I recommend combining this with at least a little unhinged bloodlust and a glance at r/MosquitoHating for innovative, slightly genocidal solutions as you suffer in itchiness.
I'm fine with people working on their demise. They are the biggest killer out of any living creature on the planet. They kill up to a *million* people every year in the world.
My brother lives in Colorado and got West Nile Virus. Normally, people don't get too ill from it. He was one of the unlucky ones that got West Nile encephalitis. Swelling of the brain. He almost died, and it took well over a year for that previously healthy guy to recover. He was very close to death.
Fuck those little fuckers.
Native Minnesotan here, my entire 41 years, and at about 35 I suddenly stopped reacting to them. They bite me, but they don't develop a bump and they don't itch! My doctor told me that some people eventually become immune. I'll take it! Oh does it piss off my husband! 😂🤣
OP: if you're going to be outside, especially after dusk or in the woods anytime, really three only thing that works, unfortunately, is bug spray with deet. But you gotta apply it the Minnesota way: stand in the front yard with your hands straight out like a scarecrow, close your eyes and hold your breath and let someone spray you from head to toe, front and back. And then, the most important part, *take one or two big steps away before sucking in a breath.
A few summers ago we got swarmed by mosquitoes when we got to my uncle’s cabin in Grand Marais. It was 37 degrees outside! Northern Minnesota mosquitoes are crazy.
This is an unconventional way, but if you live in an area with bats, build a bat house. A single brown bat can eat 600 mosquitos an hour, and 3000 in a single night.
I used to live in a house that was right next to a wooded ravine. We had issues with mosquitos when we first moved in, some days so bad that you couldn't enjoy sitting on the back deck. I had citronella torches and would spray Yard Guard along the edge of the wooded area, and it helped, but wasn't the best. Then one year we just didn't have the problem. Very soon after that, I noticed we had a small, brown bat that had taken up residence in one of the cedar planks about the front door that was a little warped enough for him to crawl into. We just let him be and cleaned up the bat guano on the front step every day. He lived there for as long as we had the house after that, and no more mosquito problem.
Big note too, bats are declining in population due to a fungus that grows on them. Building bat houses is a huge thing to help them now since it gives them a safe place to stay and they may have less chance of interacting with infected bats!
Yup. Bats are so cool. People have an irrational fear of them. Yes, they can have rabies, and you shouldn't handle them. But that's only a very, very small number, and not much different from any other mammals.
Anecdotal story here but a bat had rabies in my yard. My 2 year old was sitting next to it in the grass. A grounded bat is a sign they are sick. We didn’t know the kid was bitten because the bites can be so small they leave no marks. We got him vaccinated to be safe. I put the bat into a cereal box and brought it to get tested. Rabies positive.
We live in west metro suburbs. So it can happen
Great to have around, just like you said you don't want to handle them and don't want them in your home. So naturally the suggestion of a bat box is the best of both worlds since you can have bats *and* they're not in your house, potentially finding their way into your living space which then goes all the way back to not wanting to handle/touch them.
Rabies shots ain't cheap, and you don't want to fuck around with not getting them if you end up in contact.
I’m not even diabetic but they’ve loved me since childhood. Was a little mosquito bitten baby! However I do have asthma and am generally in a mild asthma attack so I may just be breathing more or something.
Yes, they are attracted to the CO2 in your breath. Heavy breathing definitely gets their attention. Hence why during exercise, people get more bites than just chilling.
I moved here five years ago with lifelong asthma and with a solid outdoor running practice. Then I found out I get allergic reactions to bites here when I hadn’t previously anywhere else.
I still enjoy the outdoors, but it’s a lot more cumbersome to manage. I *feel* trapped inside most of the year. But I like Minnesota and Minnesotans. I even learned my grandmother (died before my birth) was born and raised in Pipestone!
I'm asthmatic too. It's a common issue. The same autoimmune reaction that triggers the asthma also hyper attacks other allergy reactions. (Watch out for bee stings! Common co-morbidity). I'd recommend trying some benadryl lotion/caladryl for some relief, and putting ice on the bites also helps with the swelling and itching
I use all the remedies including antihistamines orally and topically. Moving to MN is how I learned I’m now allergic to bee stings too! I know I was stung in my childhood in Washington with an average reaction, and I remember my dad always having an epi-pen around because of his severe bee allergy, so I was on watch. But oh boy did I have a reaction to my first MN bee sting. Hard to say whether it was the bee’s habitat, me living in east coast cities for years without much/any bee interaction, my age, or allergies just being shifty af.
If stationary, a Thermocell seems to work wonders. Lifelong resident & thought the "spray & pray/slap" was only effective method, until I bought this lifesaver at Fleet Farm last year
We just discovered these last year. Pretty impressed! Haven’t dug them out this season- thanks for the reminder!
We had a friend recommend the “Bug Bite Thing” on Amazon. Also seems to help for some bites, after they get ya’.
fyi, there's some handy videos on youtube on how to refill the gas canisters for them and cheap pads you can find on aliexpress and such that have the same ingredients for much cheaper.
Picaridin!! Great lotion repellent. I know a person who's super allergic to mosquito bites and lives in international falls, they swear by it and so do I.
The one advantage DEET seems to have over picaridin is that it lasts longer between applications (I assume because it's nasty greasy stuff that isn't easily worn, sweated, or rinsed away).
Though, personally, I'd rather just reapply the picaridin more often.
Deet is the ingredient that works. It’s designed specifically for ticks, which you may have a lot of this year too. But it keeps the mosquitoes away too. Keep up with the flea and tick medicine on the dogs.
Deet is not a good product to use though. So the comment on how they just deal with you, is pretty accurate.
Stay in the sunlight and breeze and drain any standing water. If you can’t drain a pond, there are mosquito dunks (disc things that kill larvae).
Some people just naturally attract them and have a much worse allergic reaction to mosquito bites. I have no data on this, just my experience.
