Mosquitos were scarce in Salamanca despite welcoming signage. Photo by Kate McFadden.
There comes a time when you realize you don’t have to put up with some of the things you take for granted. Good neighbors, local businesses, a great dogwalking community — those are the kinds of things oft heralded in this column, and for good reason. We also consider other calamities of Hill living part of the package. The neighborhood also comes with standard irritations, both serious and silly, and until recently, the ones that ‘bugged’ me the most were those of the buzzy, itchy sort.
Prior to this summer, our backyard was enjoyable for a scant six weeks come the arrival of spring. We’d celebrate by having barbecues and enjoying a drink or two under our sheltering red maples and watch for the tiger stripes hovering at our ankles. And then we’d toast our short springtime sojourn, give up on the citronella candles and batten down the hatches (ie, turn up the AC and make sure we were sufficiently lathered up with no-bite products each time we ventured outside). The plants in the back would die a slow death (again) due to my preference of bite-free legs to green space only enjoyable from the safety of the screened-in porch.
My life changed the day a fellow THIHer mentioned her family’s anticipation of their springtime spritz by a pest prevention company. And not your average bug buster — these guys targeted the enemy, the pesky mosquito. As a new mother, I needed very little to get me to try just about anything other than the prospect of slathering my child each time we ventured past our front door. I did due diligence, reading up on the materials being sprayed and checked out reviews of the business. I chatted up my neighbors and convinced a few of them to try the service as well, and happily opened up my wallet.
My experience of my yard without the buzzing beasts has been life-changing. I’ve run through of two tanks of kerosene for the grill, paid WASA hundreds of dollars to fill the baby pool and I have flowering clematis vines coming out of my ears. When the guys in space suits come every three weeks or so, it’s better than Santa Claus. I’m not endorsing a product, but I’ll remind you that you don’t have to take the daily bloodsucking as a given of Hill living. I did for years and years, and laughed sadly and dubiously as I saw various treatments and mechanisms marketed to poor souls such as myself. I thought ‘it is so bad here amidst these old alleys this can’t possibly work.’ I was wrong! And now, I happily write my check and enjoy the yard. Please, consider joining me and let loose the fury of hell on mosquitoes on the Hill.
Is is safe for pets? How about if you have herbs in your garden? Those have been the things that have stopped me in the past, but I’d love to be mosquito free!
Sounds like heaven. Can you share the cost and the service provider?
I’ll take mosquito bites today over cancer tomorrow, thanks.
I’ll take mosquito bites today over cancer tomorrow, thanks.
would very much love to know the answers to marybindc’s questions. as it is, i can’t even go outside to take the trash out w/o getting 5 mosquito bites.
would very much love to know the answers to marybindc’s questions. as it is, i can’t even go outside to take the trash out w/o getting 5 mosquito bites.
agreed, when is there going to be a follow up to these questions?
Yesterday the mosquitoes chased me back in the house and appeared to angrily bang on the windows for several minutes. They were pissed. I’ve found EcoSmart insect repellant works quite well but would rather avoid that. My question about the yard sprays is, does it kill the bees, butterflies, lady bugs etc? And how do we attract the right kind of birds to eat the Mosquitoes?
Please please, let us know the company and the cost
I promise we’re working on answers to your questions. Kate wrote this post while traveling and hasn’t had good enough internet access of late to reply. But there are many others interested as well so keep an eye out for the update.
Hi gang. Sharee — thanks so much for an explanation of my MIA-ness. As much of Spain seems mosquito free, I’ve been making the most of it! I’m sorry to leave you all waiting.
We use Mosquito Squad, and at first the $400 for the summer seemed a bit much, and way too much for many neighbors. I think they have some referral programs which I’m happy to pass along for next summer if you contact me — I got a $25 off-voucher from Liz F.
I, for one, decided if the program actually worked, I would rather be West Nile-free than worrying too much about possible carcinogens, taking some comfort in their chrysanthumum-based spray. The idea of baby Ava being covered with painful bites helped with my decision — and my other neighbors with small children made the same decision. It looks like MS recently changed their website and there’s less information about the make-up of the basic spray material (vs. the all-natural one) — and it certainly looks like their service ‘menu’ has increased, surely due to demand. They’re also focusing on ticks more – which makes sense given the high rate of dog-related deaths due to hear-tworms in the area.
MS does avoid vegetables and blooming flowers, and I’ve seen the fogger-guys do this several times now. They say the plant surfaces that are covered are safe within 30 minutes and I keep all my windows closed while they’re here and for at least an hour of so after their visit. That’s not a hard decision with this summer’s heat!! I’ve certainly continued to see ants and occasional fireflies in the garden, as well as the occasional mosquito after day 12 or so; MS has been willing to schedule an earlier visit when I’ve called to complain about the critter’s reappearance.
Thanks again for your patience — and apologies for the delay.
Does this work even if your (close) neighbors don’t also have the service? Do many mosquitoes wander over from next door?