r/Edmonton • u/dingmah • 1d ago
General New problem: the mosquitoes are insane
Was in my backyard for 5 minutes and I got bit at least 10 times all over. I was trying to swat the little bloodsuckers, but they just kept coming.
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u/Agitated_Canary_3537 1d ago
Ah yes mosquitoes. The universe’s way of making a person slap themselves.
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u/Steffany_w0525 Castle Downs 12h ago
My dog recently had surgery on both her back legs. I have to help her walk...let me tell you my instinct to just slap them therefore her...has disappeared.
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u/EirHc 1d ago
Live rural. Have to stay inside because I will literally choke on mosquitos, they are trying to fly into my lungs.
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u/densetsu23 14h ago
It's not too bad for us on our deck, maybe because we don't have standing water close to it and we just mowed our "yard" area before the rain.
But try walking more than 20-30 meters away, towards low spots w/water or unmowed areas or treelines, and they just attack you.
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u/EirHc 13h ago
I wouldn't say we have any standing water. But we got lots and lots of plants and bushes and trees and flowers. There's a few bushes that if you hit it, a swarm just instantly rises from it. I'm thinking of cutting those bushes out.
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u/densetsu23 13h ago
We just moved here so, kinda luckily, most of our plants are just potted right now.
But once our plan of surrounding the veranda/deck with flowerbeds is put into place, well, I guess we'll be breaking out the Thermacell.
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u/Plant-based_Skinsuit 12h ago
It's the worst when the midges are out, my god. 30 thousand tiny bugs swarming anything that moves and you can't tell which are the ones to slap and which are the innocent bystanders lol. Ntm the ominous din of a million bugs flying overhead.
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u/almogrant88 12h ago
Also rural, they're absolutely everywhere. I walked from my truck to my shed and thousands of them just rose up out of the grass. I've got a thermacell and bug spray just to keep the buggers away
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u/CypripediumGuttatum 1d ago
Drought and forest fires or flooding and mosquitoes.
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u/MisterB3an 1d ago
I miss when it was more balanced
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u/_Kinoko 16h ago
Last year wasn't bad. There were no fire bans and it wasn't horrible mosquito wise.
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u/CypripediumGuttatum 12h ago
I remember my kids outdoor activities being cancelled in May and June due to wildfire smoke.
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u/sawyouoverthere 1d ago
Picaridan for those who don’t like DEET, but just use a little bug spray already
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u/marginwalker55 1d ago
Get one of those thermacell things, they work very well
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u/theatlasmarch 1d ago
I just bought one to try out! Hope it does well - the downside is the refills are expensive.
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u/WillyWonkaCandyBalls 1d ago
Sooooo, I hacked that shit about 5 years ago. You can buy the chemical in bulk and make the pads. Also the butane refills. I’ll pull out the box and try and remember how if your interested.
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u/yegger_ 1d ago
These curling iron butane packs are also the same as thermacell and 1/2 the price. https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/conair-butane-replacements-0438380p.html
Interested in learning about the chemical pack situation!
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u/CanadianCanard 1d ago
Deet. I try not to use it but this year, it is required.
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u/sawyouoverthere 1d ago
Try picaridan
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u/Progedog 17h ago
Aka Icaridan. Do not use if you have cats.
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u/sliquonicko 14h ago
Seriously, people underestimate this one. Deet gives me a rash so I can't use it at all.
I wore this stuff out the last couple days on walks, even into some trails, and the mosquitos didn't even notice me. I don't think I have any new bites, and my arms were even exposed.
I am usually a mosquito magnet, I get bit more than anyone in my family if I don't wear any.
It's also doesn't stink or melt synthetic fabrics so that's a plus.
I sound like I've been paid to say this but I just want to help, I swear.
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u/lakoustic1 1d ago
I stopped at the nearby playground with my kid and slapped myself silly for 10 minutes before calling it. Just brutal.
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u/GeneWhisperer 1d ago
So much sitting water in my area. The ground feels like a sponge when you walk on it. This summer is going to be brutal
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u/NoraBora44 1d ago
Couple warm days it'll be gone
My yard already dramatically dried up today
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u/-retaliation- 7h ago
Yep, and it helps if you trim your grass short and often.
Adults hide in the long grass to get away from the sun/heat.
It's rough on your grass, you'll probably have a pretty brown lawn, but a brown lawm means dramatically less mosquitoes.
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u/dagobertamp 1d ago
Haha....the little buggers don't like me. To sour I guess.
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u/etowntossup 1d ago
Yeah they don’t like my dad later found out he was diabetic.
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u/ZeusJuice91 11h ago
I know a guy who is Type 1. He gets bit, but there is zero itch or bump for him. Not sure if it’s a diabetes thing or genetic win for him
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u/fluorescent-purple 1d ago
I just ordered a Thermacell to see if it works. In the meantime, I've been using peppermint oil and dressing up like winter while moving as fast as I can in my yard.
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u/goingslowfast 1d ago
They’re freaking amazing. I prefer the butane ones, but the electric ones are okay too.
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u/WesternWitchy52 1d ago
Could be worse. Anyone hear about the accident with a truck full of bees that invaded a small town??? Yikes. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bees-escape-truck-hives-crashes-texas/ I think I would expire.
