OT - Mosquito Control

GrateEggspectations

Mosquitos have been bad in my area of Ottawa, Ontario (Canada) this year. 

Anyone have success stories stemming from mosquito control devices? If so, I’d love to hear about them. 

Have been considering a few options on Costco’s website. https://www.costco.ca/CatalogSearch?dept=All&keyword=Mosquito

A plus would be any system not requiring ongoing refill purchases (e.g., bulbs, refill pads, etc.).

Thanks.

bubbajack

Fill it up with talstar-p, about an ounce to a gallon. Spray everything that is not blooming and you will not have any skeeters for about 4 weeks.

GrateEggspectations

bubbajack said:

Fill it up with talstar-p, about an ounce to a gallon. Spray everything that is not blooming and you will not have any skeeters for about 4 weeks.

Only thing is that my yard is quite small and I have small kids. Spraying is probably overkill. 

YukonRon

I have a yard service company that does our yard, and the results have been astounding.

Living in the Ohio River Valley, we have lived indoors during the summer due to the massive amounts of gnats and mosquitos.

These results are immediate. There are no harsh chemicals, just the oil synthesized from chrysanthemums.

Best money I have spent on the lawn. We can actually sit out at night and not worry about being swarmed anymore.

mEGG_My_Day

These work well for some.  But read the reviews.  It almost looks like the efficacy is regional.  They have worked well for us. 

Gulfcoastguy

Putting up bat houses to attract mosquito eating bats and putting larvae eating fish in any nearby water help.

Botch

The only thing that worked for me was moving to the Rockies, as high up the mountain as I could afford.  

paqman

I don't shower; they leave me alone 

caliking

I’ve been using Bifen XTS this year, and so far so good. 1/3rd of an oz per gallon of water. Takes about 4 gallons to spray my yard and house perimeter monthly, using a manual 2 gallon sprayer.

Has worked the best of the many methods I have tried (misting system, zapper, fogging, tiki torches, etc). 

Kevinboatright

Has anyone tried a bat house? I’ve been looking into them and they seem very effective with very little cost and maintenance. 

td66snrf

Botch said:

The only thing that worked for me was moving to the Rockies, as high up the mountain as I could afford.  

@Botch That brings a whole new meaning to "Rocky Mountain High" especially since it's legal there. 

GrateEggspectations

Kevinboatright said:

Has anyone tried a bat house? I’ve been looking into them and they seem very effective with very little cost and maintenance. 

I agree. Can get one on Amazon for $26 CAD. Might have to try this in combination with some other good suggestions. 

saluki2007

I've had good luck at my house with a Thermacell.  Keeps the mosquitos and gnats away.

https://www.amazon.com/Mosquito-Thermacell-Repellent-Rechargeable-DEET-Free/dp/B07KSK7DQM/ref=sr_1_7?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6cHoBRDdARIsADiTTzZZHY7Xgol0A1npD6-V3SOiRhkrLkeDOf97SU9y391aG6LOwhVJ2A0aAnAOEALw_wcB&hvadid=241902927246&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9022093&hvnetw=g&hvpos=1t1&hvqmt=e&hvrand=13295940007096739796&hvtargid=kwd-58464690&hydadcr=24665_10401006&keywords=thermacell&qid=1561384469&s=gateway&sr=8-7

Hook_emHornsfan_74

We use a company/service call Mosquito Shield.  Has worked great so far.  This is our second year to use them.  We have tons of plants on front porch as well as in the back yard.  Highly recommend them if they are in your area.  

fishlessman

i dont think the bat houses work at all, yes they eat mosquitoes, but not nearly enough and not the ones thatt hang  on my deck. bats WILL get stuck in long hair AND THATS NOT A WIVES TALE have seen this happen to a friends girlfriend in a canoe, not sure what he was supposed to do, hit her with the oar....it was a sight to see

nolaegghead

DDT works great.

RRP

nolaegghead said:

DDT works great.

