[kamus]

My wife is apparently very attractive to mosquitos (I find her attractive too :D ) and she is plagued by them in the area where we live now in suburban Washington DC.
Does NZ have a mosquito problem-are there areas we should avoid?

Thanks!

David Kane

[Moorf]

Just have to add this... I took some advice off another board with regards to the use of Avon's Skin-so-Soft Dry Oil Moisturising Spray to keep mozzies at bay... I was sceptical but I bought a couple of bottles (it was 2 for 1!!) and took them with us to Italy as the coastline where we stayed is notorious for mozzies.... big beggers too! I was told that the SAS use it - dunno if that is true but I have to say the enemy would SMELL them coming!!!!

Anyway....

It WORKS! I am usually bitten to death - they LOVE me.... but I escaped with just a few bites and we ate out most nights in the open and even slept with the doors open!!

It was an American who told me abou the Skin-so-Soft so you may already have tried it - but you specifically need the Forest fragrance dry oil spray as above... only forest will do apparently!!!

[kiwi]

oow, I will get some of that.

We dont have too much of a problem here in town (chch..as in might see one a summer) but as soon as you go near water...watch out (charteris bay love my husband there)
Sandflies must be worse than mossies though..west coast, and again anywhere near water..watch out...little tiny black flies, size of a pin.
Bite real bad!
Nic

[kamus]

oow, I will get some of that.

We dont have too much of a problem here in town (chch..as in might see one a summer) but as soon as you go near water...watch out (charteris bay love my husband there)
Sandflies must be worse than mossies though..west coast, and again anywhere near water..watch out...little tiny black flies, size of a pin.
Bite real bad!
Nic

Thanks for the info.
I just wanted to point out that your url is missing an "n" and should read:
http://www.4greenhouses.co.nz/ not "greehouses"

-Dave

[kiwi]

ooow! thanks for that.

spelling was never my thing, even on my own web site addy!! ha ha

Thank you....and I liked your web site I must say
Nic

[Stu]

We have mozzies, sure, but not in problem proportions, unless you are somewhere near still waters or something. Of course, you WILL get them sooner or later, but it is easy to keep them away with a little deterrent. Here I use Robocans, which keep all insects, flies, mozzies, spiders, the works, out of the house. One can lasts 2 months, squirts a micro-squirt of pyrethrum into the air every 7 minutes, bloody brilliant things.

A lot of folks get really annoyed with the houseflies, which we do have plenty of, and expecially in the summer months the darn blue-bottles and paspalu flies. To keep these out, especiallyin rural areas where they are especially prevalent, most folks get their houses sprayed once a year with an industrial strength residual pesticide (eg:Ripcord) There are no human complaint, but it keeps flies etc that get in to the house dying for about 6 months, as soon as they land on a windowsill or whatever, they kark it.

We do have a couple of spots where mossies carry bugs... Ross River Virus (a type of malaria I think) has been found and eradicated in some areas (Gisborne and Nelson to the memory, came in from Aussie somehow, prob in machinery or something), however, this is so very rare that there really is no concern about disease carrying mozzies here.

The darn sandflies, man, they are a pain in the bum, let me tell you. Again you are only likely to run into these in wet, shady areas like the bush or shaded spots.

I have heard that people with a lot of vitamin....B? or E? in their blood are a lot less palatable to mozzies, one bloke who goes with me up to the Solomon Islands every winter used to be mozzie ground zero, then hestarted taking multivitamin pills before he headed up there, and has had no worries for the last 2 years now, so maybe there is something in that too?
cheers,
Stu.

[Raeven]

Hi, Stu,

Welcome to the forum, if no one's said it to you yet!! And thank you for a very informative post. May I trouble you to share with me where you are at in NZ?

I'm curious.. can you explain the Kiwi aversion to flyscreens? We plan to have whatever house we end up in fitted out with them toot sweet. Am also considering bringing over one of Justin's Mosquito Deletos for the yard.

Have I mentioned I hate bugs? :laugh

All the best, Rae

[Stu]

I have fly screens here at home! It certainly helps keep mozzies out at night if you have hte windows open.
Thing is, so many houses here are so open to the lawns etc, such big windows/ranchsliders etc everywhere, that having a bloody flyscreen blocking the view all the time gets to be a pain.

Then again, they do cost $$$s as well.
I am in Matamata, centre of the Waikato, 1/2 way between Hamilton and Tauranga, with a beach house in Whitianga.

cheers, Stu.

[coastcat]

Wow, how much is the Robocan system? I hate hate hate HATE bugs in the house. But would it be safe for my cats? I'll have no choice but to install window screens, as the cats are absolutely not allowed to roam, but the darned bugs still get in even with screens up...

Supposedly taking Vitamin B supplements reduces your attractiveness to biting bugs. Doesn't work for me, alas.

[Stu]

Robocans? Hmmm... I think they are around NZ$90 or so, for the emmiter unit and I think 2 cans. As I said, a can lasts for a coupla months.

The pyrethrum makes the house a bug unfriendly zone, but doesn't affect animals at all, nor hayfever or anything like that, they really are bloody good. It is not flyspray in that it will not zap the bugs, but the micro mist spray just puts enopugh pyrethrum in the air of the room/house to make bugs wanna get out FAST... if they cannot, it will eventually kill them, gets cockroaches, I know that for certain.

Certainly, flyscreens are easy to get, but like I said, when it is a hot sunny summer day, you want the ranch sliders wide open out onto the garden or whatever, having screens in the way is a pain.
Anotehr thing NZ houses very VERY seldom have is Air Con, even though it does get very hot over summer some times Perhaps you could bring an AirCon unit with you? :-)
Cheers,
Stu.

