Mosquitos

[Scott3569]

has anyone every tried the thermal mosquito repellants? similar to the one below
https://www.amazon.com/Thermacell-Effective-Repellent-Scent-Free-Alternative/dp/B094GS93RN

Or what do you use if anything?

 

[hugemoth]

Lots of reviews on Amazon, most pretty good. The refills are pretty expensive though. My favorite method is sitting in front of a box fan.

 

[jacqueg]

Mine too. Because heat and mosquitos often arrive together!

Doesn't really need to be a large fan either.

 

[Cammalu]

Thermacell works pretty well.

 

[PeterPiper]

I was returning from Texas one night and made it into Louisiana around 1 am before I got too tired to continue.
So I found a shopping mall and parked near the middle away from any trees or brush.

It was warm so I cracked a few windows to get some fresh air and fell immediately to sleep.

I was awakened about an hour after I fell asleep to buzzing in my ears and burning all over.

To my shock and horror I was covered with what must have been 5,000 mosquitoes !  I was covered and jumped up frantically
beating them away and jumped out of the van trying to get them off.  Clouds of them!

I left immediately and then noticed I was swelling from head to toe from hundreds if not thousands of mosquito bites.
I had big red horribly itching whelps covering me completely, face, feet, legs, arms, ears....every square inch.
I didn't stop again and drove through the night to my destination in North Georgia.

It took a week to recover and it was miserable.

I will try anything and everything including the link in the OP after that.
Had I known I would have left the motor running and used the AC.

Gawd I hate those nasty creatures.

 

[bullfrog]

I had a similar experience except it happened in Arkansas and involved a party and waking up the next morning in my neighbor's front yard mid summer wearing just a pair of cutoffs, the headache was worse than the bites. Never touched tequila since and moved to the dry west where the wind blows, I bet I haven't had 3 bites in the last 15 years!

 

[crofter]

No skeeters here but I did get two scorpion stings on my face last night while sleeping- at the S&B. They sure do like to cuddle up. 

Still a bit swollen &  numb on there. Numbness should go away as the neurotoxin flushes out of my system. 

That is one advantage of a straight legged cot or platform over the plywood bed. They cannot climb the slick surface of vertical metal legs.

As for mosquitoes definitely need tight fitting window screens. Glad to hear you survived it.
-crofter

Yes I got a metal legged bed platform on order asap.

 

[travelaround]

Nightmare stories! Hope you recover from the stings quickly, Crofter...

I lived in this town for 13 years and NEVER had problems with mosquitoes back then. I went to Idaho for six years and came back, and somehow now there are mosquitoes here. What happened? I don't even want to go outside sometimes.

South of town I park next to the river, and no problems.

 

[hugemoth]

How to make a sandwich while riding a motorcycle was the question. During a couple Alaska trips by motorcycle I had to learn to make and eat meals while riding because the moment you stop you get swarmed. Sometimes I'd get lucky and find a windy spot to stop but most of the time I was dawning a head net, gloves, and a mosquito resistant rain suit as fast as possible while erecting the tent. Would have been so nice to sit outside and enjoy the scenic views instead of looking through a tent window screen. Imagine the world before deet and window screens!

The lack of mosquitoes was one of the reasons I settled in Bend Oregon. May see 4 or 5 mosquitoes a year unless I go up to the lakes.

 

[crofter]

....I lived in this town for 13 years and NEVER had problems with mosquitoes back then. I went to Idaho for six years and came back, and somehow now there are mosquitoes here. What happened? I don't even want to go outside sometimes.

South of town I park next to the river, and no problems.

Maybe there are fewer birds & bats to eat the mosquitoes?

In AZ we had a die off of birds & was determined due to starvation. Possibly food sources for the birds were not available at the proper time. Also feral cats kill large numbers of birds.

Here we used to have several owls and large numbers of night feeding birds, but the cats would get them while they slept during the day. It will take some time for the bird populations to recover. Link to article.
-crofter

https://www.12news.com/article/tech...ssues/75-cc970585-336e-4852-b447-142c43a6abf0

 

[PeterPiper]

Hawks are the number one killer of birds.

 

[Scott3569]

Many Places actually treat for Mosquitos and black flies.. however, here in the Adirondacks of Upstate NY,  they stopped treating for them years ago.. you know the whole bad for the environment thing. So here you can go outside for a few minutes and be all chewed up with mosquito and black fly bites..

the remedy for the bites is house hold ammonia in a squirt bottle. put that on a bite, and your good.. But I am trying to not have them all inside my van.. similar to the other poster..

 

[Scott3569]

...It was warm so I cracked a few windows to get some fresh air and fell immediately to sleep.

I was awakened about an hour after I fell asleep to buzzing in my ears and burning all over.

To my shock and horror I was covered with what must have been 5,000 mosquitoes !  I was covered and jumped up frantically
beating them away and jumped out of the van trying to get them off.  Clouds of them!...

wow, I bet that was horrible..

 

[bullfrog]

The worst place in the west is some of the ponds and small lakes around Yuma when certain insects hatch out and noseeums around the mountains. In the desert every rain drop has a bug in it but it seldom rains! Don't get the ground wet and you won't have any problems.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Hawks are the number one killer of birds.

Hawks are part of the natural balance of nature, domesticated cats and windmills are not.
There are always bad effects from putting nature out of balance.

 

[user 30781]

omg these mosquito and scorpion horror stories!!

I haven't had a mosquito bite in more years than I can remember.

Maybe I'll just stay in my home state. lol

 

[VanFan]

My favorite hot springs hosts a bachelor bat colony in an abandoned mine.  Nice.  My favorite lake has billions of dragonfiles (a/k/a mosquito hawks).  Love 'em.  Just installed two awesome sets of screens for my side and back doors, because I plan to be riverside and at the sea shore soon.  Depending on the wind, it could get ugly and it's guaranteed to be hot.

Our first time in Flordia we made the mistake of leaving a light on inside with an open window.  OMG!  I can imagine others were pretty amused seeing the two of us silhouetted madly swatting at the intruders.  Exhausting!

 

[crofter]

While I am crying on your shoulder about the mean scorpion, might I add that we are still under a boil water order after the recent cluster of earthquakes broke our water system apart. The reverse osmosis machines are still working though. And we have water again, just not clean water. 

Regarding scorpions, I may be attracting them by growing plants so planning to get rid of most of the potted plants and save the pots for wintertime planting when the scorpions are underground. I have to keep the ancient citrus tree, and a pot of lithodora and some ice plant. 

So many of the incecticides effective against scorpions are carcinogenic. Ugh. I really don't want that stuff around here.
-crofter

 

[PeterPiper]

Hawks are part of the natural balance of nature, domesticated cats and windmills are not.
There are always bad effects from putting nature out of balance.

If you're really worried about the balance of nature, if I were you I'd forget all about the insignificant effects cats might have and put all my worries into the invasive human poopulation.

Cats cannot destroy the planet.

 

[crofter]

If you're really worried about the balance of nature, if I were you I'd forget all about the insignificant effects cats might have and put all my worries into the invasive human poopulation.

Cats cannot destroy the planet.

Got me there, so true.
-crofter

Also I have read that cats will eat scorpions, though not sure what type of armor the cats would need to wear. -c

https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/animal-armor/