Beyond horrible here... insane.. even in full sunshine, i am getting attacked...today wasn't as bad because we had some wind. Worst year i can remember.

Nice look Mike! -Glenn

Widespread complaints are occurring in Portland, Oregon vicinity also.

I just had to chuckle a little when I read this. I had always imagined that mosquitos were an exclusively southern nuisance, having never noted any on my trips up north... (But, I'm young and stupid, sorry to say.)

And, well... living a few acres from the bayou does not help lower the skeeter count... They've always been terrible here. I guess we just don't notice them as much.

I am truly sorry that you guys have them so badly, too :(

- Tyler

The ones biting in full sunshine are the Asian Tiger mosquito. They make me swell up like crazy and the bumps are more like a splotch than a nice round bump. I don't know if they have stronger bites or if I am just not used to them like I am the others.

They've been around for a while but this year they seem a lot worse. I even have to mow the lawn in long sleeves and that's no fun when the heat index is 105+F

Here is a link that might be useful: Asian Tiger Mosquito

Thanks Glenn, no doubt some would say an improvement. Did you survive the record heat in your neck of the woods earlier in the week? How did the raspberries do with the heat?

Nicole - I hope you have a rider for mowing or a very small lawn and a push mower. The skeeters here are different than usual in that quite a number of them are considerably larger than usual.

Tyler - one of the worst skeeter situations I've ever been in, even worse than this was on top of Grand Mesa, elev. 10,000 ft., in Western CO in the summer time. I've heard skeeters can be pretty bad in AK also.

So what do you all do to deal with the skeeters when you have to go out and work in them? Picking raspberries is a particularly bad activity in that they hang out in the berries and the adjacent grass and you are pretty much a sitting target. Some typical north-central KS 20-30 mph all day wind would certainly help but we haven't even had any of those days yet, very strange.

It's easy to mistake the northern mosquitoes for birds. But they don't seem to bite as bad as the ones we have.

I use super-extra-strength DEET. The extra arm really helps swatting them.

Tyler,
Mosquitoes a southern nuisance only? Haven't you heard that the mosquito is the Minnesota state bird?
Northwoodswis

"Nicole - I hope you have a rider for mowing or a very small lawn and a push mower."

'Fraid not, although I have a pretty decent walk-behind. I could invest in a lawn tractor... but I'd rather invest on making my lawn smaller! And until I terrace or get up some retaining walls, I have some slopes that a rider mower couldn't go on anyway.

Folks here who work outdoors all day almost all tend to wear long sleeves and hats anyway. A loose fitting white shirt and a shady hat is cooler than a going bare in the sun, at least until it gets stuck to you with sweat. Every now and then a skeeter will tag me through my clothes -- looser clothes help that, too.

They don't bother my face much, so I don't worry about that. The time I was in AK in the summer, though, the skeeters were so thick they were going for any bare patch they could find.

Supposedly, vitamin B1 will cause mosquitoes to avoid you and go after other prey. I don't know that it really works, but when we were kids Mom would always load us up before a camping trip. Dad refused to take it and he always took the brunt of the mosquito bites. It might only work if there is another blood source around! :)

I swear I have seen 3 different types of mosquitoes this year. Maybe we have the yellow fever skeeters around, too?

Northwoodswis - Minnesota state bird? Ah, that's funny. I got a good laugh out of that... But, around here, the big "mosquitos" eat the little ones.

Michael - Wow, that's terrible to hear, but informative, nonetheless.

We have trucks that spray for mosquitos around here. They drive through every night during the summer. Do you folks have any kind of mosquito control, on any large scale, in your parts of the country?

Nope... They do testing here in the marshes (we have a huge marsh that sits between the north and south part of town) and check the larvae for Encephalitis and other diseases they may be carrying.

They are still just nasty. I was out this evening and i couldn't even water because they were all over me. Typically they leave me alone (i must have stinky blood or bad blood), and feed on my wife. My kids get huge welts from them.

We are having a light year for a change -- the unusual dryness is limiting the population. Usually I am working in long pants this time of year to avoid getting bitten. Hey I recently found a natural repellant that actually works .. Repel Lemon Eucalyptus. It did as well as DEET in the latest Consumer Reports magazine tests, and its working for me.

Scott

I've been using those little Off Clipon things. They work pretty well for me. The mosquitoes love my raspberry patch. Unfortunately, so do the Japanese beetles and the repellent doesn't work on them.

