Seriously—where can I move to not deal with mosquitos?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This area needs to install more bat houses. People also need to dump out stagnant water.

Bats help, but not nearly enough to make a noticeable difference. This is a nice tale people tell themselves.

They do make a difference. I have bats that live in the trees near the edge of our yard.

Wasps also eat mosquitoes, though everyone sprays for wasps.

Gardens need to be able to dry out completely, with no standing water. Ivy and other ground cover produce just enough standing water to breed lots of mosquitoes. Mosquito pellets can be sprinkled in areas that are overgrown (like dunks, but broken up).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you everyone for not mocking my distress. My kids and I can’t be out for 5 minutes!

My cousin lives in coastal MA and said that they saw their first mosquito ever this summer. Makes me scared that no place is safe.

Interesting conundrum of fire spoke v mosquitos. I’m sure rationally the smoke is worse for health and quality of life…

Part of it is that I love gardening and nature.

Interesting that the PNW is wet but doesn’t have S many skeeters?

“No place is safe” is a bit dramatic isn’t it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you everyone for not mocking my distress. My kids and I can’t be out for 5 minutes!

My cousin lives in coastal MA and said that they saw their first mosquito ever this summer. Makes me scared that no place is safe.

Interesting conundrum of fire spoke v mosquitos. I’m sure rationally the smoke is worse for health and quality of life…

Part of it is that I love gardening and nature.

Interesting that the PNW is wet but doesn’t have S many skeeters?

“No place is safe” is a bit dramatic isn’t it?

I don’t know. It’s really awful to take the dog out to pee for 2 minutes max and come back inside with three new bites. I get between three and twelve bites a day. It’s a lot of cortaid and irritation and constant itching. It is hard to concentrate on other things.

[Anonymous]

I was a magnet for them in dc even with bugspray on. I now live in chicago and don’t even own bugspray

[Anonymous]

OP back. For me, in my current (row)house, it really is that bad. Mosquitos are out at all times of day and aggressive. One of my young children can’t use the backyard I was so thrilled to have for five months out of the year. It affects their sleep, they have scars from some bites and it’s just constant scratching if he’s out for five minutes. We shriek at people to close the front door immediately (although front isn’t nearly as bad as back).

Our garden falls apart every year because no one can tolerate tending to it. We have dunks and fans and spray! Local parks vary but most are horrible too. And yes there are gnats in the midst nonstop! We are not finicking people and don’t complain about rats, noise etc. because they are at least intermittent.

Meanwhile my relatives in wet Portland OR and coastal MA leave their doors open all summer. The difference in quality of life is astounding for people who are bite magnets. Wish the genetic engineering would gain momentum.

I’m not sure we can justify moving just for this, but we also hate the current heat so maybe it’s worth it. Just don’t want to end up in the same situation elsewhere in 5 years! If we ever make the move I need to remind myself to house hunt in the heat of summer to assess.

I appreciate that so many people on here seem to get it…

[Anonymous]

Now I just have to cross reference which low-mosquito places aren’t horribly hot in the summer. Maybe I could go there for the summer and keep living here!

[Anonymous]

I went to India the past couple of Augusts -- the mosquitos are much much worse here.

[Anonymous]

meaning in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS fun fact about the Pacific NW- some people have screens in their windows, but most isn’t have them on their patio or deck doors. We leave our doors open all day without a screen and the worst that happens is we get a lost bee or 1-2 houseflies inside by evening. I love never having to rush to shut a screen door!

I have family on the Oregon coast and a few different towns within an hour of Portland. None of their homes have screen doors - we can leisurely open a sliding door to hang out outside without any bug spray, and leave the front door open to unload the car. Flies and mosquitoes don’t come in! We can also picnic at the park and not be bothered by flies. DC area seems like the worst of everywhere I’ve lived, mosquito wise, and it’s also not great fly wise. I remember grabbing takeout once on a rare day off to enjoy in a park in Arlington. Immediately dive bombed by flies. I ended up eating in the car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP back. For me, in my current (row)house, it really is that bad. Mosquitos are out at all times of day and aggressive. One of my young children can’t use the backyard I was so thrilled to have for five months out of the year. It affects their sleep, they have scars from some bites and it’s just constant scratching if he’s out for five minutes. We shriek at people to close the front door immediately (although front isn’t nearly as bad as back).

Our garden falls apart every year because no one can tolerate tending to it. We have dunks and fans and spray! Local parks vary but most are horrible too. And yes there are gnats in the midst nonstop! We are not finicking people and don’t complain about rats, noise etc. because they are at least intermittent.

Meanwhile my relatives in wet Portland OR and coastal MA leave their doors open all summer. The difference in quality of life is astounding for people who are bite magnets. Wish the genetic engineering would gain momentum.

I’m not sure we can justify moving just for this, but we also hate the current heat so maybe it’s worth it. Just don’t want to end up in the same situation elsewhere in 5 years! If we ever make the move I need to remind myself to house hunt in the heat of summer to assess.

I appreciate that so many people on here seem to get it…

I moved back to Boston from NOVA to get away from mosquitoes and the general awfulness of summer. Huge improvement in quality of life even though Boston still gets hot and humid in the summer - but so much is better compared to DC. No Asian Tiger Mosquitoes. Fewer mosquitoes period. I can be outside without DEET, even for extended periods. The heat and humidity breaks in the morning and evenings.

It was a hard decision because I kept on wishing I could just be "tougher." No regrets. Signed, fellow mosquito magnet

[Anonymous]

Connecticut coast

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Montana for almost a decade and can count on one hand the number of times I got bitten by mosquitoes - and those happened when I was visiting back east in New England.

Best places to be free of mosquitoes are dry places. In Montana you won’t see many of them except maybe in the thick of the mountains but even there I didn’t. However you will choke on wildfire smoke all summer.

And also those bears have a bigger bite than mosquitoes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Iceland

https://icelandmag.is/article/reason-non-existence-mosquitoes-iceland

Given it's going to be in the 50s all week, they probably have very little skin exposed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP back. For me, in my current (row)house, it really is that bad. Mosquitos are out at all times of day and aggressive. One of my young children can’t use the backyard I was so thrilled to have for five months out of the year. It affects their sleep, they have scars from some bites and it’s just constant scratching if he’s out for five minutes. We shriek at people to close the front door immediately (although front isn’t nearly as bad as back).

Our garden falls apart every year because no one can tolerate tending to it. We have dunks and fans and spray! Local parks vary but most are horrible too. And yes there are gnats in the midst nonstop! We are not finicking people and don’t complain about rats, noise etc. because they are at least intermittent.

Meanwhile my relatives in wet Portland OR and coastal MA leave their doors open all summer. The difference in quality of life is astounding for people who are bite magnets. Wish the genetic engineering would gain momentum.

I’m not sure we can justify moving just for this, but we also hate the current heat so maybe it’s worth it. Just don’t want to end up in the same situation elsewhere in 5 years! If we ever make the move I need to remind myself to house hunt in the heat of summer to assess.

I appreciate that so many people on here seem to get it…

I moved back to Boston from NOVA to get away from mosquitoes and the general awfulness of summer. Huge improvement in quality of life even though Boston still gets hot and humid in the summer - but so much is better compared to DC. No Asian Tiger Mosquitoes. Fewer mosquitoes period. I can be outside without DEET, even for extended periods. The heat and humidity breaks in the morning and evenings.

It was a hard decision because I kept on wishing I could just be "tougher." No regrets. Signed, fellow mosquito magnet

+1

As Snoop says "Retreat, retreat!!"

[Anonymous]

California