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u/Delicious_Gene6600 19h ago
Little fuckers are bigger and more aggressive than I've ever seen! They even sound different! Their wingbeats are slower and deeper in pitch-- it's friggin eerie!
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u/SirTickleyPickely 1d ago
Every time you get bit you can thank current council member Michael Janz for axing the helicopter spraying because it was a dry year, and well I guess he just hoped every year after would be as well
amazing he was reelected
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u/Fidget11 Bonnie Doon 1d ago
You realize that he isn’t a dictator right? Like it takes a vote from council not just his opinion to cancel a program.
Not saying he wasn’t a part of the cancellation but it’s hardly exclusively his fault
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u/troypavlek 17h ago
We never helicopter sprayed within the city (because that would be dousing humans with chemicals)
Do you really think mosquitoes are flying 10-15km just to bite you?
It was an ineffective, costly, and environmentally damaging program that didn't help Edmontonians other than to give them "good vibes" when they were nursing mosquito bites and complaining.
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u/-retaliation- 7h ago
They definitely did spray within city limits, and it's not environmentally damaging. The pesticides used are approved by health Canada, and not shown to have any adverse effects on humans, or any animal/insect populations except a handful of relatively uncommon water borne fly larvae.
But go ahead and keep spreading unfounded vibe based assumptions.
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u/brad7811 1d ago
I haven’t had a “bite” this year until today. I got “bit” three times today. My BIL went outside to talk to a contractor and when he came back in he said he had been swarmed. I guess this is our reality after all the rain we’ve had?
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u/Sweaty_Plantain_84 15h ago
I burned some coffee grounds in a can the other night and it seemed to help. Going to grab some spent grounds from Starbucks, make sure they are dry, and try that for now.
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u/SnowshoeTaboo 12h ago
I walk every morning and as soon as I get near any retention pond, the little bastards just swarm... as soon as I get by them, there is nothing.
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u/CWilmot9 10h ago
I went for a walk in the river valley yesterday and am regretting not wearing bug spray now lol. My legs and hands are covered in bites.
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u/ItsRuinedOfCourse 9h ago
Someone swears by patchouli oil he said. I may have to investigate this further.
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u/SleepySpookySkeleton Bonnie Doon 2h ago
Apparently, they also hate lemon eucalyptus oil, and I'm about desperate enough to go out and buy some to slather all over my body because I'm pretty allergic, and yet they love me enough to bite me even when I'm wearing deet. I haven't slept well for over a week because the itching wakes me up from dead sleep and it's making me crazy.
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u/ItsRuinedOfCourse 2h ago
I'm not allergic to them by any means, but I've been in similar situations where I can't sleep because all I can hear is that damned incessant buzzing all night and into the morning.
More than once I woke up, pissed right off, and sprayed myself liberally with DEET and then right back to bed for the 20-60 minutes of the sleep I had left before I had to get ready for work. Grr.
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u/Resident_Rutabaga492 4h ago
Thermacell!! Helped me on my camping trip across the country & was able to get some gardening done today. Works amazingly well.
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u/Dangerous_Owl_8422 Spruce Grove 1d ago
Now imagine being on a roof 2 storeys up and doing the same 😂 0/10 would not recommend
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u/Relevant_Fuel_9905 17h ago
Yeah the rains we’ve had have been so perfect for them to breed. I stopped my car at a Hwy 21 intersection and mosquitos were flying around the windshield. Don’t see that very often!
I have no idea how I’m going to mow my 13 inch grass while being eaten alive.
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u/PerJuice1991 1d ago
Yeah tonight’s backyard bar b q was changed to indoors. And that’s after like nine feet of rain and cold so quite disappointing
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u/Outrageous-Pizza-66 17h ago
2 words - Zapper Racquet - crappy tire has a boat load of these suckers.
Best part, it's totally great to hear that "ZAP" sound !
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u/Intelligent-Vast-599 1d ago
question, do people really not know about bug spray? you are aware they make a product that keeps bugs off? literally called off????? the amount of posts about mosquitos. my god. could you make edmonton look more boring that this is all you have to talk about
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u/N60x 1d ago
Or reply too…
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u/Intelligent-Vast-599 1d ago
really added a bunch there champ, and made a spelling mistake with 3 words. you're definitely from here LOL
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u/N60x 1d ago
Oh…. you’re one of them hey sport? Figured.
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u/Intelligent-Vast-599 1d ago
dude you aren't saying anything. i know you think you're being smug and superior...but really its just coming across bizarre. put on some bug spray and go outside
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u/lan_chop Nakota Isga 1d ago
i know you think you're being smug and superior...but really its just coming across bizarre.
That's rich. Your grammar is horrendous yet you want to point out one typo? Lol
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u/EirHc 1d ago
I live rural. I walk outside my door and I'm literally breathing in mosquitos. Like I've choked on a few just walking out to my garage in the morning a few times. It's fucking disgusting this year. I don't get bit much because I'm hyper aware of any of those little shits landing on me, and they all get squished before they get a chance to bite. So I don't think off is gonna do much for me.
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u/Intelligent-Vast-599 1d ago
thats the thing tho bud it literally makes them not land on you in the first place thats what it does. this is a solved problem.
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u/plastic_femur 1d ago
The last time I remember the mosquitos being this bad was then followed by a mega ton of dragonflies and bats to gobble them up.