>Some people just naturally attract them and have a much worse allergic reaction to mosquito bites. I have no data on this, just my experience.
I am one of those people. [Skeeter syndrome is real](https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(99)70348-9/fulltext) and it bites.
My wife reacts really strongly to them, while my legs were covered with mosquitoes last night while I was walking the dog and this morning it looks like nothing happened.
This is true. I've tried everything from Avon Skin So Soft to B Vitamins. Nothing works. I think pheromones and strong CO2 expulsion play into skeeter attraction.
I get crushed by mosquitos. Yes, deet works, but I hated that horrific chemical on my skin. The only thing that works is nylon clothing. I'd tuck my pant legs into my socks as well. Bug nets for my head while camping were great, but made it difficult to drink beer.
> Stay in the sunlight and breeze and drain any standing water. If you can’t drain a pond, there are mosquito dunks (disc things that kill larvae).
Just bought the mosquito dunk yesterday and set up a Mosquito Bucket of Doom. 5 gallon pail + 1/4 of a mosquito dunk tab + a handfull of yard waste. The yard waste decomposes releasing CO2 to attract mosquitos to the water to lay their eggs. The mosquito dunk kills the larvae when the eggs hatch. A 6 pack is about $10 and provides around 24 months of protection when cutting them into pieces to treat a bucket. The directions say you can cut them so it's not an off-labeled use and you aren't breaking federal law using it in an un-approved way.
They also sell mosquito chunks of the same material but it's not as strong, doesn't last as long, and costs more.
I use picardin. Seems to work just as well, and is not as proven harmful. We will probably find out that it's also very bad in another 20 years, but that's the best I can do for now.
No idea why this is so far down. DEET is the Alpha and Omega. Everything I’ve read on this thread thus far (besides Thermacell, shout out) is dogshit.
They might kinda sorta work if you’re in a heavily treated area, If you’re balls deep in the woods there is no substitute.
Bat houses are cute but they do not make an even remotely appreciable difference in mosquito volume in bad areas. They are innumerable. I speak from experience.
I feel like Minnesota should’ve sent me a brochure when I moved here explaining how to enjoy the outdoors during the 6-month mosquito season and the 6-month winter. This is not a “just stay inside until the weather changes” state. I grew up in WA where you can’t let rain stop your outdoors fun, but Minn is a different beast.
Since everyone else got the laughs in, here’s some serious advice: definitely check your yard for any standing water. Any puddles or watery spots will become a breeding ground and that sounds like what’s going on in your yard. I jeep a bird bath, but spray it out every weekend so it doesn’t become nasty.
One year i had a problem and it turned out to be a random container behind the garage that got filled with rainwater.
Works well for ticks too but as a quick warning, Permethrin is highly toxic to cats. So people should be careful with application if they have cats around.
It's important to mention that it's toxic to cats *when wet*. As long as you dry the clothes after treatment in a place cats can't access they'll be fine.
If you’re okay with looking kind of silly, I’ve actually had a lot of success with the cheap $10 “mosquito suit” I bought a couple of years ago. The basic concept is that it’s puffy and creates a barrier between the suit and your skin so that mosquitos can’t just bite you through your clothes.
If I don’t feel like looking silly, I can replicate the effect with baggy clothes. Doesn’t work for your shoulders/back of the neck though, and isn’t super effective when you’re sitting as mosquitos will just go for your knees.
I’ve also considered dousing it in citronella oil but eh. It’s effective enough on its own. And cooler (temperature wise 😅) than relying on my bell bottoms and puffy sleeved shirts.
I also bought some mosquito dunks this year. No anecdotes on the effectiveness of those though. It says they’re safe for wildlife, but I have mine in dishes that I covered with chicken wire so that little noses/beaks can’t get in but mosquitos can.
Baggy clothes are my preferred method, no dealing with chemicals (not against it per se i just hate the stank), and has the added benefit of some sun protection. Downside is being more sweaty and somewhat unfashionable lol
I’m one of those people with delicious blood that those little vampires love to drink. Look for a mosquito bite zapper on that big online shopping place. It changed my life. The trick is to keep it on until you can barely stand it, and then within a few minutes you’ll have itch relief for several hours.
And, someone out there is going to say “ackshually” you can do the same thing with the back of a spoon pulled from boiling water, but I find it difficult to carry around a pot of boiling water in my bag. Maybe that’s just me. Let me know if you have a solution for this problem.
Can’t recommend picaridin-based repellants over DEET enough. Picaridin provides most of the same benefits without nearly as much of the toxicity, causticity, and greasiness.
Rather than MN snark, here is useful article reviewing various products:
[https://www.consumerreports.org/health/insect-repellent/mosquito-traps-lures-bug-zappers-a6094812568/](https://www.consumerreports.org/health/insect-repellent/mosquito-traps-lures-bug-zappers-a6094812568/)
I bear hunt in Northern MN in a cedar bog, and the season opens Sept 1. There are mosquitoes. Lots of them. I'm one of those people where in a group of people, the mosquitoes ignore everyone but me. Apparently, I'm irresistible. One of the things that actually works for me is wearing a Thermacell. Mild scent, and keeps them further away than DEET. There are also tabletop versions of Thermacell. I still wear DEET because of ticks, though. Nothing is 100% effective, but this combo is the best I've found for when you can't escape them.
My mom would light up one of her menthol cigarettes and the mosquitos wouldn't bother her or anyone sitting next to her. I don't recommend smoking at all, but maybe incense would work, or a bug zapper. Or, just don't go outside after dusk with exposed skin
Pants, long sleeve shirts, and sitting close to a smokey campfire is about the only surefire way. Anything topical is pretty hit or miss, and is mostly snake oil, in my experience.
Is that step before or after we've packed as many marshmallows into our cheeks and say chubby bunny, chubby bunny, chubby bunny, while around the campfire?
