Mosquito service cancelled due to leaf blower ban

We used a mosquito service from nearby last year and saw a huge drop in mosquito activity from previous years. Especially during a very difficult year, it really made the difference between being able to enjoy the outdoors and being covered in dozens of bites after stepping outside for 30 seconds. The company has been alerted by the township that they can no longer use their gas-powered blowers without risk of being fined, and thus have cancelled our service. 

Does anyone have any recommendations for services that don't use gas-powered blowers? I've used the Mosquito Barrier product with one of those chemical sprayers you hook up to a hose with mixed success - it didn't seem to make much of a difference at all during the peak mosquito season.  I also have a Thermacell that seems to do a decent job within a small radius, but only if there's no wind.

I find it ironic that the huge gas-powered riding lawnmowers used at the condos behind my house - lawnmowers that produce at least as many decibels for far longer stretches of time than the leaf blowers themselves - can make as much noise as they please while the guy who spends less than 10 minutes at a time killing the mosquitos around my property will have to take his business elsewhere. 

I'm surprised the service didn't just buy an electric leaf blower or two to get around the ban.

My neighbor recommended:

http://www.ecdpw.org/mosquito_control.php

Where did your service determine the mosquitoes which previously plagued your property had been breeding?

tweezer said:

We used a mosquito service from nearby last year and saw a huge drop in mosquito activity from previous years. Especially during a very difficult year, it really made the difference between being able to enjoy the outdoors and being covered in dozens of bites after stepping outside for 30 seconds. The company has been alerted by the township that they can no longer use their gas-powered blowers without risk of being fined, and thus have cancelled our service. 

Does anyone have any recommendations for services that don't use gas-powered blowers? I've used the Mosquito Barrier product with one of those chemical sprayers you hook up to a hose with mixed success - it didn't seem to make much of a difference at all during the peak mosquito season.  I also have a Thermacell that seems to do a decent job within a small radius, but only if there's no wind.

I find it ironic that the huge gas-powered riding lawnmowers used at the condos behind my house - lawnmowers that produce at least as many decibels for far longer stretches of time than the leaf blowers themselves - can make as much noise as they please while the guy who spends less than 10 minutes at a time killing the mosquitos around my property will have to take his business elsewhere. 

 Which service?  

I tried Mosquito Barrier.  I thought it worked ok - but like you said not so much later on.  I also think my sprayer may have gotten clogged and will strain the solution if I do it again.

I've also tried one of the pricier mosquito traps with a CO2 tank.  But wasn't really happy with the results either.

drummerboy said:

I'm surprised the service didn't just buy an electric leaf blower or two to get around the ban.

I thought the same thing, and you're right that they should probably figure out a way to adapt to changing rules if they want to stay in business. They said that electric blowers don't exist, which obviously isn't true, but for the type of hook up they have to the tank of liquid, I suppose it could be true? I've never taken a close look at the equipment, but it's not exactly a normal leaf blower. Seems like an opportunity for someone to develop the electric hookup if that's the case. They did mention that they're looking into developing other options, but I'm not holding my breath for that this season.

dickf3 said:

My neighbor recommended:

http://www.ecdpw.org/mosquito_control.php

Where did your service determine the mosquitoes which previously plagued your property had been breeding?

I am likely going to go this route in getting the county involved, but I worry about killing other pollinators, and one thing I liked best about our service last summer is that they really attacked the problem with surgical precision. Whatever organic/chemical mixture they used didn't seem to disrupt the lightning bugs or the routine of carpenter bees grazing the lawn and returning to the holes they drilled out into my deck rails. 

Under the deck was one area that needed attention, but perhaps the biggest source of breeding was on a bordering property that has been in and out of foreclosure 4 out of the past 6 years.  Nice lady rents there now, but the owners don't always take care of the lawn.  Inevitably leaves and debris bunch up along the fence, so the blowers were good at blasting the stuff away. 

jamie said:

tweezer said:

We used a mosquito service from nearby last year and saw a huge drop in mosquito activity from previous years. Especially during a very difficult year, it really made the difference between being able to enjoy the outdoors and being covered in dozens of bites after stepping outside for 30 seconds. The company has been alerted by the township that they can no longer use their gas-powered blowers without risk of being fined, and thus have cancelled our service. 

Does anyone have any recommendations for services that don't use gas-powered blowers? I've used the Mosquito Barrier product with one of those chemical sprayers you hook up to a hose with mixed success - it didn't seem to make much of a difference at all during the peak mosquito season.  I also have a Thermacell that seems to do a decent job within a small radius, but only if there's no wind.

I find it ironic that the huge gas-powered riding lawnmowers used at the condos behind my house - lawnmowers that produce at least as many decibels for far longer stretches of time than the leaf blowers themselves - can make as much noise as they please while the guy who spends less than 10 minutes at a time killing the mosquitos around my property will have to take his business elsewhere. 

 Which service?  

I tried Mosquito Barrier.  I thought it worked ok - but like you said not so much later on.  I also think my sprayer may have gotten clogged and will strain the solution if I do it again.

I've also tried one of the pricier mosquito traps with a CO2 tank.  But wasn't really happy with the results either.

Mosquito Guard is the service we were using.  I may try a different sprayer with the Mosquito Barrier this year. But man, the odor. I didn't think I'd mind the smell of garlic, but you can smell the stuff a block away immediately after spraying - no joke.  To anyone interested in trying it out: be sure you store it away properly. I had a completely sealed bottle left out on the deck and I'm guessing a squirrel must have gotten into it. Literally chewed through the plastic and knocked the bottle over.  

drummerboy said:

I'm surprised the service didn't just buy an electric leaf blower or two to get around the ban.

 I'm sure they just couldn't be bothered.

The mosquito companies kill a lot more than mosquitos when they blow pesticide on your property. While I understand trying to get rid of mosquitos, consider the collateral damage when looking for solutions.

Taylor said:

drummerboy said:

I'm surprised the service didn't just buy an electric leaf blower or two to get around the ban.

 I'm sure they just couldn't be bothered.

 I guess, but they're writing off a whole town. Seems foolish unless they didn't have much business in MA in the first place.

I always assume we find out problems over time. Yes, I'm an overly cautious pessimist. Whenever we try to control one species it effects another. As someone who plants for birds and butterflies, I found several articles and this is just one of them.

https://www.bredapest.com/news/4-important-animals-mosquito-blowers-are

yahooyahoo said:

The mosquito companies kill a lot more than mosquitos when they blow pesticide on your property. While I understand trying to get rid of mosquitos, consider the collateral damage when looking for solutions.

Yeah, as mentioned above, considering the collateral damage was a top priority (and continues to be) when we settled on Mosquito Guard, but I'm skeptical of any and all services that claim to be safe to other insects/pollinators. That being said, I did not notice any reduction of other insects in the yard after they began treatments. In fact, we saw multiple praying mantises hanging out over the summer, which I haven't seen in years, and my understanding is they'd not be sticking around much if there were no insects to eat.

Meanwhile, from the township website:

"Maplewood Township's prohibition on commercial use of gas-powered leaf
blowers takes effect May 15th and runs through September 30th. If you
see a commercial entity violating this law, please call the non-emergency
police number 973-762-3400, Code Enforcement at 973-762-8120, or DPW at
973-762-1175."