The Year Mosquitoes Arrived In Southern California
I moved to Los Angeles because my family did. Like everyone else, I loved the weather. Always sunny, keeping spirits high. There was the occasional rainstorm, but the weather here leans more to drought than to heavy rains. No one likes drought, but dry weather means – no mosquitoes!
Having come from a country where mosquitoes are the norm, it was peaceful bliss to not have to worry about being bitten.
No good thing lasts forever, it seems, and that goes for bug free Southern California.
Last year, 2018, was the first time that I recalled having been bitten by mosquitoes in my own home. This year, I’m being bitten – a lot!
It rained a little this summer – it’s very unusual. It’s been very humid. Also very unusual. All of a sudden, in my very own garden, I was being bitten around the ankles. EEK! Sitting on my sofa, a little mosquito buzzing around my legs. Double EEK!
I don’t like poison, but I want to go to war with these Mosquitoes. How dare they invade – my house!
I read a couple of reviews, and purchased the Flowtron BK-15D zapper. I’m providing my perspective on this product, and later, if I take other measures against this flying army of blood sucking bugs, I’ll share it here.
August 26, 2019
My Flowtron Bug Zapper has arrived!
There are a few things I need to consider as I read the instructions. I’ll be sure to share them with you.
-Locate the zapper 6′ to 8′ above the ground.
-Locate the zapper 25′ from the house. This will be a little hard, as my garden will possibly permit 10′ but not much more than this.
-The zapper uses a mosquito attractant that simulates human respiration. I don’t think it’s required, but it’s supposed to be beetter than the UV light. It’s good for 30 days, then you need to buy another. You can use the light without the zapper, but supposedly it doesn’t work as well. The attractant costs $8-$9 to replace.
-The cord is very short.
September 3, 2019
Cheap that I am, I haven’t yet used the attractant or found that very good place to hang the zapper. I diid plug it into an outlet and set it on the ground. For some reason, there were no mosquitoes around for a while. But yesterday, a mosquito showed up! So I plugged it in again. I heard a couple of crackles last night. Now, no mosquito. I looked for potential bodies underneath the zapper, but there were none.
I should add that I’d slapped around at that mosquito, and maybe I got it, but I don’t want to take credit for what might have been the Zapper’s work.
September 5, 2019
It works! I hear an occasional ssszzzt! and pow! There is another body added to the carnage pile. I haven’t used the attractant, and it’s still fine! Sometimes I’m still annoyed by the Flowtron, but my price per mosquito is about $1.50 or less so far, and we’re just a few weeks in! Some might think it’s not a lot of bugs, but any one bug really (bugs me)… ha ha. So it’s worth it to me.
Still, it takes a while before the mosquito heads over to the zapper, so I am looking for some natural repellants.