Mosquito Control

[Treemonkey1000]

I made a little pond with fountain at my old house. I found that cheap gold fish from Walmart and any place that carries feeder goldfish. They ate the larvae like candy. Throw some of those in the pond. Cheap fix for when they are in the swimming stage. Then let the bats and dragonflies take care of the rest.

 

[handirifle]

Here's a decent link to makin the bat house. How To Build a Bat House the Gardenfork Way Video | General Gardening | Howcast.com
The video is a bit corny, and I wish there was less dog time, but the idea for the bat house is pretty simple.

Might build a few myself.

Might get some baby frogs (tadpoles) and place them in the water. When they mature to frogs, they too like the misquitos, and ants, and flies....

 

[Eagleview]

You need to put a little Kerosene in the pond , a cupful should do . The Mozzie Larvae drown because the gadget they stick out of the water and breath through is affected by the Kero and they can't breath . It wont hurt anything else , us convicts even put it in our rain water tanks for the same reason . It just stays on top and doesn't make the water taste at all . Put it in an Atomiser or pump sprayer with Viton seals as it will affect the rubber in cheaper sprayers . The Atomiser pump will be toast pretty quick so don't muck about when doing it .

 

[shinnlinger]

Good thread,

I have mosquitos here and have been looking at some none chemical ways to reduce and have heard that the propane traps work well. I guess the propane attracts them them the same as our breath and then the get stuck in a trap. THese traps can be kinda spendy and they do burn up the propane, but once you break the life cycle the population is reduced, so you can let up.

The poor boy version is to remove standing water as has been mentioned and then take 5 gallon buckets with water and grass clipping in them and put them every 50 ft or so around the area. Let the water stagnate and then every week or so check to see if there are eggs in there and if so take really fine wire mesh and pour the water in the buckets through it onto the ground on hot sunny days. The mesh and the sun kill the larvae.

MOsquitos don't travel very far and they have short life cycles, so if you can kill the larvae you won't have many mosquitos after a few weeks.

 

[rswyan]

You need to put a little Kerosene in the pond , a cupful should do ....... It just stays on top and doesn't make the water taste at all ......

And you would know this how, exactly ?

 

[20 20]

Well, it's nice to know there are others that recommend bat houses. I have one and it DID work awesome. The reason I say "did" is because of the disease the poor bats have got into. I believe the disease is called "white nose" it is a VERY serious issue accross the whole US. Bats and dragon flys are the best deffense against skeeters, The only problem with Dragon flies is they're not active at night when the skeeters are really at work. A perfect balance is a lot of dragon flies during day light into dusk and then LOTS of bats from dusk till dawn.

Bug sappers will work on skeeters but you have to buy the attractant. I have had to buy one and have had good luck with it killing skeeters, yes I have checked the remains. I do agree though that they will also kill usefull bugs, so there is a trade off.

My conclusion on getting rid of skeeters is BATS bats and more bats along with dragon flies. I think chemicals are a last resort way down on the list maybe even after complete forest burn{just kidding} I do feel all these chemicals have done way more harm then good and may even be the cause of much worse issue's with the natural proven balance of life. It is a free country and companies do want your money for their "safe" {HA HA HA} chemicals, so folks can do what they want. I have learned if we help{building habbitats for critters like bats} or let nature take care of herself in the end it is a MUCH better way.

I did find a site that tells about the white nose fungi http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/white-nose_syndrome/

I do know it has spread much further and is a serious issue that IMO needs attention

 

[handirifle]

Not sure if it's this far out west (CA), but on vacation this spring, back in VA, TN and a few other states the white nose fungus is a serious issue for bats.

I'll be getting supplies tomorrow to make some houses.

Anyone seen the best way to mount the houses? I read they need to be 15-20ft up. Everyone says to paint them black to keep them warm. It was 102 here yesterday. I don't think they need a black (outside color) house here.

Should they be near trees?

 

[wedge40]

I dont do much outside, but when I did I never had any issue with mosquitos. I HAD and old barn on the property and when I tore it down, I found out why I didn't have mosquitos. Must have been 50 bats nesting in the upper part of the barn. I will place a few bat house in future.

Wedge

 

[20 20]

Not sure if it's this far out west (CA), but on vacation this spring, back in VA, TN and a few other states the white nose fungus is a serious issue for bats.

Yes it has spread at an alarming rate I have talk with folks down in Texas that said it is there also.

I'll be getting supplies tomorrow to make some houses.

Anyone seen the best way to mount the houses? I read they need to be 15-20ft up. Everyone says to paint them black to keep them warm. It was 102 here yesterday. I don't think they need a black (outside color) house here.

Should they be near trees?

I keep mine away from trees and used a metal pole it is 15 or so feet up. The reason I keep them from trees and such is to help protect them from snakes and other critters. I also painted mine black because of the cold climate. If I'm not mistaken warmer climates don't need the black. At one time I had over 25 living in one house now if I'm lucky there might be 2-3. When they were happy and healthy we allmost never had any skeeters. Since they're decline the skeeters are back in full force.

 

[20 20]

here are a couple of pictures of my bat house it has a divider inside to give them 2 rooms