The War on Mosquitos Has Been Won(?)

My fight with mosquitos at my house has been well documented. Back in 2008, I phrased it like this:

We have Mosquitos. Lots of mosquitos. Like, if Neo from the Matrix was in a blank white room and said, “I need mosquitos. Lots of mosquitos,” he’d been whisked off to our backyard, at which point he would start swatting at his neck and arms, shortly before he was sucked into a bloodless carcass.

Some of this has to do with the area of the country we live in. Maine is notorious for black flies–these tiny biting insects that leave huge welts behind after they’ve chomped down on you. (Denisa and the kids are allergic to their bites, unfortunately. Those welts can get enormous. We’ve had issues with black fly bites in ear canals or on eyelids. It ain’t pretty, folks.) To complicate matters, there’s a very marshy area right by my property, and mosquitos love to breed like crazy there. So you’ve got the perfect recipe for blood sucking, itchy catastrophe. And no matter how much I wished the black flies would start a gang war with the mosquitos that would result in both sides being decimated, that never seemed to come to fruition.

So last year we decided to try out a new weapon against these tiny vampires. We bought a Skeetervac. After doing all the requisite research, that seemed like the best model for us. We put it in at the beginning of last season, and it really seemed to have an effect. We still had mosquitos and black flies, but there weren’t as many as there usually were–we thought.

Fast forward to this year. We put the skeetervac out right at the beginning of spring, trying to stem the incoming flood of insects as best we could. And then we waited for the onslaught to begin. And we waited. And waited.

Folks, there still haven’t been mosquitos at our house. Maybe one or two? And no black fly bites to speak of yet, even though in the past those bugs have proven they have an unquenchable thirst for the blood of my children.

No. Bites.

I’ve asked around to see if this has been a light year for mosquitos and black flies. From the stories I’ve been told, it hasn’t. They’re all out there–just not on my land.

Perhaps it’s too soon. Maybe they’re plotting a surprise attack the next time I’m out mowing my lawn. But you know what? It’s already done a huge amount for helping us enjoy spring and summer somewhat more. And so I thought I might do you all a solid and pass the recommendation on. I can’t say it’ll cure your problems as well–a lot of it comes down to placing it at the right spot and conditions, etc. But if you’re burdened with an overabundance of black flies and mosquitos, then this is definitely something for you to look into. The upfront cost is steep, and then there’s the continuing price of propane, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s money well spent.

Anyone else have experience with these? Any questions? Feel free to chime in.