Help me kill my pet mosquitos, please.

August 24, 2007 11:51 AM

How do I get rid of or repel mosquitos from my apartment?

I have a couple of pet mosquitos. I'm not sure how many, but I always see at least one in my bathroom and I know they are around elsewhere b/c I itch a lot. (sidebar: I get a little freaked out about where the mosquito plans to bite me when I'm in the bathroom. I've been fortunate so far in that mosquitos tend to like my feet - why is that, by the way? Is the blood in my feet more accessible than the blood somewhere else?).

I have no idea where these mosquitos are coming from. I haven't had the windows open in a couple of weeks, and my door opens to a hallway, not the outside. I thought maybe it was the fireplace, but the flu (no idea how to spell that) is closed, and wouldn't that prevent anything from getting in?

I would really like to find a way to either kill these bugs or keep them away without spraying myself with OFF every couple of hours. And ouch, the itching hurts. Any suggestions?

posted by echo0720 to home & garden (9 comments total)

I had the same question last month... God, I hate mosquitoes.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:53 AM on August 24, 2007

Call your apartment manager and insist that your unit be fumigated. In the meantime, smash the little fuckers.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 12:06 PM on August 24, 2007

Wikipedia entry on skeeters has quite a bit of info.

They like feet apparently because they mostly fly close to the ground.

The place to attack the little vampires is outside. Fumigating the apartment is pretty pointless unless you have tepid, standing water inside (like from a planter pot that you water a lot). They're coming in from outside somewhere or got trapped inside somehow. If the latter is the case, just squish'm or be patient, they'll die soon enough. Otherwise look for holes on window screens and ask the apartment manager (or look yourself) to make sure there are no standing pools of water nearby -- that's a skeeter day care center.
posted by elendil71 at 1:09 PM on August 24, 2007

Oh you did, it didn't show up in my search! Thank you.
posted by echo0720 at 1:24 PM on August 24, 2007

Buy some Benadryl extra-strength anti-itch gel. Apply it liberally to your bites as soon as possible; after a minute or two, they will never itch again.

There's also a Benadryl itch relief stick that's cheaper, but you'll need to pop off the fabric tip in order to apply enough product to stop the itching. (I carry one in my purse all summer.)
posted by junkbox at 1:32 PM on August 24, 2007

you probably have some standing water behind your walls. tell your landlord.

alternatively, they could be coming in through the fan vent, if you have one.
posted by thinkingwoman at 2:23 PM on August 24, 2007

This makes me sound like a total hick, but horse liniment (like Absorbine) also works wonders for taking out the sting.

To drive away the little flying teeth, light some citronella candles inside. But elendil71 has it, fumigate outdoors.
posted by LN at 5:12 PM on August 24, 2007

Mosquitoes hate smoke, so while you're trying to sort out the source, light some incense and burn it low, where the buggers are. Also, if you eat some B complex vitamins, they'll probably leave you alone.
posted by found dog one eye at 8:52 PM on August 24, 2007

I used one of at my beach house and it had like 50 in it a few weeks after setting it up. The trick is to use standing water in the trap (along with the packets of powder they provide).

http://www.amazon.com/Mosquito-Trap/dp/B0002J6E7C/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/104-4354364-4405520?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1188111631&sr=8-2
posted by pmaxwell at 12:03 AM on August 26, 2007