HUH??? Even better than stalking them down and killing them one at a time with a Bug-A-Salt?
https://www.bugasalt.com/collections/bug-beam-combos/products/bug-beam-combo-black-fly-3-0?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInrm69q-D4wIVEMpkCh3lcAl2EAAYASAAEgIAG_D_BwE

JethroVA

I think I posted this elsewhere but i use Mosquito Dunks, dried bacteria that come back to life and kills baby mosquitos in standing water.  

Wide spread spraying of yards kills indiscriminately including helpful pollinators.  It's a thing, google it. 

kl8ton

I was going to try bat houses at one point.  I read that it takes a while (years maybe??) for bats to take up residence in your new bat houses. 

While visiting the Everglades (a test site for bug spray companies) we learned that there are over 140 varieties of mosquito in the United States.  Of the 140 varieties, only 3 of them bite.  Also, only the females bite.  

GrateEggspectations

kl8ton said:

I was going to try bat houses at one point.  I read that it takes a while (years maybe??) for bats to take up residence in your new bat houses. 

While visiting the Everglades (a test site for bug spray companies) we learned that there are over 140 varieties of mosquito in the United States.  Of the 140 varieties, only 3 of them bite.  Also, only the females bite.  

So I researched quite a bit this morning and it seems as though the introduction of bats to the area is not as promising as I’d hoped. Apparently, bats do not feed on mosquitoes in great numbers, as they prefer spiders, beetles and the like. https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20160706/bats-mosquitoes-zika

This article was kind of interesting....
https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2013/07/16/science/a-low-tech-mosquito-deterrent.amp.html

bgebrent

Funny, no posts about the detrimental effect on the pollinators.  Darwin was a genius.

GrateEggspectations

@bgebrent: Actually, this effect is a factor in my choice of control method and was also referenced by others above. 

FearlessTheEggNoob

Lots of bats in downtown Austin, also lots of signs warning of potential for rabies from contact with bats.

Might turn out that the cure is worse than the disease. 

bgebrent

GrateEggspectations said:

@bgebrent: Actually, this effect is a factor in my choice of control method and was also referenced by others above. 

Thanks for pointing that out.  I was being lazy.  

jwc6160

We use a service and it works really great. Those little bastards love me and I couldn’t me in my yard mid June - September. I could look down and they would just be swarming my legs. After the service, we have minimal issues. I do hate having them spray this crap all over my yard and killing the good bugs and most likely killing me, but I guess west Nile sucks too. 

westernbbq

Hot dry Arizona summers work really well

KKoterski

I picked up a Dynatrap a couple years ago from Costco... Don't do it, the impact was unnoticeable. 

GrateEggspectations

KKoterski said:

I picked up a Dynatrap a couple years ago from Costco... Don't do it, the impact was unnoticeable. 

Thanks for the feedback. This is what I suspected, but didn’t want to believe. 

GATraveller

My problem with the spray is the whole "if it flies it dies" outcome.  I hate them but not enough for that.  Also, so I spray my yard but none of my neighbors do.  Do mosquitos recognize property lines?  Maybe a wall would help?

GrateEggspectations

GATraveller said:

My problem with the spray is the whole "if it flies it dies" outcome.  I hate them but not enough for that.  Also, so I spray my yard but none of my neighbors do.  Do mosquitos recognize property lines?  Maybe a wall would help?

Perhaps you could get your neighbours to pay for it. 

smittydog27

I have been using this stuff for about 4 years with good results.  I use it when camping and on my back deck.  I use two 'smudge' pots at home on the deck.

https://www.amazon.com/Firefly-Fresh-Eucalyptus-Scent-Torch/dp/B07NJCR9PW/ref=sr_1_3?crid=9FFXSBMOJSMC&keywords=firefly+tiki+torch+fuel&qid=1561553160&s=gateway&sprefix=firefly+ti,aps,137&sr=8-3