Those of you who live in the Mosquito Belt, I'm wondering what tricks you might have to keep the evil creatures at bay? We've had an extremely wet spring and summer so far, and this has been one of the worst years in my memory for mosquitos. I can barely stand to go outside, and when I do, I have to wear long pants, long sleeves, and I'm on the verge of getting one of those nets that covers your whole head and face.

My dogs are mostly indoor dogs (they like their comforts, like air-conditioning, lol), but I do have a nice, large, fenced yard that we use for pottying, exercise, play, training, etc. We would all like to spend a lot more time outside than we're able to now.

We keep the grass mowed as much as we can. The dog yard does abut the horse pasture, separated by a fence, but on the other side of the fence is a low spot which does collect water when we get as much rain as we've been getting.

I'm getting ready to put out the bug zapper. I hate the noise it makes, and one of my dogs really freaks out about it, so I'm reluctant, but it has seemed to help in the past.

Is there any kind of yard spray or fogger that you guys would trust? My dogs are not left outside unattended, but when we're playing with Chuck-It balls, they get a lot of grass and dirt in their mouths. (Plus, they just eat grass and dirt for the fun of it.)

I've heard of stuff you can put in water that is biologically safe but prevents the eggs from hatching. Anybody familiar with that? Or I think I've seen things like chemical-free traps. Wonder if they work?

Unfortunately, chemicals are the most effective means of prevention. Most repellants are non-toxic to humans and animals (or they would be pointless). Down here in Louisiana, I mostly do whatever I have to do and try not ot worry too much about exposure for the dog.

In the semi-tropical wetlands, it takes a village to control mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. Spray trucks canvas the populated areas, with little apparent impact on the other fauna. Most dog owners use a flea protocol that includes mosquitoes. Outdoor living (including training at the club)requires area foggers or sprays, as personally I find that bug zappers have little impact (they may help up north, but not so much here). For personal use, I prefer spray repellant to protective clothing because of the heat.

All of the major brands (Cutter, Off, etc) make area foggers that work fairly well. Regardless of which repellant you use, frequent reapplication is necessary.

I have used Mosquito Dunks in the past in a seasonal (depending on rainfall) 'stream' in the way back part of my yard. They work pretty well. The dogs don't seem to bother with them.

I have all woods behind beyond my yard fence & a low wet area down at the end of the road, so there are a fair amount of the bugs in the area. Fortunately we also seem to have a number of bats that live in the woods behind my house so they help get rid of some of them.

Here is a linc to the dunks. If is doesn't they are available o Amazon & at local stores.

http://www.amazon.com/Mosquito-Dunks-102-12-Killer-Pack/dp/B0002ASQ4A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1373840976&sr=8-2&keywords=mosquito+d

Ditto on the Mosquito Dunks. I use them in my yard fountain and get them at both Home Depot and Lowes.
I also make a point to keep any type of containers out of the weather. Keep the gutters clean on the house and garage.
Not a fan of the bug zappers. I had one yrs ago and say way to many "good" bug in it even if it did collect a lot of skeeters.
There are relatively new devices that use a vacuum and puts out Co2 to attract them. Just sucks them up in a bag.

Mosquitoes are decreasing in number here,finally. Dunks work for us too. Have you heard of the mosquito fish,they live primarily on mosquito larvae. I have been on my roof twice this year cleaning the gutters. My husband loves garlic bagel chips and we found the mosquitoes were bitting him less ,he is a mosquito magnet.Cutter has a lemon eucalyptus spray that helps,not as effective as deet but more natural. I have a light jacket with a hood and try to work outside mornings and afternoon.

Also, Pacific Trail sells clothing impregnated with mosquito repellant.

Also encouraging the nesting of bats and bug-eating birds like Purple Martins can help.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. My water hole out back was starting to dry up a little bit. In fact, my husband was just able to mow a bit more of it a couple days ago. This evening, we got drenched with rain again, a real gully-washer, so it's filled up again. I think I'll be going out tomorrow to buy Mosquito Dunks and give that a try.

I'm unable to tolerate anything that you spray on yourself. Even the so-called unscented stuff makes me sick. So I've been trying to cover myself from head to toe when I go out, not very comfortable in humid 90+ degree temperatures.

That vacuum thingy that Bob mentioned is something I had heard of previously; will have to look into it more. I seem to remember they were pretty expensive and that I would need several for the size yard I have.

Becky, I really wish I had a colony of purple martins and a colony of bats on my property! I had a purple martin house up for years; unfortunately never got anything but blackbirds living in it. I've thought for a long time about putting up a bat house or two. I see a few of them flying at twilight occasionally. I'd like to have a lot more.

Bats are great but Purple Martins are over rated for mosquitoes since they are a day time bird. Great for many insects but not AS much for mosquitoes as what's claimed.

 Quote: Bob Scott

Bats are great but Purple Martins are over rated for mosquitoes since they are a day time bird. Great for many insects but not AS much for mosquitoes as what's claimed.

Wait, I'm confused. The times I am outside is during the daytime and I have to fight through swarms of mosquitos. (Is it mosquitos or mosquitoes? I wish we had spell-check on the board!)

So if purple martins are daytime birds, don't they eat mosquitos in the daytime?

It's so bad now we're all getting eaten up inside the house. With three dogs and two humans going in and out, we're very careful to brush off those we can see, but there are swarms of them on the deck and it's impossible to keep them all out. Can't wait for October.