Early bugs

With the mild winter we had,,mosquitos are terrible already.

Yep same here. It really sucks. There going to be horrible this year with the mild winter.

Gark said:

So yesterday I was splitting these for the neighbor (linden for their firepit) and was hoping it would cool off near sundown. When the mosquitoes attacked, I gave up. Mosquitoes on March 16th? Sheesh.

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Same here too, mosquitoes and woodticks. The ticks have been all over us and the dogs already in the last several days.

Not what I wanted to hear! I have a bunch of work to do and won't be happy if I can't beat the skeeters! Cheers!

I think Ive had bugs right through the winter except for that one cold snap, bad tick year already, pull a couple off the pets everyday already. Usually this toime of the year would be primo for cutting and splitting.

A fellow near us told me the skeeters were so thick a few nights ago they could not sit on their patio. I've not seen any yet but my wife has seen some and even got bit once. But if the spring turns out to be more of the same there won't be much as there really is not much standing water around here.

At least we can spray ourselves for mosquitos but not much works for noseums and ticks. I guess we just suck it up. The best time to be in the woods around here is fall and winter with no bugs to bite. Be safe.
Ed

Yeppers fellas, it's gonna be super miserable for bugs this spring and summer. Ticks are just plain UNREAL here in central PA already, I've never seen it like this. Mosquitoes too. Heck I was pulling nightcrawlers out of the ground in Dec, Jan, and Feb

People say that a mild Winter means more bugs, but then I've heard that's not true...I don't know. All I know is that the skeeters seem really aggresive when they first come out. I've already found a couple of dog ticks crawling on me. No deer ticks yet that I've seen.
Luckily the bugs aren't too bad here. Skeeter are moderate and you can sit outside at night and just have to swat one once in a while. Not like WI where I grew up; After ten minutes outside you would get dizzy from blood loss. The ticks are bad here for a couple of months but subside when the hot, no-rain weather gets here.

I've seen a few skeeters here too. But its not bad yet. My fear is if its this warm now whats the middle of summer going to be like.

I just cut and split a cord of wood, this is supposed to be a bug free time of the year, not this year, I also found some bugs in my wood as I was moving a a pallet of split wood, hope they freeze before I bring the wood in next year.

Skeeters and ticks aren't unusual anytime it warms up long enough in the Winter here. I just hope we don't have prolonged equine encephalitis and West Nile virus periods due to early population generations, temps and any other cooperative variations of conditions.

I got my first mosquito bite and found the first deer tick crawling on me both before March 15 this year. I don't keep track of dates for that type of thing, but it seems WAAAY early for both here. Many years the ground is still snow covered on March 19.

I'll take mosquitoes any day . . . rather than have to deal with Maine black flies . . . the most miserable bug known to man . . . I cannot tell you how many of those little buggers I have accidentally swallowed over the years.

Wife had the first deer tick on her today, just crawling tg. I just took a shower to check for tics after raking in the garden. Going to be a long summer. Get the antibiotics ready.

I am continually amazed at this weather. This afternoon I was at a friend's place and we were talking outside when suddenly we were surrounded with black flies! Now that should not be unusual except for the fact that around these parts we don't see them until about the last week of April.

Last week, we had swarms of gnats and flies. Since then, it hasn't been as bad. I've wanted to put up a bat box for several years but my wife hates bats. Telling her that they can eat their body weight in bugs each night didn't convince her. We visited a cabin several years ago with friends who had a bat box on a telephone pole. After the sun set, there were hundreds of bats flying around. They didn't bother anyone except for one that got in a bedroom.

My barn is ate up with bats, but they keep the bug population down and don't bother anyone at all.

Ticks are bad here already. Pulled one out of my leg last week, and off the dog nearly everytime I walk him, and he is ALWAYS on a leash!

We're doing the Sawyer thing now, to see if that helps the humans. Hard to help the dog, cause no matter how far off the road you cut the brush, he cannot take a piss unless he feels brush on him it seems!!

Was out splitting the other day and a little before sunset I was attacked by little black bugs. They almost looked like a large flea. They didn't bite, but there was so many It drove me nuts. I put on skeeter dope but that didn't seem to bother them. Had them all over and in my hair, it about drove me nuts.

I have a question . . . are the black flies we get here in Maine . . . nasty, biting, swarming itsy bitsy buggers that get in your nose, mouth, eyes and ears unless you're wearing a bug hat the same black flies as elsewhere? It's truly the only bug I despise.

Also . . . I always use to swear on Ol' Woodsman fly dope. Stuff was nasty smelling -- something akin to turpentine, pine pitch and moose urine . . . but it worked . . . kept everything away -- bugs, vacuum cleaner salesmen, religious zealots and even politicians.

One good thing about this spring so far is that it is dry, so there should be few mosquitoes here. I think most of our local mosquitoes come from publles and vernal pools. Most of the vernal pools are already dried up here. Bad for Wood Frogs, but also bad for Mosquitoes

Noticed some sandflies here already, and the odd mosquito. Haven't been outside much at the Old House, the mosquitos there are pure evil (everyone we have over comments on them-they HURT and there are swarms upon swarms of them). I never knew there were different kinds until we bought the house-they are black with white stripes as opposed to brown.