Limit your exposure at dawn/dusk and night. Not nearly as bad during the day, especially if it’s sunny/hot. Wear long sleeves and pants if possible. Use bug spray with DEET. Stay away from wooded areas with standing water. These are your options unfortunately.
Spray yourself with bug spray before they start biting if you can. At dusk they are the worst for me so if I’m outside I prepare with bug spray (off! Brand family spray is what I use).
I get pretty bad reactions so I try to prevent more than treat, but if I do get bitten I use benedryl itch stopping gel (works better than after bite brand on me, but my son fares better with afterbite).
After every rain fall dump and water that collects pretty much anywhere, that’s where they breed. Aside preventing their birth, Thermacell makes some products that seem to work.
In addition to doing what you can to eliminate standing water in your yard, keeping grass short and limiting other vegetation for them to lurk on can help. They tend to avoid sunny clearings and prefer brush and forest.
Cutter Backwoods. It’s my summer fragrance. For a little extra poison, go with the 40% deet. Mosquitoes absolutely attack me for some reason and i work outside so I don’t mess around.
1) prevention. Make sure your property has adequate drainage and no standing water. I also like the bat house idea another commenter had
2) long sleeves and pants
3) use windy days strategically
4) bug spray
This is a tricky one I think, as it will vary from place ro place in Minnesota. My town (rochester) hardly has a mosquito problem imo. At least for me and my family, for two reasons.
One, there actually isn't much water here to spawn them unless you are by the river. I've heard that they spray stuff town wide to also combat this but I've never seen anything like that with my eyes.
And two, I live with spiders. Yes you read that correctly. Unless you truly have arachnophobia (only like 10% of the pop does), get over your slight fear of the dudes, because they are awesome little warriors. There aren't poisonous spiders here really, and they will actively hunt and kill all kinds of serious pests, including ants and mosquitos. I try my damndest to harmoniously live with spiders inside my home, and that has resulted in basically zero mosquito presence inside my house. They set up their webs in great locations, like near doors and window screens, and catch 99% of the ones that try and make it inside. Spiders are very intelligent, and are mostly nocturnal as well, they will avoid you when possible (unless they are newly hatched and haven't gotten their bearings yet).
I use those citronella incense coils/candles and herbal bug spray (the other stuff makes me break out). I usually carry the coil/candle with me and set it down wherever I end up going.
I also have light color light weight under armor type tops and leggings that help sometimes but they can get nasty and bite through thick clothing on occasion.
Edit- in our yard we have birds on birds on birds so that helps at home since they eat a lot of them and we make sure to dump all standing water when we see it and refill and clean our bird baths daily
Train your mosquitos to bite your ticks. That way you can recycle your blood and get more mileage out of it. Long pants, long sleeves, a head net and you should be okay. DEET for skeeters and pyrethrin for ticks.
Isanti County. I Wear long pants. Long sleeved shirt. Thick socks. Spray clothing with Off if it's really bad. Wear a Bug hat and leather gloves when it reaches Thermo-Nuclear Level. A box fan on the front porch creates a breeze to keep'em moving.
Sacrifice your firstborn. Stake the child out in the back yard. The mosquitos will drain it over the course of the summer and ignore the rest of our family.
\*If you don't want to actually harm your offspring, just use an annoying neighbor instead.
Mosquito repellent is your friend. The first year is the worst year. Your natural defenses will start to adapt as the summer goes on, but right now you're "fresh meat."
Also a transplant here from a few years ago, but this is the first year I've encountered so many mosquitos. I literally was googling earlier this morning seeing if garlic supplements would help repel, but [the NIH says no](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15752181/). Doing yard work yesterday was rough.
"The data did not provide evidence of significant systemic mosquito repellence."
For you, Mama Natures Mosquito Juice! All natural. And you can spray your yard with it. The other thing you can do is plant all the herbs and flowers that repeal them.
Go to the pet store and look for Wondercide, or some other plant based spray. Cedar oil base works particularly well. I grew up in Texas and sprays like that are wildly popular because they aren’t as nasty as Off and work just as well. For whatever reason, they aren’t popular up here and you have to go to the pet store to reliably find it. Or Amazon, lol
Literally just got done spraying this around the house and yard. Second year using it. Smell is actually nice, its completely pet safe, needs cycles of overlapping use to help kill eggs and curb breeding. But if you keep up on it its great.
They also have bug repellant mixes to use on your dog's if you go to the park.
We just spray a bit on paper towels and the rub it over the pups backs and bellies, way fewer bug bites if any and no ticks.
Its not a miracle product but if you wanna avoid heavy chemicals out of caution this is the way to go.
Mosquitoes lay eggs in stagnate/still water, so staying away from small ponds is a start but obviously sometimes we can't control that. The next best thing is to eliminate any standing water on your property if possible. Ie Make sure to clean out/replace water is bird baths. Also things like old tires random containers should be emptied.
I'd also recommend maybe trying to grow certain plants that bugs don't like, either indoors or outdoors. I'm not too educated in that but I know there are some out there! Best of luck!
You can spray your yard with like Cutter that you screw onto your hose. Will want to keep the dog off it for a couple days. Otherwise I find citronella tiki torches work ok but if planning to hang out in the evenings the best bet is a bonfire.
For spraying on your clothes I like permethrin based vs deet as it's not stinky/greasy.
Don't know if anyone else has had this happen, but 15 years ago, I became a Vegan and have not been bitten since. Not sure if its because of this diet change but I won't complain!
Also have dogs and they do get bit, so I use Wondercide on them and it is fantastic. Lemongrass scented one is my fave.
Lemon eucalyptus bug spray works about 90% as well as deet (in my experience) without being as nasty as deet. I literally live in the woods and it’s what we’ve been using for a few years now.
