They say that if you eat 25 cloves of garlic, they won't bother you. Just to be safe, I'd eat 35 or 40 cloves.

Mosquitos in point barrow are bigger in the summer than they are here. Try watching some nature shows.

Hi, Pac. I do watch a lot of nature shows. I'll have to look for that one!
I've tried all the repellents, but I can't cover myself 24/7.   I now have Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard. I just didn't think of using it while I was typing on an internet board. :-) Regarding the garlic, I wish I tolerated it more. I think it's true what I've read about (a) wearing dark clothing and (b) eating bananas. Too bad I wear mostly black and I love banana slices in my cereal. Everyone around here is complaining that it's much worse this year. Mosquito Control in Lee County must have cut its budget.

Also, I think some people just get bitten more often than others. The woman on the other side of me will be standing outside in a tank top, shorts and bare feet and not get a single bite while they're eating me alive wearing socks, sneakers and long pants. Last week I got a bite on my eyelid, the only place that was exposed. I don't have pockets, but I think I'm going to buy a box of Bounce dryer sheets (think Emily mentioned that) and put one in my bra! Yup - another place I found a mosquito earlier. No kidding, I have 8 bites today and I haven't even left the house. I need to be more careful and shut the door when I go outside. I had several small visitors at about 7AM.

Well, I was talking to a woman who lives on a canal and has seen rats by her pool, so I guess I should feel blessed my pests are only mosquitoes, spiders and very large palmetto bugs. (and humans of course!)

Did you hear about the stupid mosquito?

She bit dolly parton on the arm....lol

Of course Pac. Only the females bite & suck your blood! ;-)
Funny, but I was reading a blog where people were talking about buying homes and where they'd like to live. One person said "on a canal" and one said "surrounding by lush vegetation." So another poster wrote "Why the heck do people always want to be surrounded by nature & live on the water where you have bugs, rats, trees, rising water, trees that blow down and fall on your house..."   I started to laugh, since I always say "just stick me in a cabin in the woods by a stream." When I rented a home on Sanibel, I remember talking to a woman at Jerry's and she said she hadn't been able to sleep in her house since she had a rat problem. That's not too uncommon at Bonita Bay either. I once did some telesales for a pest control company in the area and many of those 8,000 s.f. homes have undesirable tenants.   Same on Marco, but they'll never admit it. Must be a higher class of rodent. LOL

Was told by a bug man (the guy who sprays for bugs like Dale Drivel) that palmetto bugs are technically called "American Roaches." Ride-a-roach by any other name is just as ugly.

Try using a hanging insecticide strip at your doors which should repel them. You could leave pots of (pyrethrum) chrysanthemums where you enter and leave your home. Or you could find a way to safely disperse citronella oil at those entrances to hopefully repel them. They love me too so use a yard fogger when they swarm.

Palmetto bugs are indeed gruesome. They haven't evolved for millions of years.

Konane, I had a HUGE roach in the bathroom sink the other night and it crawled into the pipe when I turned on the light. I probably scared it when I screamed "eeek!"   Anyway, I hate hurting anything, but after that my sink was clogged so I had to get liquid plumber which did the job. My neighbor said "Oh, I bet that was just a water bug."   I didn't stop to ask. I try to catch bugs and put them outside, but these guys are really disgusting. I need to get more of those bait traps. (they work) They eat the bait and go back to the nest. Since they are cannibals, the nest is usually destroyed in a few days. There are some spiders that jump called wolf spiders. Although I'm not afraid of spiders and generally leave them alone, its very disquieting to look up and see one towering over your head. Maybe it was the reflection of the light or the TV, but I swear the one I had the other night was in the cast of the movie Arachnophobia.   Thanks for the tip - I will buy some citronella oil and see if that works. I don't want to spray anything poisonous because of the wildlife, although I have sprayed my lanai with Raid because of ants & roaches. Gosh, if I lived in Boston now and was reading this, I'd imagine a person living in a terrible conditions in a run down neighborhood. Nope - just nature vs mankind. Insects have been around a lot longer and it looks as if they're winning!

