Do I really have to say any more! I don’t know about everyone else, but here in Minnesota it’s been a cold, wet spring with very little warm weather. And then one small warm stretch of 4 days and POW!! An explosion of mosquitoes, flies and gnats…. Not to mention ticks! These bugs have literally taken over my pastures, orchard, chicken coop and garden. It’s so bad that I can see them swarming and hovering over sections of the pasture. It’s like big black blobs that are just looking for their next meal. And trust me, I have been their meal more than once. I got attacked so bad one day that I swear I gave over a pint to those little bloodsuckers! And my poor ponies… one night I pulled them into the paddock for a little relief. And yet in the morning they were full of mosquito welts. They were so miserable. The welts were bad, they were itchy and constantly twitching and stomping.
This weather seems to have created a perfect storm in breeding these nasties. All the rain has caused standing water in places to become a mosquito nursery to bring about the annoyance of summer. Talk about the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse…. We’ve got the 4 Winged-Men of the Summer Apocalypse! Flies, Gnats, Mosquitoes and Yellow Jackets! They are all primed and heading to a your very backyard.
At our place, it’s gotten so bad that even my chickens are roosting early at night. Usually they are out until the very last minute, but now they are going in really early to avoid the mosquitoes and gnats. Poor girls.
I’ve gotten to a point where I can only head out to my garden for a very short time during the hottest part of the day. This doesn’t really work well with trying to weed the garden or even harvest my strawberries and lettuce. So my garden is suffering a little bit from not being properly weeded.
With all these nasties flying around and chores that need to be done… What can one do to survive? How can you make your gardens, pastures and backyards more friendly for everyone?
For me, I’ve decided I need to do something to try and make my areas a little more tolerable for both me and my critters. Enough’s enough…. Time to go on the offensive!
So then… what’s my strategy? What am I going to do?
I started to research a few different options. There’s the chemical route; which I’m not a huge fan of (at least not spraying everything). There’s the “trap, or repel method,” both chemical and natural. We’ve got the clothing method for both me and the animals. And lastly there’s the avoidance method, which I’ve been using and isn’t all that practical.
First method…. chemical spraying. I know this is pretty effective; as long as you follow the treatment plan. Otherwise, you can be back to square one pretty quickly. But this method also tends to be the priciest and I’m not a fan of spraying my gardens and pastures since my family and animals eat those foodstuffs. So for me…. this method is out. At least in the broad, general sense of spraying my areas. I still use the occasional “personal spraying” methods, but I tend to go the more natural and organic route with essential oils for things that go on my body.
Next… the clothing method. I don’t know about you, but after a long, hard winter I don’t want to be covered from head-to-toe just to go out and enjoy my garden, my backyard or even my deck. I want to shed my layers and embrace the sun! It’s only here for a short while. But, I do use this method on occasion when I’m working in the woods or tall grasses. I’ll put on a light colored, long sleeve shirt, jeans, a wide brimmed hat and work boots. Then they get a good spraying of some insect repellent. Just trying to keep the mosquitoes, gnats and ticks at bay.
The avoidance method is one that I’ve tried, but I still get bitten. And its hard to get all the things done that need tending to when its such a short window in the afternoon…. and I’ve still got to work my day job. So, if it works for your schedule… great…. but trying to avoid all the flying bugs during the summer is impossible unless you decide you want to stay cooped up all day and night. Not a good plan in my opinion.
That brings us to the “trap, or repel method.” Out of all the options I have… this is the one that I turn to when I’ve had enough of dealing with the bloodsuckers and biters. This method always seems to have mixed reviews. Some say things work great… others have an experience that’s not so great. But I’m willing to give anything a couple of tries… just to keep everyone happy and comfortable…. and maybe keep a few pints of blood to myself!
So my first line of defense on my farm comes in three forms: fly traps, mosquito eradicators and a “bug zapper”. The fly traps I get from RESCUE Outdoor Disposable Fly Trap seem to work really well. They’ve cut down my fly population in the barn area, and around the manure/ compost area, almost to nothing. Now, don’t get me wrong. Nothing is every 100% effective, but it takes my biting black fly population and puts a HUGE dent in it. I’ve got two of these strung up in the barn area and my horses and chickens are quite thankful.