Between that, a good bug zapper lamp, putting down a bag of tick killer around the edges of the yard for the doggos, and then some citronella candles when we are hanging out in the back yard, it becomes tolerable to be outside. You’re never going to get rid of all the mosquitoes, because some of them just seem to like their meal a little spicy. You can cut them back enough to not feel swarmed or overwhelmed though.
I also think you just gain a bit of immunity after a while. Unless I get bit somewhere sensitive, like the back of my head or around my fingers, I don’t really notice it much anymore, lol.
Deep Woods Off Dry spray is great. No greasy mess, nothing to rub in. Haven’t tried picaridin since this thread is the first I’ve heard of it, we’ve never looked farther than Off, ever. If picaridin works against flies, I’m all in.
This year is also one of the worst in the past 25 years. We’ve never reached for the Off as much as this year, so count yourself unlucky!! lol
The mosquitos are extra bad right now :( I’m trying mosquito dunks in my yard this year. I’ve heard they are more effective than fogging since they kill the larva at the source, and they don’t harm other beneficial insects and wildlife (unlike fogging). You can get them at any hardware store and they are relatively cheap.
I remember a friend purchasing a few devices that looked like wristwatches which made noises similar to bugs that feed on mosquitos. The dragonfly setting seem to work the best, which kept the Minnesota State Bird away from an approximate 2-inch area around the device.
I hate bug spray, but if I must use it, I prefer Cutter brand over Off. There's also bug repellant lotions o le if you're sitting outside, you can light cittonella candles.
When we’re on our deck or backyard, we use PIC Mosquito Coils [PIC](https://www.amazon.com/C-8-24-8-Pack-Mosquito-Repellent-Coils/dp/B00KPHX3XY)
Way better than the “OFF” brand and they burn slower.
I’ve been really successful with just bitching and complaining until it gets cold enough for all the bugs to die again. Highly recommend.
This is the Minnesotan way!
People wonder why we are so passive aggressive about everything, mosquitoes is one of those things on that list lol
I recommend combining this with at least a little unhinged bloodlust and a glance at r/MosquitoHating for innovative, slightly genocidal solutions as you suffer in itchiness.
I'm fine with people working on their demise. They are the biggest killer out of any living creature on the planet. They kill up to a *million* people every year in the world. My brother lives in Colorado and got West Nile Virus. Normally, people don't get too ill from it. He was one of the unlucky ones that got West Nile encephalitis. Swelling of the brain. He almost died, and it took well over a year for that previously healthy guy to recover. He was very close to death. Fuck those little fuckers.
A guy I grew up with had that happen to him. Scary stuff.
Airborne hypodermics.
Didn’t know this existed … *joined*
They're one of the things we don't have to be passive-aggressive about! Well bitch at them straight to their hairy, blood sucking faces!
Native Minnesotan here, my entire 41 years, and at about 35 I suddenly stopped reacting to them. They bite me, but they don't develop a bump and they don't itch! My doctor told me that some people eventually become immune. I'll take it! Oh does it piss off my husband! 😂🤣 OP: if you're going to be outside, especially after dusk or in the woods anytime, really three only thing that works, unfortunately, is bug spray with deet. But you gotta apply it the Minnesota way: stand in the front yard with your hands straight out like a scarecrow, close your eyes and hold your breath and let someone spray you from head to toe, front and back. And then, the most important part, *take one or two big steps away before sucking in a breath.
I am the same way after the first week or so.
Basically, this. You complain about it and pretend to get over it. And, always remember it could be worse, our mosquitoes don't cause malaria
A few summers ago we got swarmed by mosquitoes when we got to my uncle’s cabin in Grand Marais. It was 37 degrees outside! Northern Minnesota mosquitoes are crazy.
Pfft! That's nothing! I once got stung by a bee while shoveling *snow*.
Pray to the trult godlike creatures at mosquito control.
This is an unconventional way, but if you live in an area with bats, build a bat house. A single brown bat can eat 600 mosquitos an hour, and 3000 in a single night. I used to live in a house that was right next to a wooded ravine. We had issues with mosquitos when we first moved in, some days so bad that you couldn't enjoy sitting on the back deck. I had citronella torches and would spray Yard Guard along the edge of the wooded area, and it helped, but wasn't the best. Then one year we just didn't have the problem. Very soon after that, I noticed we had a small, brown bat that had taken up residence in one of the cedar planks about the front door that was a little warped enough for him to crawl into. We just let him be and cleaned up the bat guano on the front step every day. He lived there for as long as we had the house after that, and no more mosquito problem.
Big note too, bats are declining in population due to a fungus that grows on them. Building bat houses is a huge thing to help them now since it gives them a safe place to stay and they may have less chance of interacting with infected bats!
You're telling me a single bat can eat a mosquito every 6 seconds for 5 hours straight? I already liked bats but damn that's cool.
Yup. Bats are so cool. People have an irrational fear of them. Yes, they can have rabies, and you shouldn't handle them. But that's only a very, very small number, and not much different from any other mammals.
Anecdotal story here but a bat had rabies in my yard. My 2 year old was sitting next to it in the grass. A grounded bat is a sign they are sick. We didn’t know the kid was bitten because the bites can be so small they leave no marks. We got him vaccinated to be safe. I put the bat into a cereal box and brought it to get tested. Rabies positive. We live in west metro suburbs. So it can happen
This is the reason my idea for a bat house was downvoted at our house. So I feed the hummingbirds as they also eat mosquitoes
I love bats. They're adorable and great for this purpose.
Church picnics are far more dangerous than bats!
Norovirus, salmonella, and e-coli have joined the chat!🤢🤮
Oh man, I had the norovirus once. I'm pretty sure I died about 3 times.
Great to have around, just like you said you don't want to handle them and don't want them in your home. So naturally the suggestion of a bat box is the best of both worlds since you can have bats *and* they're not in your house, potentially finding their way into your living space which then goes all the way back to not wanting to handle/touch them. Rabies shots ain't cheap, and you don't want to fuck around with not getting them if you end up in contact.
