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Try the Mosquito Bucket of Death

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Re: Try the Mosquito Bucket of Death

#281

Post by scythe »

Xss3 wrote: post #189
jmuguy wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bingo. We did these buckets, were very diligent about it. They appeared to work (at least in terms of attracting Mosquitos, which they're meant to do) but had no real effect generally. House next door is a rental, with a rotating cast of 20-somethings that do not keep up the yard and its filled with nice little habitats for Mosquitos. One thing that an HOA might actually be good for - I would love to see what happens…

I would love to live in a neighborhood full of meadow style gardens, where native plants are allowed to flower and feed bees, with bug habitats instead of neatly cut astroturf looking golf green lawns chock full of pesticides. I can't understand the people that think the artificial look holds any beauty whatsoever.

If you step on some of Florida's native plants you'll suddenly realize why St. Augustine grass is so popular down there.

Re: Try the Mosquito Bucket of Death

#282

Post by bjackman »

mattmaroon wrote: post #62
bjackman wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, I have found that icaridin-based repellents also work. It's dramatically less unpleasant than DEET! (If you find that a fan works, that's even better! But I never really find these environmental interventions are good enough, they always get me at some point regardless)

Fans work great as long as you’re in the path of the fan. Mosquitoes are not very strong flyers. I use them with my hot tub because when I’m in there I’m not moving around. The problem, of course, is that the path of a fan is huge and how many fans are you really going to have around?

Yeah exactly. If I move elsewhere for like 30s I'll get bitten. Or my ankles will be exposed or something.

Same with incense-style repellents, I'm pretty convinced they reduce the number of mosquitoes but eventually one will be attracted to me via some path where the repellent isn't currently flowing and I'll get bitten regardless. (I think that smoke is also probably pretty bad for you if you use it a lot, too).

And since the difference between one bite and zero bites is a really big deal I usually just go for on-skin repellents.

Re: Try the Mosquito Bucket of Death

#283

Post by jonjes »

Another excellent way to get rid of mosquitos is to attract their predators. Both hummingbirds and bats eat a surprisingly large number of mosquitos. Putting up hummingbird feeders and a bat house took care of it. I've seen only one mosquito in my yard this summer so far, even though I live next to a small wetland. Before the hummingbird feeders, we had lots of mosquitos.

Re: Try the Mosquito Bucket of Death

#284

Post by more_corn »

carlosjobim wrote: post #267
schiffern wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After checking the obvious like old tires or stagnant ditches or tire tracks, the more hidden breeding sites include house gutters, French drains (under the gravel), buried yard drains, and garage floor drains. The general rule is that mosquitos need a pool of water the size of a bottle cap, and it needs to be there for at least a week. Good luck, and good hunting.

Water suitable for mosquito breeding in nature is probably three million times more common than the man-made.

Keep in mind the range of a tiny flying insect. I just took a walk and found 6 places where I could see the wrigglers going. I put dunks in them all. Probably killed about a thousand. Hopefully getting one back for the team.

Re: Try the Mosquito Bucket of Death

#285

Post by prawn »

mchusma wrote: post #226

I tried the water based approach before and didn't work, but this may be a good one. What does work for me is a CO2 based trap. I have 4 neighbors on the street using them now. Mosquitos follow CO2 to find their targets, and get sucked into the bucket. Its kind of expensive (upfront cost of about $200 then about $60 in CO2 per summer, but I have a large bag full of mosquitos regularly so i know it works. And I can te…

I don't have a mosquito trapping solution, but wanted to also offer help to anyone harassed by mosquitos: Despite being a magnet for mosquitos, I've found a coconut-based moisturiser to be more effective than even "tropical-strength" repellants. I used to use various repellants and still get bitten, but this moisturiser is hilariously effective. (Brand is Palmers but others might work too.)

The company has always made it as a typical moisturiser/lotion but then started hearing from RV/caravan/campers that it was keeping mosquitoes away.

Re: Try the Mosquito Bucket of Death

#286

Post by keeda »

jonjes wrote: post #283

Another excellent way to get rid of mosquitos is to attract their predators. Both hummingbirds and bats eat a surprisingly large number of mosquitos. Putting up hummingbird feeders and a bat house took care of it. I've seen only one mosquito in my yard this summer so far, even though I live next to a small wetland. Before the hummingbird feeders, we had lots of mosquitos.

I watched a hummingbird decimate a cloud of mosquitoes just a few weeks ago. It was fascinating; it hovered around them like an attack helicopter, and would dart in and out, then find a different angle, then dart in and out again. With every dart the cloud thinned until within a minute it was all gone.

Re: Try the Mosquito Bucket of Death

#287

Post by lazide »

op00to wrote: post #279
autoexec wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might have some success with talking to them, or even dropping a leaflet or a print out in their mailbox explaining the problem and encouraging them to check their yard for breeding grounds. A lot of folks (especially young ones) just don't think about that kind of thing, but very few people actually like mosquitos, so a polite reminder every couple years or when someone new moves in might do some good.

I had a neighbor with a bunch of trash in his backyard that collected water causing mosquito breeding. It was impossible to be outside for more than a few minutes. Despite being friendly with him, he took offense when I pointed out his problem and even offered to help lug the trash to the curb with him. Some people are just too proud.

Many places have vector control boards for just this type of situation. It’s a legitimate public health hazard.

Re: Try the Mosquito Bucket of Death

#288

Post by thekevan »

I run a more risky method of this. I put two containers out and fill them with water. I check them every day, multiple times a day and when I see the squiggly larva in there, I dump it on a dry, sandy part of the yard. It bakes in the sun.

I have a dog and do a lot of yard work, so I honestly am in my backyard in the summer 5 to 10 times a day. When I have the traps out, I don't think I've gone more than 18 hours without checking them.

They are going to lay eggs somewhere, might as well give them a place to do it and then kill them before they mature. It isn't foolproof, I'm not sure I recommend it to others, but it has worked well for me for years.

Re: Try the Mosquito Bucket of Death

#289

Post by VMtest »

I don't have a yard of my own, but my friend has one. A few years ago, I told him to use this bucket method and throw away the water to kill the wiggles of the mosquitoes, but he didn't want to believe it or he was just reluctant to do the work

Re: Try the Mosquito Bucket of Death

#290

Post by Turskarama »

GeekyBear wrote: post #271
jvanderbot wrote: post #200

I live near a swampy lake. I _thought_ these would not make a dent in mosquito populations. But all summer I've been able to sit outside without many bites, as long as I keep them rotated every month or so and stay away from the lake. 4 home depot buckets + a pack of dunks are magic. For those asking - a bucket of sticks and leaves gets stagnat pretty quick. My guess is that it's so attractive that it just manages to…

You might try mosquito fish as a biological control. They also are effective in abandoned swimming pools. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquitofish

The problem with this solution is that if they get into a local waterway and they're not native, they can absolutely destroy it. Despite the name they eat a lot more than just insects, and can cause any native insectivore fish to basically starve to death.
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