 18 months and contracted encephalitis. They love me. Yesterday I killed a few and was constantly brushing them off my son. We spray.

[Anonymous]

No one is going to change the mind of anyone else on this thread. Good thing we live in a free country...for now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I live on a small lot in AU Park. My neighbors don't spray but we do (Mosquito Squad). It makes a huge difference. We can actually sit outside without being bothered by mosquitoes at all. Relax and just spray, you'll be glad you did.

Agreed. Also we tried the organic and it didn't work. We have around an acre of yard space - we don't spray the woods - but it makes a huge difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in a salt marsh in Anne Arundel county. Y'all don't know what mosquitoes are. I get bit 100-150 times an hour, most of the time in peak season. I don't spray, it kills pollinators. I don't use deet, it's a neurotoxin.

I'll tell ya this though. I moved here 15 years ago, and after about 3 years, I stopped reacting to mosquito bites.

That's what happens. Your body eventually stops producing the hystamine reaction to something it recognizes as common.

I still get bit like crazy. I just don't itch or get bumps anymore.


So go out and build your immunity.

Let me get this straight. Your suggestion is for people to go out and let hundreds or thousands of bugs harvest on them in order to decrease the bumps and itchiness over a period of years? This is possibly the most asinine advice I've ever read on here. The itchiness and bumps aren't the most bothersome parts of mosquito bites, and no, I'm not going to let hundreds of mosquitoes harvest on me and my children. You're nuts.

Signed,
a non sprayer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I live on a small lot in AU Park. My neighbors don't spray but we do (Mosquito Squad). It makes a huge difference. We can actually sit outside without being bothered by mosquitoes at all. Relax and just spray, you'll be glad you did.

Yes. The chemical kills mosquitos on contact. The insecticide has a fixing agent that allows it to adhere to everything it comes in contact with in your yard. It takes a few weeks for the insecticide to break down. So you are sitting in insecticide. It will contaminate your clothing and be absorbed through your skin.

Yeah - no worries when you die of cancer at age 50 Or your kids for gods sake. Why? Wearing DEET is better than that. I don't get. Wear long sleeve clothing, try to eliminate standing water, get a bat house, build a screened in porch. I find the mosquitoes are usually only bad for about two months - mid-July through August depending on the type of season we are having.

Sorry they were in my yard April to October before spraying. And no ,we do not wish to be confined to our screened porch (which we have) 6 months of the year.

Turn on an outdoor fan, people

+1

Exactly. It's that easy. Ever tried it? It works better than any amount of poison (which ends up in your water, btw).

The fan only works if you're sitting on your porch. Also, you have to have a porch in the first place, which we do not. We have 1/10th of an acre -- pretty small lot. It takes about 1 minute to walk from the street up to our door with a toddler. Before last summer, I would get about 15 bites in that 1 minute. And if we stayed out for 10 minutes so my son could run around a bit, I'd get 40. (Amazingly, DS didn't get any, and DH rarely did either, but I have always been a mosquito magnet.) I used to garden in a beekeper outfit to keep them away. In 100 degree weather. My SIL wouldn't come over in the summer because she reacts so strongly to mosquito bites -- a single bite swells to amazing proportions and then leaves a permanent scar -- and she also couldn't make it from her car to our house without being bitten.

Last summer I was pregnant and we finally sprayed for the first time. It was amazing. I didn't get a single bite in my yard the entire summer. (Did get a few bites in other people's yards.) And we were outside for an hour plus. No bites. The spray stuff definitely works. I feel bad about spraying, and I'm not going to grow vegetables while we do it -- not that I have the time with a 3 year old and a newborn anyway -- but I just couldn't live like that anymore. And before you ask, yes, we checked for standing water, we used bug spray on ourselves, we have underground piping that pipes the water away from the house (for flood issues), etc etc. Only the industrial spray has made any difference. I guess we'll see what happens this summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I live on a small lot in AU Park. My neighbors don't spray but we do (Mosquito Squad). It makes a huge difference. We can actually sit outside without being bothered by mosquitoes at all. Relax and just spray, you'll be glad you did.

Yes. The chemical kills mosquitos on contact. The insecticide has a fixing agent that allows it to adhere to everything it comes in contact with in your yard. It takes a few weeks for the insecticide to break down. So you are sitting in insecticide. It will contaminate your clothing and be absorbed through your skin.

Yeah - no worries when you die of cancer at age 50 Or your kids for gods sake. Why? Wearing DEET is better than that. I don't get. Wear long sleeve clothing, try to eliminate standing water, get a bat house, build a screened in porch. I find the mosquitoes are usually only bad for about two months - mid-July through August depending on the type of season we are having.

Sorry they were in my yard April to October before spraying. And no ,we do not wish to be confined to our screened porch (which we have) 6 months of the year.

Turn on an outdoor fan, people

People aren't talking about ceiling fans on your porch, they're talking about box or industrial fans that you can put in your yard and patio.

+1

Exactly. It's that easy. Ever tried it? It works better than any amount of poison (which ends up in your water, btw).

The fan only works if you're sitting on your porch. Also, you have to have a porch in the first place, which we do not. We have 1/10th of an acre -- pretty small lot. It takes about 1 minute to walk from the street up to our door with a toddler. Before last summer, I would get about 15 bites in that 1 minute. And if we stayed out for 10 minutes so my son could run around a bit, I'd get 40. (Amazingly, DS didn't get any, and DH rarely did either, but I have always been a mosquito magnet.) I used to garden in a beekeper outfit to keep them away. In 100 degree weather. My SIL wouldn't come over in the summer because she reacts so strongly to mosquito bites -- a single bite swells to amazing proportions and then leaves a permanent scar -- and she also couldn't make it from her car to our house without being bitten.

