Two of my neighbors do it and it seems to work for the most part. Here in MD, especially that our neighborhood is on the water, it is so humid in the summer that the mosquitos can be unbearable. I personally wouldn't want to do it mainly b/c I fear the chemicals but I have four young kids who are always in the yard and outside. I worry about long term possible effects. Assuming that is something you decide you are okay with, then I'd say, yes, it definitely does work. Well, at least the service my neighbors use.

Our county also sends around a truck a couple of times each summer that sprays for mosquitos (you can actually ask that your home/yard not be included). I always keep my kids inside and close my windows when I hear it coming around. I've never opted out but I might as well b/c it really doesn't help at all - I guess the sprayer isn't localized enough to make it matter. Our problem here is that we have a lot of standing water b/c we are a waterfront community so the mosquitos have plenty of places to breed unfortunately.

How large of a lot do you have? I am having trouble believing it would be of much help to you unless all your neighbors were doing it also. Our community started spraying four years ago and the difference is HEAVEN. We could not be outside from June-hard frost before they sprayed. We spent four times the cost on repellants than we do now and that we had to spray on us. This is much safer and more effective all the way around.

Mosquitoes breed in standing water, so although spraying may have some effect, it doesn't solve the problem and I personally don't want to add more chemicals to my environment (and I grew up in the 50s where our summers at the Jersey shore were marked by clouds of DDT wafting through the evening air). I am not sure that all the spraying is safer in the long run and I suspect the reason we don't have as many fireflies now is due to much of the spraying that is done these days. We have found that using standing fans when we are on the deck or patio works very well in keeping bugs away. I also use lemon juice on my skin/hair/clothes when I work outside in the garden. Works great. Really.

Also, my SIL has one of those mosquito magnet things and swears by it. Just be sure to place it away from where you will be.

Arcy, I have read up on the chemical used and I also feel it's safer than repellants (which I can't stand). I have tried a few natural things and just have not been satisfied with the results. I'm not willing to give up my time outdoors. Mosquitoes can carry disease and I have more than a normal reaction to them, almost an allergic response. We have a bit over an acre and apparently this ingredient DOES work. I do not want pesticides inside the home, if at all possible, but we are leaning towards trying this. The company we use has one of the few actual entomologists (he owns the company), and he graduated from the University where I work. We researched pest control services before having termite service, and I have confidence in him. If we have the spraying done, we will schedule it for the morning of a day we both work so that the pup would normally be inside much of the day. You need to keep pets away until is is completely dry. Service is from May - October.

Cyn - I saw our first fireflies just last week. They make me smile.

tina

Broadcast sprays with residual action (the only way they'd have any effect other than shortly after the actual spraying) are not benign. I know of nothing that targets only mosquitos so anything you use will also kill other, unintended, insects. (And potentially harm the birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and mammals that eat the poisoned, off-target insects.)

Just because the company is owned by an entomologist doesn't necessarily mean he has much interest in live bugs, or a healthy environment. Indeed, one of the most lucrative career paths for entomologists is working for chemical companies devising new insecticides.

I live (and work outdoors) in a buggy, ticky, rural area and there is no way I'd ever consider broad spectrum, residual sprays for my own comfort. Biting bugs can be miserable - you don't want to experience the sheer misery of black fly season on my northern NY farm - but there are ways to make them less annoying w/o adding to the chemical load in our world.

Disrupting the environment by spraying makes it difficult for natural balance to exert itself and help mitigate the problem. More effective solutions such as neighborhood efforts to get rid of standing water everywhere make a bigger difference in the long run. I have lived in parts of the world where mosquitos carry deadly diseases and a huge difference happens when people change their behavior and discourage the conditions that promote mosquitos, even w/o sprays. Landscaping and environmental changes, protective clothing, head nets, screens, dumping water accumluations, fans, even the odious chemical-attractant mosquito killers (not ordinary bug zappers, which really don't work and kill many beneficial insects) are much better than insecticides which don't really work unless sprayed frequently at high levels. And at low levels are mostly ineffective but still extract a serious environmental cost on non-target organisms.

