Mosquitos this year

Bug nets. No nasty chemicals and they work great. Head nets and/or jackets.

We live on 10 heavily wooded acres with a 3/4 acre pond and approx a 3 acre marsh, mosquitos are brutal for us (30 mins after the bullfrogs start, we head inside).
This year I decided to try the "recipe" that has been floating around on Facebook. We sprayed it all over the front yard, the only place we mow and we were pleasantly surprised that it worked. Here is what I tried..

Cheap big bottle of BLUE MOUTHWASH, 3 cups of Epsom Salt, 3 12oz bottles of cheap, stale beer (that was the problem at my house, beer doesn't go stale LOL). Mix all together until salt dissolves and spray.

Mosquitos can carry viruses, this is true. However I think the number of cases of the zika virus is not even 700 in the US. Hardly an epidemic and it's been around since the 40's. Another media blow up that never really materializes. Most cases have very mild or no symptoms at all and aspirin and rest are usually the only thing prescribed. The main risk for Zika is a pregnant mother. Outside of that it's not really a concern. I love that the media gets a hold of this stuff and makes a mountain out of a molehill. A bigger concern in my opinion are pesticides.

Tom/Barb wrote:
What are you going to do to protect from them and the Zika virus ?
Any one got a plan?

Simple. Stay out of Mexico, Central America, and South America. At least of this year.

http://www.cdc.gov/zika/geo/active-countries.html

PandS wrote:
We use Thermacells for our outdoor activities. They clear a 15 foot circle without any odor. Hunters from Maine introduced us to the product. It works for Maine blackflies, so mosquitos are a piece of cake! Available at Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, etc.

I looked at this. Seems very effective from what I've been able to find out. Trouble is, it's really expensive. A long weekend camping could cost $40 - $60 just for the refills.

We use Thermacells for our outdoor activities. They clear a 15 foot circle without any odor. Hunters from Maine introduced us to the product. It works for Maine blackflies, so mosquitos are a piece of cake! Available at Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, etc.

Same thing we always do in heavy mosquito areas... DEET

No special plan this year than any other year. We're not planning and no one in the immediate family is planning to have children anytime soon so the concerned isn't that high. The risk of coming into contact with an infected mosquito is pretty low and the risk of developing symptoms of an infection is even lower. More likely to become a meal for chiggers around these parts.

Do as we always do....spray with DEET. You certainly can't avoid them in most places.

If you worry about everything that you're no in control of you'll never enjoy life.

We just spent two weeks in the eastern Sierras, one in Bishop at Mule days and the other in Oh Ridge campground in the June Lake loop. Skeeters in both areas. Not overwhelming but, none the less, there. As usual, I got my share, about 20 bites in that amount of time. I hate those little buggers.
Scott

Tom/Barb wrote:
What are you going to do to protect from them and the Zika virus ?
Any one got a plan?

Tom, if a RVer can stand the heat of Eastern Washington Steamboat Rock State Park sprays for mosquitos starting from Memorial Day thru out the summer. This expense of spraying is in this Parks budget. Sun Lakes State Park 15 miles South of Steamboat Rock State Park does not hire the mosquitos spray company and the mosquitos problem there is terrible. I would call and ask any RV Park if they spray for mosquitos if it's a concern to anyone.