Last summer I was pregnant and we finally sprayed for the first time. It was amazing. I didn't get a single bite in my yard the entire summer. (Did get a few bites in other people's yards.) And we were outside for an hour plus. No bites. The spray stuff definitely works. I feel bad about spraying, and I'm not going to grow vegetables while we do it -- not that I have the time with a 3 year old and a newborn anyway -- but I just couldn't live like that anymore. And before you ask, yes, we checked for standing water, we used bug spray on ourselves, we have underground piping that pipes the water away from the house (for flood issues), etc etc. Only the industrial spray has made any difference. I guess we'll see what happens this summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I live on a small lot in AU Park. My neighbors don't spray but we do (Mosquito Squad). It makes a huge difference. We can actually sit outside without being bothered by mosquitoes at all. Relax and just spray, you'll be glad you did.

Yes. The chemical kills mosquitos on contact. The insecticide has a fixing agent that allows it to adhere to everything it comes in contact with in your yard. It takes a few weeks for the insecticide to break down. So you are sitting in insecticide. It will contaminate your clothing and be absorbed through your skin.

Yeah - no worries when you die of cancer at age 50 Or your kids for gods sake. Why? Wearing DEET is better than that. I don't get. Wear long sleeve clothing, try to eliminate standing water, get a bat house, build a screened in porch. I find the mosquitoes are usually only bad for about two months - mid-July through August depending on the type of season we are having.

Sorry they were in my yard April to October before spraying. And no ,we do not wish to be confined to our screened porch (which we have) 6 months of the year.

Turn on an outdoor fan, people

+1

Exactly. It's that easy. Ever tried it? It works better than any amount of poison (which ends up in your water, btw).

The fan only works if you're sitting on your porch. Also, you have to have a porch in the first place, which we do not. We have 1/10th of an acre -- pretty small lot. It takes about 1 minute to walk from the street up to our door with a toddler. Before last summer, I would get about 15 bites in that 1 minute. And if we stayed out for 10 minutes so my son could run around a bit, I'd get 40. (Amazingly, DS didn't get any, and DH rarely did either, but I have always been a mosquito magnet.) I used to garden in a beekeper outfit to keep them away. In 100 degree weather. My SIL wouldn't come over in the summer because she reacts so strongly to mosquito bites -- a single bite swells to amazing proportions and then leaves a permanent scar -- and she also couldn't make it from her car to our house without being bitten.

Last summer I was pregnant and we finally sprayed for the first time. It was amazing. I didn't get a single bite in my yard the entire summer. (Did get a few bites in other people's yards.) And we were outside for an hour plus. No bites. The spray stuff definitely works. I feel bad about spraying, and I'm not going to grow vegetables while we do it -- not that I have the time with a 3 year old and a newborn anyway -- but I just couldn't live like that anymore. And before you ask, yes, we checked for standing water, we used bug spray on ourselves, we have underground piping that pipes the water away from the house (for flood issues), etc etc. Only the industrial spray has made any difference. I guess we'll see what happens this summer.

People aren't talking about ceiling fans on your porch, they're talking about box or industrial fans that you can put in your yard and patio.

[Anonymous]

Really? An outdoor fan is going to do it? Genuinely asking... and if it really works do you mean literally just in the space around the fan? So it might work if you had the fan next to your table while eating but not if your kid is running around?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's about as bad as you can get for the environment. Many countries have banned Round Up, for good reason. In addition, there is a strong correlation between the diminishing bee population and "weed killers". Companies such as Mosquito Squad are under no obligation to tell you the truth (ethically, they should - but it usually does not happen).

Look around. One sees far fewer chemical trucks than in the past, for good reason. People need to educate themselves, especially in a geographic area that is supposed to be "educated".

http://www.glyphosate.news/2016-06-27-study-shows-honeybees-are-starving-because-of-roundup.html

WTF does Round Up! have to do with mosquitos?


How does one use an HERBICIDE kill INSECTS, Doctor?

For someone who probably considers themselves "educated", as you like to point out, you can't even process that NO ONE uses Round Up! to control mosquitos.

But you're a great example of the type of soft minded urban nitwit who knows knowing, yet insists they know everything, and assumes everyone else who disagrees is a planet-killing buffoon. Folks like you are why folks like me just CANNOT support the environmental movement, despite likely agreeing on many, many things.

Ah, so you are OK with destroying the planet because some people get their science wrong? This poster doesn't represent "the environmental movement." He represents himself. Did you notice all the other posters who got their facts straight and gave really good reasons why spraying is bad?

[Anonymous]

I raise butterflies and have planted a butterfly garden. Roundup absolutely kills butterflies. If a caterpillars eats a let with Roundup or any other herbicide, it turns black and dies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? An outdoor fan is going to do it? Genuinely asking... and if it really works do you mean literally just in the space around the fan? So it might work if you had the fan next to your table while eating but not if your kid is running around?

The theory is that mosquitoes can't fly in wind, so a fan will make them unable to fly around you. We have tried it on our DC front porch and it didn't work for us (we used the tower fans right next to us, not an industrial fan or anything). It wouldn't work if your kid was running around unless they were only running in the area covered by the fan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I raise butterflies and have planted a butterfly garden. Roundup absolutely kills butterflies. If a caterpillars eats a let with Roundup or any other herbicide, it turns black and dies.

How do you know since you don't use Roundup?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I raise butterflies and have planted a butterfly garden. Roundup absolutely kills butterflies. If a caterpillars eats a let with Roundup or any other herbicide, it turns black and dies.

How do you know since you don't use Roundup?

This is really not true for Roundup and most herbicides in common use. you should really consider what the scientific studies show on this and other issues. Don't settle for "Mother Earth News" which is full of alternative facts.