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Mosquito Repellents: Separating Fact From Fiction
WFAA ^ | June 20, 2012 | SHELLY SLATER

Posted on 06/20/2012 5:34:55 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Two drops of water is all it takes to breed mosquitoes in your back yard. So what are you doing to prevent West Nile virus?

Tony Jenkins, the assistant director of environmental health for the Dallas County Health and Human Services Department, said there are options besides DEET-based insecticides, starting with garlic.

“Garlic is an insect repellent... it really is,” he said. You can eat it and you can plant it — either way, mosquitoes don't like it.

“Wherever that area is, and wherever the aromatics tend to penetrate, that would help to do some mosquito reduction around your house,” Jenkins said. Planting mint in your garden works, too. But you'd have to have a lot of it. Basil, despite public opinion, doesn't work. “Just the mint — I've heard of the mint," Jenkins said. "I've actually seen the mint work, as far as keeping the insects away.”

Another flop? Some people believe turning on a fan will rid an area of mosquitoes.

“Well, I would say that that one came from somewhere else,” Jenkins said with a laugh.

He said, however, that lemon eucalyptus oil can be a good repellent.

Standing water is the obvious culprit for mosquito breeding, but most people don't look up. Gutters are also a common breeding ground.

As for mosquito misters, the health department doesn't suggest them. Over time, the insects build up resistance to the pesticide and pass that on to their babies. Eventually, it won't work at all.

“I would go with the true and known remedies for these things,” Jenkins said.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: garlic; mosquito; westnile
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To: Joe 6-pack

I believe I am O pos myself, at least o at any rate. I didn’t know that blood type made a difference.

Bugs will go for me even after dowsing myself in DEET. DEET only slows them down.


21 posted on 06/20/2012 7:14:33 PM PDT by wally_bert (It's sheer elegance in its simplicity! - The Middleman)
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To: Joe 6-pack
I'm type "B" and an absolute mosquito magnet.

People love standing or sitting beside me as they know which of us the mosquitoes will choose to snack on!

As I've developed a terrible physical reaction to most repellents as they are quickly absorbed from my skin to my body so I've looked for and found a number of "slow absorption" repellent creams.

I can attest to the fact that garlic DOES work. I take a couple of garlic capsules, go outside and work in my flower garden and for at least an hour or more, those deadly little vampires steer clear of me - unfortunately, I frequently get heartburn from the capsules.

22 posted on 06/20/2012 7:18:11 PM PDT by zerosix (native sunflower)
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To: nickcarraway

I grew up in MN (land of billions of mosquitoes )and now live in Dallas.....so many complain about the pesky mosquito around here and I can honestly say they rarely bother me, must be left over Minnesota mosquito mystic that overwhelms the Texan mosquito y’all....

we have this metal thing that water runs into and supposed to drain but there is always standing water in it so I throw a chlorine tab into that and no more mosquitoes.....


23 posted on 06/20/2012 7:41:05 PM PDT by Kimmers (Fair isn't everybody getting the same thing, fair is getting what you need to be successful)
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To: wally_bert

http://zidbits.com/2011/01/do-mosqitoes-prefer-a-certain-blood-type/


24 posted on 06/20/2012 7:51:19 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: Krankor

I use plenty of snake bite medicine, and so far I haven’t been bitten once... that I know of.


25 posted on 06/20/2012 7:53:35 PM PDT by irishtenor (Everything in moderation, however, too much whiskey is just enough... Mark Twain)
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To: nickcarraway

Lemon juice rubbed on me I tried the other day, and it seemed to work.


26 posted on 06/20/2012 8:14:24 PM PDT by Bellflower (The LORD is Holy, separated from all sin, perfect, righteous, high and lifted up.)
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To: Bellflower

Doe anyone out there have any experience with the Dynatrap that advertisers keep enticing me to buy?An older machine was a total bust!


27 posted on 06/20/2012 8:39:35 PM PDT by madrastex
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To: Joe 6-pack

Cutter has one out that uses Chrysanthemum oil and we have been using it for a couple of weeks now. We are out in the woods all the time. It works great.


28 posted on 06/20/2012 8:41:28 PM PDT by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped.)
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To: Georgia Girl 2

Does it work against ticks, do you know?


29 posted on 06/20/2012 10:04:35 PM PDT by Bellflower (The LORD is Holy, separated from all sin, perfect, righteous, high and lifted up.)
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To: nickcarraway

I have a small plastic bottle, about a quarter of it left.

Mil Sup. Probably Viet Nam stuff.

100% pure DEET.

Thing about DEET is the skeeters hate it so bad, you don’t even have to put it directly on your skin. Put a drop or two on your clothes. Works almost as good.


30 posted on 06/20/2012 10:16:31 PM PDT by djf ("There are more old drunkards than old doctors." - Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Joe 6-pack

But, will it work on ticks, chiggers and fleas?


31 posted on 06/20/2012 10:39:19 PM PDT by snuffy smiff (Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.)
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To: snuffy smiff

Let’s watch the language. It’s Chigro-Americans.


32 posted on 06/21/2012 3:56:17 AM PDT by Jimmy4Toes
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To: snuffy smiff
"But, will it work on ticks, chiggers and fleas?"

Yes and No :-) Keep in mind this is an area fogger, so it's designed primarily for flying insects. You can also buy topical lemon euc. repellants for people and pets, which I've experimented with and they seem to work well enough, but I tend toward Frontline Plus for my dog due to its water repellancy.

33 posted on 06/21/2012 5:43:40 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: All

Dab some tea tree oil here and there when working in the garden. It smells like terpentine and no bug will approach without a gas mask. lol!


34 posted on 06/21/2012 7:34:15 PM PDT by sheikdetailfeather (Yuri Bezmenov (KGB Defector) - "Kick The Communists Out of Your Govt. & Don't Accept Their Goodies.")
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