Please consider some other remedies before the dubious, and enviromentally costly, quick fix of spraying.

Your worries about your dog's safety are laudable, but what about the other animals that live on or near your property whose much-smaller body masses makes them even more vulnerable to the sprays. You not proposing to keep all the birds, squirrels, bunnies, turtles, snakes, fish, etc., safely inside your house on spray-days, are you?

L.

Thanks for your input Lirio. We don't have standing water, etc. on our property. We're in a fairly rural area, so it's not like we can ask "neighbors" to make changes.

tina

Oops - hit return too quickly. You've given me something to think of though - as we do have rabbits, squirrels, etc.

I agree with Liro too, Tina. Amphibious creatures are particularly susceptible to insecticides; the frogs, toads, lizards, skinks and they are a huge insect control part of the yard.
While I hate the mosquitoes as much as you, I don't like upsetting the natural balance- something always goes out of whack when that happens. Although I'm not nutty, we have a bird-flycatcher- that has been trying to build a muddy nest on our front porch all spring, twice in the garage, and I wouldn't mind upsetting her balance!

Thanks Bumble. I do appreciate your reply, really though I was looking for those who have used the service. Thanks!

I haven't used a service, but the city periodically sprays. We have an abundance of anoles, geckos, frogs, etc.

Have you tried a ThemaCell? Dh uses one when he's grilling.

Here is a link that might be useful: ThermaCELL

More and more evidence is coming in to show that the honeybee hive collapses are due to pesticides. I don't know if chemicals used residentially are part of this. I personally would use one of those small mosquito traps if I needed something like this. I think they emit CO2 and not poison. On a side note, when we had a mold problem in our basement due to an exploded water heater, the remediation company gave me one solution: chemicals. I got the data safety sheets for the products they were going to use. One of them contained a chemical my son is allergic to. After pushing them on this they said that plain vinegar used at 100% strength was also a fungicide. I was amazed how, although I'd given them clear direction to use something with a low environmental impact, they didn't recommend the vinegar FIRST. I thought perhaps it was because vinegar was less effective but they said no, it was just AS effective. In the end, the only reason I can think of for their slow response was because they simply made less profit selling the service using a safe and non-toxic product. Some of the fragrances they used by the way were full of chemicals. The company president said "our clients seem to like it." I was like "I'll take my mold clean up without the endocrine disruptors and pthalates, thanks." And yes, vinegar worked fine. Perfect. And safer to their employees too! So, it's definitely worth pushing these companies. They often want to do the easiest and most costly thing for their own benefit, in my opinion.

Thanks for mentioning the honeybees Judith. I've talked to sever keepers who've said they're experiencing huge losses. People don't realize that without pollinators produce can't occur!

We dont have bad mosquito problems where we are, but we DO get them. Spraying is not done, but they have sprayed for certain other things like fruit flies. Regardless, the environmental
Impact isn't just localized to humans & pets. Try creating a natural
habitat, such as encouraging birds & bats to your property. Bats will consume pounds if Mosquitos. Drain standing water and stock ponds with mosquito fish & frogs.

As to the customers who allegedly prefer the chemicals for mold removal, there has been research done that shows people believe a home is cleaner if it smells of a chemical cleanser than if by vinegar. I wince heard that vacuum cleaners could be made silent but consumers don't believe they're as effective unless the sound of that loud motor is running.

People tend to believe someone with a clipboard over old fashioned, or natural methods. Probably all baby boomers were raised that way.

I live on a subtropical island and the insects are FIERCE. We are constantly fighting off biting mosquitoes, gnats and flies. Evening yard work and children's sporting events can be torture. And then there are the lovely cockroaches.

I personally have not used a mosquito control service but I know it is becoming very popular here. A local private school uses a service and the difference on the soccer field is remarkable. I would ask what chemical they use, research it a bit and then decide.