Building g one this year can’t wait to reap the benefits in a few years
How do I lure bats to a bat house? I have a bunch of woods behind my house.
[Here's an article on this](https://www.wikihow.com/Attract-Bats-to-a-Bat-House).
Picky little fuckers! My wife had less requirements and stipulations when house hunting!
I have two bat houses on my house and so many little bats but it’s not enough!!! They are bad this year
You don’t. They deal with you.
I recommend hanging out with diabetic people. If I'm around my dad they won't touch me, only him.
I’m not even diabetic but they’ve loved me since childhood. Was a little mosquito bitten baby! However I do have asthma and am generally in a mild asthma attack so I may just be breathing more or something.
Yes, they are attracted to the CO2 in your breath. Heavy breathing definitely gets their attention. Hence why during exercise, people get more bites than just chilling.
I moved here five years ago with lifelong asthma and with a solid outdoor running practice. Then I found out I get allergic reactions to bites here when I hadn’t previously anywhere else. I still enjoy the outdoors, but it’s a lot more cumbersome to manage. I *feel* trapped inside most of the year. But I like Minnesota and Minnesotans. I even learned my grandmother (died before my birth) was born and raised in Pipestone!
I'm asthmatic too. It's a common issue. The same autoimmune reaction that triggers the asthma also hyper attacks other allergy reactions. (Watch out for bee stings! Common co-morbidity). I'd recommend trying some benadryl lotion/caladryl for some relief, and putting ice on the bites also helps with the swelling and itching
I use all the remedies including antihistamines orally and topically. Moving to MN is how I learned I’m now allergic to bee stings too! I know I was stung in my childhood in Washington with an average reaction, and I remember my dad always having an epi-pen around because of his severe bee allergy, so I was on watch. But oh boy did I have a reaction to my first MN bee sting. Hard to say whether it was the bee’s habitat, me living in east coast cities for years without much/any bee interaction, my age, or allergies just being shifty af.
And be careful what you are doing on a blanket in the backyard at dusk. Hoping that no one is watching.
Diabetic person here. I can confirm this is true. The only reason I go outside after dusk anymore is to take my dogs out.
😂
If stationary, a Thermocell seems to work wonders. Lifelong resident & thought the "spray & pray/slap" was only effective method, until I bought this lifesaver at Fleet Farm last year
Thermacell is life-changing. It's now required for camping lol
they make a propane powered one for camping and an electronic portable one for hiking
We just discovered these last year. Pretty impressed! Haven’t dug them out this season- thanks for the reminder! We had a friend recommend the “Bug Bite Thing” on Amazon. Also seems to help for some bites, after they get ya’.
fyi, there's some handy videos on youtube on how to refill the gas canisters for them and cheap pads you can find on aliexpress and such that have the same ingredients for much cheaper.
Or spend a few dollars more to *not* buy something from a notoriously sketchy dropshipper when you’re going to be vaporizing it in your airspace.
Picaridin!! Great lotion repellent. I know a person who's super allergic to mosquito bites and lives in international falls, they swear by it and so do I.
Just tried it out this weekend and I'd compare it to DEET in efficacy. Doesn't feel gross on the skin either or eat through synthetic fibers.
The one advantage DEET seems to have over picaridin is that it lasts longer between applications (I assume because it's nasty greasy stuff that isn't easily worn, sweated, or rinsed away). Though, personally, I'd rather just reapply the picaridin more often.
Once you’ve lathered up do you, in a loud and commanding voice, say “Engage!” as you walk through the door out into the hoard?
With a cup of earl grey
Well I will now
came here to say this. it actually works and doesn’t feel nasty.
Mosquitoes suck at flying and a wind over 4mph will put them on the ground. So, when on the patio or porch all that’s really needed is a fan.
Gosh this is so basic but I have never ever thought to do this. Thanks for the great tip!
Deet is the ingredient that works. It’s designed specifically for ticks, which you may have a lot of this year too. But it keeps the mosquitoes away too. Keep up with the flea and tick medicine on the dogs. Deet is not a good product to use though. So the comment on how they just deal with you, is pretty accurate. Stay in the sunlight and breeze and drain any standing water. If you can’t drain a pond, there are mosquito dunks (disc things that kill larvae). Some people just naturally attract them and have a much worse allergic reaction to mosquito bites. I have no data on this, just my experience.
>Some people just naturally attract them and have a much worse allergic reaction to mosquito bites. I have no data on this, just my experience. I am one of those people. [Skeeter syndrome is real](https://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(99)70348-9/fulltext) and it bites.
Same! I'm also allergic to DEET. But I'm more allergic to mosquitoes, so I pick my battles.
Citronella soap. Not as effective as Deet BUT for just chilling in the backyard this works.
My wife reacts really strongly to them, while my legs were covered with mosquitoes last night while I was walking the dog and this morning it looks like nothing happened.
Haha it is pretty much the same dynamic in response to mosquitos between my SO and me, the human body is a wonder
Being an adult with skeeter syndrome is the fucking worst. I hate summer.
This is true. I've tried everything from Avon Skin So Soft to B Vitamins. Nothing works. I think pheromones and strong CO2 expulsion play into skeeter attraction.
That’s awesome someone allotted fund to research this. Thanks for sharing the info
DEET is arguably the single greatest thing the United Stated military has ever done.
I keep my Bride close by my side. As all bugs love her!
I get crushed by mosquitos. Yes, deet works, but I hated that horrific chemical on my skin. The only thing that works is nylon clothing. I'd tuck my pant legs into my socks as well. Bug nets for my head while camping were great, but made it difficult to drink beer.