With the flies (and some gnats) at bay, my focus moves onto those pesky bloodsuckers; mosquitoes. Basically, Minnesota’s State Bird. For these guys, I hit them with a combo punch. One that’s active and another that’s passive. The active one is quite simple. I use the Flowtron BK-15D Electronic Insect Killer, 1/2 Acre Coverage. This takes care of mosquitoes, gnats and other bugs I don’t want to share my space with. I like to enjoy my deck at night and just having that little extra “help” makes our nights out on the deck enjoying supper and a gorgeous sunset that much nicer. And yes, it uses electricity, but for the couple of hours we use it for, a couple times a week. Well worth it.
Because really…. life’s short…. We all need to sit back and enjoy a nice meal, a sip of wine or beer and a gorgeous sunset!
As for the more passive form of keeping the mosquitoes in check, I have used the Spartan Mosquito Eradicators. This is my first year using them and so far… kind of liking them. Their real test is coming up with a heat wave that’s going to hit; so we’ll see if they really do what they are supposed to do. And yes, I have read the ingredients. It’s basically salt water with a yeast/sugar combo to create carbon dioxide to attract the mosquitoes.
But sometimes the most simplest solution works the best. These mosquito eradicators seem to be all the rage in Texas and are slowly working their way elsewhere. As for me, I look to the actual proof.
Remember at the beginning of this post I told you about all the welts my poor ponies were suffering from due to mosquitoes. And how miserable they were, constantly stomping their feet, swishing their tales and just plain miserable. Well, that was all due to mosquitoes. But, after setting these tubes up around my barn and chicken coop area, it took about 1 week and I’ve seen a very noticeable difference in the number of mosquitoes.
I wasn’t running into and out of the barn as quickly as possible because the mosquitoes were sucking the life out of me. My horses weren’t stomping crazily and full of welts each morning from getting bitten. And even my chickens were staying out later at night and not cowering in the corner of their coop trying to get away from the mosquitoes.
So in reality, a win for me. I know others haven’t had that level of success, but I can’t beat the proof that I’ve seen so far. But only time will tell if it really makes a large impact. My next location to put up these eradicators is in my garden and orchard where the mosquitoes have now “cropped up.” I think they moved to a more “safe” location since my barn is pretty much a Dead Zone for them now. And being that the locations are about 1 acre apart…. I need a few more eradicators to take out the next fleet of bloodsuckers.
With the above two lines of defense, I’ve built a pretty comfortable Zone of Resistance around our place. But even the best line of defense tends to have a few holes. So what’s my backup? What’s my 2nd line of defense?
Well, I move on to the “repel” part of the ‘trap, or repel method.’ Here is where I like to choose a more natural, or less toxic, option to try and repel all the bugs. But I will admit…. I break out the “heavy hitters” like DEET and Permethrin. I use those for the days that I’ve trekking through the heavy brush and undergrowth in the forest to try and keep my chances of Lymes and other tick borne diseases low.
But for those days that I just need a little extra “help” to bolster my defenses… I turn to REPEL Plant-Based Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent, Pump Spray, 2/4-Ounce for all the humans in my life and I use Equiderma Neem & Aloe Horse Spray 32 oz for my ponies and for spraying around the doors of my chicken coop.
The REPEL Plant-Based Lemon Eucalyptus Insect Repellent seems to be a strong player in keeping the mosquitoes and gnats from carrying me away. I do find that it doesn’t last as long as DEET products, but I usually only need it for just a small amount of time. Definitely a good product that’s more natural based.
For the critters, the Equiderma Neem & Aloe Horse Spray 32 oz is my latest arrow in my quiver. I’ve used other natural products to try and keep the critters at bay, and I’ve had varied success. I have quite a few friends that have used this for their horses and seems to work nicely in our Mosquito Haven State. So, I’m giving it a try and so far it has lessened the bug issues for the horses. I’ll report more later, but for right now. It seems to be doing the trick.
Well… there you have it…. my plan of attack to being able to enjoy the summer without losing a lot of blood, having the welts the size of softballs or being driven away from enjoying a nice meal at sunset. Hopefully you’ve found this information helpful. Enjoy your time outdoors and soak up some Vitamin D rays!