Athen-

I've killed exactly 8 Japanese Beetles so far. I saw some in downtown La Crosse on some rose bushes.

Scott-
I think i've used that before. DEET? I use DDT :)

I guess they only live for a few weeks...I also read that bats don't even put a dent in the population (according to wiki).

I'd have to say the skeeters are just average this year, but, Lordy, the biting flies are atrocious--deerflies especially. They can sure take a chunk out of you. Ticks are worse this year too.

Brook

Found a tick yesterday... We don't have those blackflies here, but if you go up to Jackson CO...central WI area, they are beyond bad... They have little razor blades that slit your skin up... Even swimming they hover around your head and try to attack. Whats fun is knocking them into the water and watching a sunfish come and eat them.

Skeeters are always bad in my corner of NJ, but they do seem a bit worse this year during the daytime. I go in the garden for literally 5 minutes to pick a squash and end up with 6 huge bites.

I didn't know it was common that they hang out on berries - but it sure is true in my yard - I can't walk in the back corner near my blackberry bush at any time of day without a vicious attack. It is definitely the worst part of my yard.

As far as how I deal with them, usually I try to get most work done during the day, and if I'm going to be out after work in the evenings I use some sort of eco-friendly bug spray. I don't stay out too long (I have a small garden) so the eco-friendly stuff usually does the trick. (I'll use deet if I'm going to be out for a long time)

I also put Tiger Balm on the bites to soothe the itching. It helps so much and seems to make them heal faster too.

Frank - I haven't seen a lot of beetles yet, only about 20 total, but they've eaten at least one hole in about half my raspberries. They're hard to catch back there too since my patch got a bit out of control and I can't reach the back anymore.

The mosquitoes seem to like the shade in the raspberry patch, which is the only real shade in my yard. At least that was my assumption for why they're worse there.

I'm up to about 10 now... Very mellow and i just crush them.

Raspoberriees out of control? You should see mine! Lets just say the meter reader better skip reading mine for a few months :) He's going to need a machete to reach it and i'm not cutting my production so he can charge me money :)

I keep bat boxes in the trees off the perimeter of my place.
The bats fly all night eating all the skeeters they can.
During the day time the Purple Matrin's which live in the aluminum Martin Box fly around eating skeeters the bats don't find. The Martins are the largest of the Swallow family and most graceful in flight.

Martin's need to be out in the open away from taller trees and near water if possible. The only other bird they will roost with are the English Sparrow and their arch enemy is the Starling.(a black bird)

There are garden skeeter eliminators now that use a propane
tank that heats a scent bait to attract the skeeters while a vacuum cleaner built into it sucks them into a container when they fly to the scent that attracts them. These get good reviews from those I've spoken with who have purchased them.

You can make the bat boxes from saw bark for little or nothing with free plans on the net, and the Martin Box set up will likely cost $50+ dollars each if you don't build them. Either way I think it's a good deal as the Martins are a joy to watch and have around besides their eating all those skeeters.

I just noticed in the Prevention Magazine July 10 pa 18:

Reasons why mosquitoes love you.

1) you wear dark colors. Mosquitoes evolved to hunt for mammals whose hides & fur is typically dark.

2) You use floral fragrance. Mosquitoes also feed on flower
nectar for energy to fly and sting. Smell too much like a Rose and they will think you are one.

3) You drink Beer. A French study found that Beer drinkers attracted 63% more mosquitoes than water drinkers. The alcohol affect breath and body odors. More research is needed on other drinks like wine and cocktails.

This was stated by an Entomologist Grayson Brown PhD.

I've often heard that that the female mosquitoes are more inclined to sting for blood as it is the rich source of protein that they need to produce their eggs. It may explain the sudden surges of mosquito attacks when outdoors,
as the hatchlings mature and begin to reproduce.

I doubt the beer thing. I went a long time without drinking anything. I've recently restarted homebrewing so I'm drinking beer. I've never been more or less appetizing to mosquitoes.
But I am swelling less from their bites than I was when I was only drinking water. When I was only drinking water I'd swell and the lymph node closest to the sting would also itch like mad.

They follow CO2 trails so if you're breathing a lot they'll find you easier.

There certainly are bats here; unfortunately though, the church next door sealed off their old chimney stack at the top where swallows by the hundreds used to roost at night. Haven't seen many swallows since, hello more skeeters.

saw a "Minnesota Mosquito Swatter" in a bait store.

It was a swatter with a spot to load a 12 gauge round.