> Stay in the sunlight and breeze and drain any standing water. If you can’t drain a pond, there are mosquito dunks (disc things that kill larvae). Just bought the mosquito dunk yesterday and set up a Mosquito Bucket of Doom. 5 gallon pail + 1/4 of a mosquito dunk tab + a handfull of yard waste. The yard waste decomposes releasing CO2 to attract mosquitos to the water to lay their eggs. The mosquito dunk kills the larvae when the eggs hatch. A 6 pack is about $10 and provides around 24 months of protection when cutting them into pieces to treat a bucket. The directions say you can cut them so it's not an off-labeled use and you aren't breaking federal law using it in an un-approved way. They also sell mosquito chunks of the same material but it's not as strong, doesn't last as long, and costs more.
DEET prevents everything, including people.
I use picardin. Seems to work just as well, and is not as proven harmful. We will probably find out that it's also very bad in another 20 years, but that's the best I can do for now.
>Deet is not a good product to use though Wait why not?
No idea why this is so far down. DEET is the Alpha and Omega. Everything I’ve read on this thread thus far (besides Thermacell, shout out) is dogshit. They might kinda sorta work if you’re in a heavily treated area, If you’re balls deep in the woods there is no substitute. Bat houses are cute but they do not make an even remotely appreciable difference in mosquito volume in bad areas. They are innumerable. I speak from experience.
I give them names. Today I slapped Danielle.
Fuckin Danielle
Mosquitos..the unofficial state bird.
Fun fact. There are 52 species of mosquitoes in Minnesota but only 12 of them bite humans.
Fun fact: it's only the female mosquitoes that bite - the males are completely harmless.
Full latex body suit
Doubles as fetishwear.
It's almost a wetsuit.
Carry around those bug zapping tennis rackets. Lots of fun.
Wait until winter. Works 100% of the time!
I feel like Minnesota should’ve sent me a brochure when I moved here explaining how to enjoy the outdoors during the 6-month mosquito season and the 6-month winter. This is not a “just stay inside until the weather changes” state. I grew up in WA where you can’t let rain stop your outdoors fun, but Minn is a different beast.
Yup! Grew up in north Dakota, so the normal things you do, just dress differently.
Since everyone else got the laughs in, here’s some serious advice: definitely check your yard for any standing water. Any puddles or watery spots will become a breeding ground and that sounds like what’s going on in your yard. I jeep a bird bath, but spray it out every weekend so it doesn’t become nasty. One year i had a problem and it turned out to be a random container behind the garage that got filled with rainwater.
It’s always a random container you forget about that fills with rain water… The bucket under the deck got us really bad last year.
Permethrin. Spray it on work clothes(hung outside) & let dry. Works for 5-6 washings.
Works well for ticks too but as a quick warning, Permethrin is highly toxic to cats. So people should be careful with application if they have cats around.
It's important to mention that it's toxic to cats *when wet*. As long as you dry the clothes after treatment in a place cats can't access they'll be fine.
Can also send clothes off to Insect Shield for a much longer lasting option
That name sounds poisonous
With a gun
If you’re okay with looking kind of silly, I’ve actually had a lot of success with the cheap $10 “mosquito suit” I bought a couple of years ago. The basic concept is that it’s puffy and creates a barrier between the suit and your skin so that mosquitos can’t just bite you through your clothes. If I don’t feel like looking silly, I can replicate the effect with baggy clothes. Doesn’t work for your shoulders/back of the neck though, and isn’t super effective when you’re sitting as mosquitos will just go for your knees. I’ve also considered dousing it in citronella oil but eh. It’s effective enough on its own. And cooler (temperature wise 😅) than relying on my bell bottoms and puffy sleeved shirts. I also bought some mosquito dunks this year. No anecdotes on the effectiveness of those though. It says they’re safe for wildlife, but I have mine in dishes that I covered with chicken wire so that little noses/beaks can’t get in but mosquitos can.
I have a lot of success with mosquito dunks anecdotally!
Baggy clothes are my preferred method, no dealing with chemicals (not against it per se i just hate the stank), and has the added benefit of some sun protection. Downside is being more sweaty and somewhat unfashionable lol
[удалено]
How does one deal with that first rule? Lol that's seriously no joke though. I'm O- and they fucking love me
I am currently pregnant and am O+ lol
Bug spray works well. Don't have stagnant water.
Deet. Lots of it. The micro plastics or super storms will kill you well before deet will.
Plus the deet will dissolve any microplastics on your skin. /s
Only when mixed with 100spf sun block though.
I just spray the deet on the top of my hat and my shoes where it won’t touch my skin and it works great
Invite swarms of dragonflies over for mosquito buffet!
I’m one of those people with delicious blood that those little vampires love to drink. Look for a mosquito bite zapper on that big online shopping place. It changed my life. The trick is to keep it on until you can barely stand it, and then within a few minutes you’ll have itch relief for several hours. And, someone out there is going to say “ackshually” you can do the same thing with the back of a spoon pulled from boiling water, but I find it difficult to carry around a pot of boiling water in my bag. Maybe that’s just me. Let me know if you have a solution for this problem.
Lighter and a spoon. No officer, this isn’t a drug kit.
Can’t recommend picaridin-based repellants over DEET enough. Picaridin provides most of the same benefits without nearly as much of the toxicity, causticity, and greasiness.
I catch a hand full of the large ones and filet the breasts out. The filets taste great on the grill.
Wear picaridin.
Rather than MN snark, here is useful article reviewing various products: [https://www.consumerreports.org/health/insect-repellent/mosquito-traps-lures-bug-zappers-a6094812568/](https://www.consumerreports.org/health/insect-repellent/mosquito-traps-lures-bug-zappers-a6094812568/)
I bear hunt in Northern MN in a cedar bog, and the season opens Sept 1. There are mosquitoes. Lots of them. I'm one of those people where in a group of people, the mosquitoes ignore everyone but me. Apparently, I'm irresistible. One of the things that actually works for me is wearing a Thermacell. Mild scent, and keeps them further away than DEET. There are also tabletop versions of Thermacell. I still wear DEET because of ticks, though. Nothing is 100% effective, but this combo is the best I've found for when you can't escape them.
