Mosquitos!
I've seen a lot of people posting on facebook about those home-made mosquito traps. Has anybody tried them yet to know if they work or not? With all the flooding in MI, the mosquitos are the worst...
Forum Discussion
What actually works is to treat your clothes with permethrin which is cheap if you do it yourself and what the US soliders do in Afghanistan and Iraq. This keeps the mosquitos from sitting on your pant leg or shirt sleeve and then bitting you. Second line of defense is a pecardin spray that I spray on exposed areas and then rub across my skin as otherwise the mosquitos find untouched areas to bite.
I buy the permethrin in quart container for $34 that is a 37% solution and will last for years. I dilute 1oz. permethrin per 80oz. of water and then spray the mixture on our clothes using a $5 garden pump sprayer and let the clothing drip dry. It costs less than a nickel per item and the treatment lasts though 50 washings. I treat shirts, shorts, pants, and socks.
Since doing this 10 years ago for a multi-week trip to SE Asia and my wife and I having zero bites during that time, it is now standarded practice for all our outdoor clothing. It works for mosquitos, sand flys, chiggers, fleas, and ticks.
You pay about 50x as much when you buy brand name 8oz. spray bottles that are pre-diluted and or you can buy pre-treated shirts and pants and pay an extra $10 per garment. I prefer to treat the clothing myself as I can treat everything including blue jeans and socks which would otherwise be untreated.
Mosquitos are annoying but ticks are more of a health concern in the USA as they carry at least 22 known diseases, some of which are fatal and known are pleasant. Killing off the foxes and wolves in the east resulted in an explosion of the white footed mice population which provide hosts for juevenile ticks and nymphs and so created an explosion in the tick population (and Lyme and other diseases).
I buy the permethrin in quart container for $34 that is a 37% solution and will last for years. I dilute 1oz. permethrin per 80oz. of water and then spray the mixture on our clothes using a $5 garden pump sprayer and let the clothing drip dry. It costs less than a nickel per item and the treatment lasts though 50 washings. I treat shirts, shorts, pants, and socks.
Since doing this 10 years ago for a multi-week trip to SE Asia and my wife and I having zero bites during that time, it is now standarded practice for all our outdoor clothing. It works for mosquitos, sand flys, chiggers, fleas, and ticks.
You pay about 50x as much when you buy brand name 8oz. spray bottles that are pre-diluted and or you can buy pre-treated shirts and pants and pay an extra $10 per garment. I prefer to treat the clothing myself as I can treat everything including blue jeans and socks which would otherwise be untreated.
Mosquitos are annoying but ticks are more of a health concern in the USA as they carry at least 22 known diseases, some of which are fatal and known are pleasant. Killing off the foxes and wolves in the east resulted in an explosion of the white footed mice population which provide hosts for juevenile ticks and nymphs and so created an explosion in the tick population (and Lyme and other diseases).
