Tick, chigger, mosquito... Ahh summer.

[gordon]

A bird that really likes to eat mosquitos is the purple marlin. Hard to get to nest in your box but once you do, you're bugless.

Bat's would really work well but I don't think the wife would go for it though.
Gordon

 

[cowboydoc]

This stuff just mixes straight with water. My mistake I meant to type 16 oz. per acre. I put it in my boom sprayer to spray it.

 

[Bird]

Gordon, I think you meant "martin" instead of "marlin."/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif And we do have some of them around here. I have a friend who's really into the bird watching thing and he has martin boxes. The problem is that they have to be high and they need to be on either telescoping, or fold down, poles so you have easy access to them because you have to stay busy cleaning out the sparrow nests in order to get the purple martins to use the box instead of having sparrows. I sure do enjoy watching the purple martins swooping back and forth while I'm brush hogging.

Bird

 

[patrickg]

I have bat house plans but am not sure we have bats to use them. I've seen 4 purple martin houses at a house down the road a bit. I'll have to ask if they have any residents, didn't ever notice any. Both are excellent natural controls as must be the fish in my ponds as we have only a few mosquitos. According to my zoologist PhD buddy many more mosquitos come from jars, old tires, and the like which can hold a bit of water for a period than a stocked pond ever thought of producing.

Our state bird (for last 50 yrs as of a Few weeks ago) is the scissor tailed flycatcher. It is very pretty, highly manuverable and according to one conehead, consumes massive quantities, of bugs. It winters in the tropics but nests here. Hmmm, smart bird.

'splain me the part about bats eating chiggers. ????? Bats eat their prey on the wing, right? Ever see a bat peckin' and scratchin' in the weeds? Chiggers, I don't believe, fly. far as I know they hatch out and crawl around looking for you or some other mamal. If there were a large enough bat population, perhaps the guano would do something deleterious to the chiggers.

Forgive lack of emoticons (sp), since no one ever takes me seriously, I haven't felt the need to use them. OK, the truth, never found out how. You shouldn't expect it, considering my bio.

Patrick

 

[patrickg]

Dan, I too am leary of regular deet. Note, according to informed sources the point of diminishing returns for deet is around 30%. So, if you get a good deal on 100% (military surplus, etc., cut it with alcohol or something to drop it to about 30%.) Better is to pay the bucks and get the microencapsulated in little microspheres of protein form of deet in a cream style application. It is time release and low amounts at a time are active on you. Your body chemistry causes the protein encapsulation to break down over time releasing the deet. DoD uses it for areas of body not covered or protected by clothing treatment.

Get and follow the instructions the military use on their fatigues to confer coverage through about 52 washings or a year at one per week. They write the date on the inside label with indelible pen to track it. Oh yeah, the longevity data is based on cotton or high cotton content clothing. Better living through chemistry clothes may not hold it worth beans or at all. Hopefully some biotech brain will plant the chrysanthamum(SP) (or whatever Permethrin is synthesized to imitate) genes into cotton and our clothes will be confered a natural protection as purchased. Don't think I want to be genetically altered to have my skin produce it until the technology matures a bit more.

Patrick

 

[gordon]

Bird you are correct that is what I ment. There are plenty of condos around here for them. They are very picky about there nesting habits. I've been told that if the box is facing the wrong direction they wont even consider it. It also takes one to three years for them to start nesting in them .

I've also seen quite a few hummingbirds behind the house this year. Man do their wings really move.

But yes I did mean "martin" Thanks for setting me straight in my spelling and not to confuse anyone else./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Gordon

 

[Phred]

I can relate
A couple of weeks ago I recieved a delivery of gravel on my way to work. All I did was step out of my truck and point to the driver where to dump the load of gravel. Got to work and just for grins checked my legs for ticks.
&#$ if I don't find two large ticks preparing for a meal at my expense!
Two in ~15 secs!

As a result, I use the 29% DET spray that is sold at wallmart. I have not seen any ticks since I started using this stuff.

Roll up my pant leg a bit and spray the inside of the cuff. This stops them cold. No need to spray your skin.

Phred

 

[dmccarty]

Richard,

How many gallons does your sprayer use? Do you use it on your 4600 or on your bigger tractor? How often do you spray.

On of our big concerns has been on controlling the ticks and chiggers on the property especially around the house and pastures. My kid is getting chewed up bad enough by the squeeters but that is nothing compared to chiggers. If the Permethren will control chiggers and ticks I'll be getting a sprayer to control these $%^&*().

This sounds like I could spray around the house, pasture, road and trails. That would protect us and the dogs for the most part and likely cut down on the number of the little $%^&*( on the property in general. The deer, I got gazzilions of deer, I know are the main source of food for the ticks and chiggers. I'll be reducing the deer population by one or two a year as well. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Thanks!
Dan

 

[cowboydoc]

Dan,
I've got a 300 gallon sprayer that I use. Easily pulled behind my 4600 or my Massey. I usually get a good head start on them in the spring and then spray every three months to really control them. I figured it out one time and it costs me about $6 an acre to spray for them.

 

[dmccarty]

Patrickg,

I read the web site you referred to earlier. I'm going to try the garment in the baggie method if the Permethrin I have is the correct percentage. My work clothes are all cotton for the summer or wool for the winter. Ticks and chiggers for the most part are not a problem in the winter. They are still out but not as numerous.

I might even throw in the Ace bandages I use. I don't think they are high in cotton content but I'll check.

Thanks for the info...
Dan