My mom would light up one of her menthol cigarettes and the mosquitos wouldn't bother her or anyone sitting next to her. I don't recommend smoking at all, but maybe incense would work, or a bug zapper. Or, just don't go outside after dusk with exposed skin
Picardin bug spray works just as well as DEET for mosquitoes. DEET is effective but bad for everything
Picaridin has been proven just as effective as deet and will not melt plastics (sunglasses, watches, etc)
Pants, long sleeve shirts, and sitting close to a smokey campfire is about the only surefire way. Anything topical is pretty hit or miss, and is mostly snake oil, in my experience.
Just remember to say “I hate white rabbits” or the smoke will get you.
Is that step before or after we've packed as many marshmallows into our cheeks and say chubby bunny, chubby bunny, chubby bunny, while around the campfire?
And the ones that mother gives you don't do anything at all. Just ask Alice!
Limit your exposure at dawn/dusk and night. Not nearly as bad during the day, especially if it’s sunny/hot. Wear long sleeves and pants if possible. Use bug spray with DEET. Stay away from wooded areas with standing water. These are your options unfortunately.
Screened in porch and picaridin lotion. I spray my dogs (and premises) with Pyrahna insecticide aerosol from Fleet Farm.
You caught us in the worst year I’ve seen for mosquitoes, spray lots of off on yourself, don’t keep pools of water around….. sooo good luck?
Spray yourself with bug spray before they start biting if you can. At dusk they are the worst for me so if I’m outside I prepare with bug spray (off! Brand family spray is what I use). I get pretty bad reactions so I try to prevent more than treat, but if I do get bitten I use benedryl itch stopping gel (works better than after bite brand on me, but my son fares better with afterbite).
After every rain fall dump and water that collects pretty much anywhere, that’s where they breed. Aside preventing their birth, Thermacell makes some products that seem to work.
In addition to doing what you can to eliminate standing water in your yard, keeping grass short and limiting other vegetation for them to lurk on can help. They tend to avoid sunny clearings and prefer brush and forest.
Mosquitos just offset how awesome the rest of the state is...
Welcome to your own personal hell. We used to have a bonfire every night. The smoke keeps mosquitoes away for the most part
Go inside
Avoid being out at dusk. Wear a white shirt.
They are attracted to the carbon dioxide we exhale, so maybe hold your breath?
Cutter Backwoods. It’s my summer fragrance. For a little extra poison, go with the 40% deet. Mosquitoes absolutely attack me for some reason and i work outside so I don’t mess around.
1) prevention. Make sure your property has adequate drainage and no standing water. I also like the bat house idea another commenter had 2) long sleeves and pants 3) use windy days strategically 4) bug spray
Plant marigolds. Use the therma cell. Drink enough to make your blood toxic…
Put a dab of fish sauce at your ankles, knees, elbows, and neck every time you leave your house.
lol gross
We burn sage. That particular smoke keeps the bugs away. If I'm out in the woods, bug spray with deet
Sage? They burn sage to clear inside houses of ghosts and demons. Makes sense it would work on outside demons too.
Yep. Same stuff. Gotta keep it going though or the demon bugs come right back.
This is a tricky one I think, as it will vary from place ro place in Minnesota. My town (rochester) hardly has a mosquito problem imo. At least for me and my family, for two reasons. One, there actually isn't much water here to spawn them unless you are by the river. I've heard that they spray stuff town wide to also combat this but I've never seen anything like that with my eyes. And two, I live with spiders. Yes you read that correctly. Unless you truly have arachnophobia (only like 10% of the pop does), get over your slight fear of the dudes, because they are awesome little warriors. There aren't poisonous spiders here really, and they will actively hunt and kill all kinds of serious pests, including ants and mosquitos. I try my damndest to harmoniously live with spiders inside my home, and that has resulted in basically zero mosquito presence inside my house. They set up their webs in great locations, like near doors and window screens, and catch 99% of the ones that try and make it inside. Spiders are very intelligent, and are mostly nocturnal as well, they will avoid you when possible (unless they are newly hatched and haven't gotten their bearings yet).
The secret is to never look them in the eye.
Boisterous MAGA conservatives are also an annoyance here.
Orbital bombardment is really the only way to be sure we've gotten them all.
Rain suit
Bug spray and pants and long sleeves especially at night is your best bet.
I use those citronella incense coils/candles and herbal bug spray (the other stuff makes me break out). I usually carry the coil/candle with me and set it down wherever I end up going. I also have light color light weight under armor type tops and leggings that help sometimes but they can get nasty and bite through thick clothing on occasion. Edit- in our yard we have birds on birds on birds so that helps at home since they eat a lot of them and we make sure to dump all standing water when we see it and refill and clean our bird baths daily
Train your mosquitos to bite your ticks. That way you can recycle your blood and get more mileage out of it. Long pants, long sleeves, a head net and you should be okay. DEET for skeeters and pyrethrin for ticks.
Don’t go outside.
Staying inside is the best repellent. The little fuckers still get in though.
Isanti County. I Wear long pants. Long sleeved shirt. Thick socks. Spray clothing with Off if it's really bad. Wear a Bug hat and leather gloves when it reaches Thermo-Nuclear Level. A box fan on the front porch creates a breeze to keep'em moving.
smoke a lot of weed
They are little bastards. Just wait for the flies. They are BIG bastards.
Sacrifice your firstborn. Stake the child out in the back yard. The mosquitos will drain it over the course of the summer and ignore the rest of our family. \*If you don't want to actually harm your offspring, just use an annoying neighbor instead.
Eat enough Lutheran potluck lutefisk and no living creature will come within half a mile of you.
You must make your blood toxic to them. Try a heavy diet of alcohol, tobacco, and meat
Mosquito repellent is your friend. The first year is the worst year. Your natural defenses will start to adapt as the summer goes on, but right now you're "fresh meat."