[Tate6]

Ohhhhh!! So depressed about the mosquito situation in NZ!! :wah I am from Wisconsin--where the mosquito, almost the size of a fly(at least its seems so!), is our state bird!! :eek Just kidding!! But seriously......I was so hoping to leave them behind!! Have used Avon's Skin So Soft. Works sometimes, but other times, the buggers just bite right thru it!! WE have gnats here that may be considered sand flies and they bite hard!! Nothing works for them!! And of course we have the ticks--woodticks, and deerticks--lymes disease. Have known many friends who have battled that. Including our 11 year-old Golden Retreiver. Took her 2 weeks on meds to finally start coming around.
So, question, any ticks there in NZ??

Thanks!
Terry

[Gran]

No ticks in NZ. We get very few Mosquitos and I plug in a liquid thing at night, leave the window open and never get bitten, we live at the beach walk on it daily, no sand flies, maybe because it is not shaded. We used to live in Australia, different story over there, I would call it bug central.

[Tate6]

My sister just got back from NZ last week and said she saw one fly!! That was it!! She was mostly on the South Island--all over. I am so encouraged by this news!!
:clap
Terry

[Carol]

My sister just got back from NZ last week and said she saw one fly!! That was it!! She was mostly on the South Island--all over. I am so encouraged by this news!!
:clap
Terry

:eek :eek :eek

What perfume does she use?
I want some!!!

[deebat]

Ohhhhh!! So depressed about the mosquito situation in NZ!! :wah I am from Wisconsin--where the mosquito, almost the size of a fly(at least its seems so!), is our state bird!! :eek Just kidding!! But seriously......I was so hoping to leave them behind!!

Terry, don't fret too much about the mosquitos. I know the type of skeeter you're talking about (27 yrs next door to you, in Minnesota). NZ is a virtual mosquito-free paradise compared to the Upper Midwest, really. The only trouble, as others have mentioned, are the sandflies near still water. I nearly went gonzo on the shore when we went kayaking in Doubtful Sound last year -- fortunately, though, they all stayed on the shore when we got out onto the water.

Back away from the ledge, Terry -- NZ will feel insect-free to you!

Best,
Dan

[kestin_stewart]

Nah, Mozzies and Sandflies aren't that much of a problem here like others have said. Houseflies annoy the hell out of me though... ooh and bloody big moths that hang around outdoor lights and smack into your face, blah. But thats not too often.

I used to go down to Cromwell with the family when I was younger, stayed next to Lake Dunstun. Can't remember it too well, but sandflies were really the only annoyance. The West-Coast has the marjority of the buggers I think. But there was these really little lizards which we used to keep as pets while we stayed there :mrgreen: Dragonflies are often about as well... but yeah, NZ's bug population isn't exactly dangerous. Oz on another hand...

[Diny]

Kestin

I remember years ago camping in a place called Slab Hut Creek, It was down Christchurch way (I think) - it's a long time ago now.

Anyway - what I do remember are the sandflies, well at last I think that's what they were. Like tiny little black beasties that felt like hundreds of drops of acid being dropped on your legs.

Nasty little critters !!!!!

I remember them being much worse than anybody has ever said, but I must admit that Slab Hut Creek was the worst place.

Diny

[kestin_stewart]

I've never heard of that place, did you have any repellant on? In any case, when bitten... I just used ol Mind over matter and absorbed the urge to itch... and after a while, they don't itch. I was rather proud of myself :mrgreen:

[Tate6]

WONDERFUL!! :clap :nice1
So relieved! As you know, from living in MN, it can keep you from spending time outside!! And I don't want that to be the case if we move to NZ!!

Terry

[leslie]

dont recall biting things in nz - and we lived in farm territory. on the other hand, victoria/ nsw in oz were INFESTED last xmas/ny. almost impossible to lie on the beach. yuck.

[mechidna]

And I'm in Nebraska, which seems to be mosquito heaven. Everyone is paranoid about the West Nile Virus, so Lyme's disease is not talked about much. I would be happy with a lack of flies and mosquitos. Add the whole no critters subject and I'm even happier.

by the way, I don't think I've ever posted before. If so, it's been a while.

It's cold and snowy and I hope this is my last winter here. I'm heading (hopefully) to Hamilton/Waikato.

Michele
(talked myself into skipping work today, going to Cancun in 2 weeks)

[leslie]

i lived in cambridge nr ham in hilly area called 'french pass'. lovely, calm place. quiet, beautiful. keep in mind if you go waikato rural the horses wear blankets - not your usual 'farmland'!

[kestin_stewart]

Horses wearing blankets is quite the norm from what I've seen in the South Island. Never thought it was strange, still not really sure why they put blankets on them. To protect them from the weather?

[Raeven]

Hi, kestin,

Exactly right, to protect them from weather and to keep them from growing as thick a winter coat. Horses devote a lot of their energy to keeping warm. If they get too cold, then all their food energy goes toward keeping them warm and the animal gets ill and out of condition. Of course, I'm sure some people put blankets on them just because they look rather cute in them!!

Welcome to the forum, by the way!

All the best, Rae

[Diny]

I always 'rugged' my horse in the winter when he was out grazing during the day. The particular one I had was marketed under the name of a
'New Zealand Rug'. They were usually quite bright-ish green in colour, waterproof on the outside and fleecy on the inside.

To be honest with you - when I was a kid, the only time I'd ever heard of New Zealand was in connection with the horse balnket.

Diny