Rural Living Indeed...

[parallel]

...how do y'all deal with all of the darned BUGS!. I just came from the new house and the street light was all but blacked out by all of the bugs flying around. I wouldn't mind except that the streetlight is right next to my driveway and the bugs swarm you while you're getting into/out of the car. Any tips?

 

[schmism]

bats and barn swallows

 

[Steve C]

...how do y'all deal with all of the darned BUGS!. I just came from the new house and the street light was all but blacked out by all of the bugs flying around. I wouldn't mind except that the streetlight is right next to my driveway and the bugs swarm you while you're getting into/out of the car. Any tips?

We live in a rural area that is about 50% Amish farms. It is great the closest yard light is a mile away, when the sun goes down it gets dark just like it is supposed to. The last two places I had both had yard lights. I only turn them on when I am working near them after dark. I use motion sensor lights for security, no sense lighting up a yard with nobody with it.

Not only that, the dobermans and rotwielers are harder to see when it is pitch black outside

You just need to move to a real poor rural area, we can't afford to waste money on street lights

 

[EddieWalker]

I spray in the spring to kill as many as I can. There are house washes that you put on a hose and spray your home with. I've found them to be very effective and try to do it a few times a year, but usually that first one does it. Then I spot spray when I see a nest or some sort of activity. Ants, wasps, bees, spiders and whatever else there is.

For the lights, I have mine up pretty high in the air, so the give off more light and the bugs are far away. I do enjoy watching the little brown bats flying around, catching their dinner!!!

And whatever else there is, I just pretty much ignore.

Eddie

 

[smfcpacfp]

It obviously varies from place to place and year to year, but there have been few bugs this year where I live. We mostly have black flies as pests. My strategy when they are out, I am inside.

 

[turnkey4099]

I hadn't paid any attention until a few days ago. Lots fewer bugs around this summer. Sunday I hauled a load of firewood to a neighbor, while loading it I found 3 bats in the pile. I will be building some bat boxes!

Harry K

 

[dave1949]

Aww Eddie - do you really have to spray poison around? I guess in termite areas or where carpenter ants are bad, it is a neccessity. Of course you folks in the southwest have the killer bees and scorpions too. And then the fire ants in the south. Well, on second thought, better them than you

We have black flies - usually start biting around Mother's Day, when they are about done, the mosquitos take over. We use head nets once in a while, lots of DEET repellent.

It is good to encourage bats, swallows, dragon flies, etc., but they never get them all it seems. They can reduce the populations to something more bearable.

Dave.

 

[jayste]

Like Steve said, we also don't have any outside lights unless we turn them on. No security light either. Our dogs also sneak up on you in the dark. Now when it comes to bugs and critters we're not short on them. Up here in the black jacks and sand rocks we've got our share of ticks. But then again, they don't require any light either!
The bats come out at dusk and do their thing as well.

Jay

 

[DennisArrow]

Though the yellow jackets are pretty heavy this year, it seems that the flying moths, etc, are not heavy this year. My bug zapper which needs blowing off once a week in the past years has only been cleaned out once this year. Yes, I hear it doing it's thing from time to time; but seems to be smaller bugs that fall right out and dont clog up the mesh. Now, if I could just do something about the ticks out in the forest that get on my herding dog, Border Collie, life would be complete..........Yes, I spray him, nuke him, and get them one way or another, but they just seem plentiful this year..........God bless........Dennis

 

[MossRoad]

...how do y'all deal with all of the darned BUGS!. I just came from the new house and the street light was all but blacked out by all of the bugs flying around. I wouldn't mind except that the streetlight is right next to my driveway and the bugs swarm you while you're getting into/out of the car. Any tips?

Shoot the street light out!

 

[CurlyDave]

I think a lot of this has to do with location.

The gulf coast is about the worst for bugs of anywhere in the US. I can remember some places the LA coast near the TX border where I was convinced the weather consisted of insects.

 

[tallyho8]

MossRoad's suggestion was the best but if you don't want to shoot the streetlight out the next best alternative is to get a good bug zapper or two.

You must place it within sight of the streetlight but in a place where the bugs it attracts will not disturb you as badly.

Since you and I live not too many miles away, gnats are probably your biggest problem as they are mine. The zappers are very good at eliminating gnats. They are not as good in getting rid of flies and mosquitoes. Be prepared to clean your bug zapper with a leaf blower every morning. After a couple of weeks you will notice a few less bugs in the area. They will all be gone in 3 months. (not because your zapper kills them, but because they disappear in winter)

 

[Western]

Bait!!!!!!!!!!! someone say "go fish"!!

You probably have black crickets right now, they are on their fall pattern agian.

 

[Lacal]

Though the yellow jackets are pretty heavy this year, it seems that the flying moths, etc, are not heavy this year. My bug zapper which needs blowing off once a week in the past years has only been cleaned out once this year. Yes, I hear it doing it's thing from time to time; but seems to be smaller bugs that fall right out and dont clog up the mesh. Now, if I could just do something about the ticks out in the forest that get on my herding dog, Border Collie, life would be complete..........Yes, I spray him, nuke him, and get them one way or another, but they just seem plentiful this year..........God bless........Dennis

Dennis - learned this from a dog breeder years ago. I give my dogs 1 Tbl. brewer's yeast which is a powder B vitimin. Never get fleas and have not had ticks for many years on any of my dogs. The breeder told me that the brewers yeast puts an invisible oil on the skin.

Oh yeah, I take it myself and had have ticks get on me, but none have stayed on.

It takes awhile for the brewers yeast to get into the system and you have to stick with it. It is an all natural product and I just put it in their food.

 

[parallel]

Thanks for the advise. I think I'm going to go the bat house(s) route and see what happens.

By the way. For the record, I wasn't saying that where I live is rural living (although there is nothing but woods, cane fields and lake for miles and miles on the other side of my neighbor on the right and nothing but woods and cane field for a couple of miles behind me). I was asking those who are living in rural areas how to handle all of the bugs. I grew up in the Allegheny mountains of Pennsylvania, so I know rural living. But I don't recall having that many bugs around (and both my dad and my grand parents had one of those big sodium vapor lamps on their garages. I guess the biggest difference is the proximity of the light to the house (much farther away)

 

[woodchuckie]

The bugs around the light around here are mostly moths. When I have a cat, it loves to set on the cars and swat at them. I have to clean the dead ones out of the fixture as it fills up with them and will block some light.


Our bugs come in waves starting with the little back bumble bee that drill the holes and don't sting.

Then comes the yellow horsefly like fly. It's smaller and don't bite but they come like clockwork during the first week of June.

The amount of wasp varies year to year and haven't been bad this year.

Of course the mosquitoes are around year round when it's warm enough but the elevation of my house is high enough that they don't get in the yard much but around the edge in the evening they're out and about because of the very wet spring and summer we've had. We spray the kids with off if they complain.

We just had a spell of love bugs that covered the lawn mower while cutting the grass last week. They seem to be mostly gone by now.

The gnats are the most aggravating to me when we have them but a light breeze takes care of them and the mosquitoes to.

Those orange ladybug looking bug comes out some time either spring or fall and they will land on everything. They love to get in your mouth.

There is some tiny black thing that really bites my legs in the evening time before dark.

We have lots of chimney swifts and after they go to nest the bats are out.

 

[blueriver]

I agree with the lights ... shoot em out, shut em off ... imagine how much would be saved in electrical cost with out those stupid all night lights.