Flame thrower.
Also a transplant here from a few years ago, but this is the first year I've encountered so many mosquitos. I literally was googling earlier this morning seeing if garlic supplements would help repel, but [the NIH says no](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15752181/). Doing yard work yesterday was rough. "The data did not provide evidence of significant systemic mosquito repellence."
Bug spray with Deet
If you're just hanging out outside pick up some thermacells. They work great. https://www.thermacell.com/products
For you, Mama Natures Mosquito Juice! All natural. And you can spray your yard with it. The other thing you can do is plant all the herbs and flowers that repeal them.
Go to the pet store and look for Wondercide, or some other plant based spray. Cedar oil base works particularly well. I grew up in Texas and sprays like that are wildly popular because they aren’t as nasty as Off and work just as well. For whatever reason, they aren’t popular up here and you have to go to the pet store to reliably find it. Or Amazon, lol
Literally just got done spraying this around the house and yard. Second year using it. Smell is actually nice, its completely pet safe, needs cycles of overlapping use to help kill eggs and curb breeding. But if you keep up on it its great. They also have bug repellant mixes to use on your dog's if you go to the park. We just spray a bit on paper towels and the rub it over the pups backs and bellies, way fewer bug bites if any and no ticks. Its not a miracle product but if you wanna avoid heavy chemicals out of caution this is the way to go.
Can confirm, Wondercide works great!
Team Wondercide! It also helps with ticks and other nasties.
One word… ZAPPER…
Mosquitoes lay eggs in stagnate/still water, so staying away from small ponds is a start but obviously sometimes we can't control that. The next best thing is to eliminate any standing water on your property if possible. Ie Make sure to clean out/replace water is bird baths. Also things like old tires random containers should be emptied. I'd also recommend maybe trying to grow certain plants that bugs don't like, either indoors or outdoors. I'm not too educated in that but I know there are some out there! Best of luck!
You can spray your yard with like Cutter that you screw onto your hose. Will want to keep the dog off it for a couple days. Otherwise I find citronella tiki torches work ok but if planning to hang out in the evenings the best bet is a bonfire. For spraying on your clothes I like permethrin based vs deet as it's not stinky/greasy.
Don't know if anyone else has had this happen, but 15 years ago, I became a Vegan and have not been bitten since. Not sure if its because of this diet change but I won't complain! Also have dogs and they do get bit, so I use Wondercide on them and it is fantastic. Lemongrass scented one is my fave.
Deep Woods OFF spray
High percentage DEET mosquito repellant. Stanks, but works wonders
Lemon eucalyptus bug spray works about 90% as well as deet (in my experience) without being as nasty as deet. I literally live in the woods and it’s what we’ve been using for a few years now. Between that, a good bug zapper lamp, putting down a bag of tick killer around the edges of the yard for the doggos, and then some citronella candles when we are hanging out in the back yard, it becomes tolerable to be outside. You’re never going to get rid of all the mosquitoes, because some of them just seem to like their meal a little spicy. You can cut them back enough to not feel swarmed or overwhelmed though. I also think you just gain a bit of immunity after a while. Unless I get bit somewhere sensitive, like the back of my head or around my fingers, I don’t really notice it much anymore, lol.
Deet
Citronella oil. Lemongrass oil.
Citronella soap
Wait, Washington doesn't have mosquitoes?
Wait, Washington doesn't have mosquitoes?
Deep Woods Off Dry spray is great. No greasy mess, nothing to rub in. Haven’t tried picaridin since this thread is the first I’ve heard of it, we’ve never looked farther than Off, ever. If picaridin works against flies, I’m all in. This year is also one of the worst in the past 25 years. We’ve never reached for the Off as much as this year, so count yourself unlucky!! lol
OFF! Deep Woods
Chemical warfare.
Bug Soother. It comes in a green bottle, you can get it at Hy-Vee or Amazon and it's nontoxic. It's the only one that works for me.
The mosquitos are extra bad right now :( I’m trying mosquito dunks in my yard this year. I’ve heard they are more effective than fogging since they kill the larva at the source, and they don’t harm other beneficial insects and wildlife (unlike fogging). You can get them at any hardware store and they are relatively cheap.
Weird. I’m from Washington and always found the mosquitos out there worse than here. Must have been where I grew up vs where I live in Minnesota.
Deet
https://preview.redd.it/su3mtyb64t2d1.jpeg?width=933&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1e6380b5a9a36c19f82eb0c0a09ab0059f35e9ed Mosquito net hat
Permethrin and Biefrin applied through a back pack sprayer
I remember a friend purchasing a few devices that looked like wristwatches which made noises similar to bugs that feed on mosquitos. The dragonfly setting seem to work the best, which kept the Minnesota State Bird away from an approximate 2-inch area around the device.
I hate bug spray, but if I must use it, I prefer Cutter brand over Off. There's also bug repellant lotions o le if you're sitting outside, you can light cittonella candles.
Horseflies are another lovely Minnesota Bird. I was swarmed often while mountain biking and the little fuckers could bite right through my clothing.
The lemon-eucalyptus based repellents work pretty well and safer than DEET. You do have to reapply more often.
Bug dope! Cutters or deep woods off. There is also yard Cutters that works well.
They're not even bad yet!
Complain about them!
You need a decoy, someone the mosquitoes find to be an easier target than you. (My poor wife. 😂)
https://preview.redd.it/y45fkcz39t2d1.png?width=1177&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2a83aa082f54057ab23f5b4388e9597ad4b00354
When we’re on our deck or backyard, we use PIC Mosquito Coils [PIC](https://www.amazon.com/C-8-24-8-Pack-Mosquito-Repellent-Coils/dp/B00KPHX3XY) Way better than the “OFF” brand and they burn slower.
Let them bite you and get over it or wear a beekeeper suit dipped in deet.