I'm the same way Justx. You took the words right out of my mouth. This house gets the big juicy and disgusting roaches after a heavy rain, but like you, I hate to spray any bugs, because even though they don'y have a cerebral cortex brain, they most likely don't like to perish. No living creature, no matter how low in the chain, wants to die. Anyway, I also hate to spray, but did because it was getting rediculous. Maybe once a week one would make it to my room. Since the spraying outside the edges of the garage door, there has been a signigicant reduction of appearances. I hate to spray, knowing about the lizards which might get affected, but the alternative is putting up with huge roaches.

Combat is the best thing around, because they take it back to the nest where all of them vanish. Since they are canibals as Justx correctly said, it's a domino effect.

Here's the deal. From time to time, a mini cricket will get thru our Florida room (living space attached to the house, mostly in the back), and I don't mind. They are harmless. If I step close to them, they jump away. They are just innocent little critters. But a roach has an agenda....a fierce agenda...lol

A roach to me is like a piece of sh** with legs. They scurry around at lightning speeds. They carry germs. They actually smell. They even look disgusting. But they also are cunning, and that's what I hate the most. It's almost as if they have an escape plan they've been rehearsing for weeks...lol

I don't mind spiders, but did get bit on the ankle a few times living in a hermetically sealed deprived trailer..lol But for the most part, I leave them alone.

I'm ebarrased to say this, but try to avoid stepping on the very tiny sugar ants while sitting on the throne in the bathroom...lol The ants instigate, checking out the flip flops I'm wearing, but move on. I tried blowing on them to distract them away from paying attention to me, but that only makes them more curious...lol

Alright, I think I gave way more info than needed...lol

You are kinder than I am, Pac. I use Terro for the tiny ants. I got tired of them getting into my peanut butter. I wrap all my oils in plastic bags and put whatever I can in the refrigerator.

Yes, I also think about the lizzards and the birds eating bugs that have been sprayed, but we also need to live comfortably in our homes.   Sometimes being a human sux.

Can't we all just get along?

Well, Rodney, unfortunately in the food chain there's the diner and then there's the dinner.

Justx...stop....I'm getting hungry...with all this talk of food.

I want to be the diner, not the dinner...no way....that must totally suck...lol

Remember....      "To Serve Man is a Cookbook!"

Justx, roaches succumb rapidly to hot water flowing down drains. My solution for any bug I find close to a sink. Also found common Lysol aerosol spray to be a dandy bug spray ..... used very carefully in ventilated rooms away from pets until it dries or airs out completely. Believe Publix has large and small roach baits which are indeed very effective.

Understand spiders toxin is poisonous to people who are susceptible to it. However wolf spiders are very cute, are outdoor spiders so usually shoo them outside so they can eat bugs. Also leave those black and yellow writing spiders which make nests in bushes alone.

For ants thoroughly mix some sugar about half and half with boric acid (available at hardware stores), put close to their trail ... away from pets. Understand since it's acid it eats their innards killing them. Poor things!

Those hangable plastic strips coated with insecticide (like the old Shell no-pest strips) work great to deter mosquitoes and flies from doors. They're used in barns a lot so may be available at co-ops or tack stores.

I just got 4 bites on my arm while I'm on LP. Don't understand it. Maybe they are noseeum bites since I can't see um until I start to scratch. (I was outside for a minute) I might take a trip to Whole Foods. The Skin-So-Soft isn't working and they have Bite Blocker which has been recommended on several natural sites.   Maybe I just have fleas and should put on a collar. I've never been to a ild Oats or Whole Foods store but there's one 12 miles from here according to their web site.

Pouring hot water down a drain is good for it anyway. I recently read that on a site when my drain was clogged. I've lived here for years, so using drain cleaner once won't hurt anything. I used it all and threw out the bottle. I don't like having that stuff around the house.   I also use bleach once in a while.

justx
You must look like you have measles by now!
LOL

We have elephant bite problems near my house. I've got bitten 12 times in the past month so far. They tried spraying, but the elephants keep coming back.

Justx
Maybe you now if this is true but supposedly if you dont eat any processed food or fast food the mosquitos will leave you alone.

As far as spiders...that brings up a memory.
My friend and I were watching the movie Arachnophobia and we got the bright idea that we were going to come back and sit up in the balcony and throw fake spiders down on the audience strategicly during certain scenes (to start a Rocky Horror like trend). Lucky for us there wasn't a store in town that had any rubber spiders at the time.