#(please do not take this to mean I'm gonna kill mosquito hawks outside now they're fine as long as they're outside they're fine)

[solarpunkani]

Man, I'm reading through these links, and there's so many things that feel obvious that I've forgotten and also things that I've completely never considered. (I think the fact that I thought the yard picture was a snapshot of my backyard is not helping my case here lol).

I'm in Florida, so idk if the mosquito species are the same as they are in Cali, but to my understanding the basics still apply. It rains a lot here in the summers, sometimes for days in a row, and sometimes dumping everything that collects water slips my mind--which I can see would definitely not be helping my case any. I like to think I'm good at remembering to. I'm probably not. I also don't remember the last time the gutters were cleaned--which, on the one hand, my dad usually handles that kind of stuff and doesn't just announce when he's doing it, but still. (I hear cleaned gutter gunk is good for compost piles, I wonder if they're good for worm bins). Similarly, I have no idea what kind of treating happens in storm drains and the like in my area. On the one hand, it's Florida, so I feel like something's likely going on. On the other hand, it's Florida, so who really knows.

I'd always been unsure about mosquito dunks and if they were safe for bird baths and bees and the like, but apparently they are! That's pretty cool to know! I dunno why in the past I'd been having trouble finding sources on that asides from the Selling Mosquito Dunks sites.

I will say one thing. Maybe Florida Mosquitoes are Just Built Different, but I can't remember the last time using mosquito spray has worked for me, and they'll bite through clothes. I've been bitten through my pants before, sometimes they've even crawled down the v-neck of my shirt and gotten me right on the chest. Florida mosquitoes are assholes.

I def found this an interesting read! i have no clue what I am saying anymore I'm just gonna go.

Hot 4am take but I feel like if we want to get people more interested in making their yards a more habitable space for wildlife like insects, we have to acknowledge that ‘Don’t want bugs in your house’ is still a 100% fair and valid point of view. ‘Loves nature’ and ‘doesn’t want roaches spiders and mosquitoes in the house’ aren’t opposites.

And with that in mind, when we propose to people that spraying pesticides around houses is Not A Good Idea, Actually, I feel like we need to give an alternative asides from ‘deal with it.’