Does anyone have any experience here with taking care of a severe mosquito problem? The house we moved into has about 20 cedars in the back yard, and the mosquitos and midges have completely taken over, especially in the evenings (which is the only time I really want to sit out!).
Some potential options:
- Mosquito Barrier - kills the mosquitos and eggs using garlic juice (!). You spray it on the trees and grass.
- Something more poisonous - probably requires calling in a company to take care of it.
- A mosquito magnet (or similar device) - these attract the mosquitos using CO2 and trap them. Apparently these devices are VERY unreliable, which isn't good news for me as I don't tend to take care of things very well.
- Deet and Citronella - this was last year's solution, but I still got bitten to shreds.
Re:Mosquito Control
Matts on 2006-04-27T19:44:55
That's the thing - we don't have ANY standing water. We do live close to a sewage works though - but I heard that mosquitos don't fly further than 400 yards from where they were born which would rule that out as the birthing grounds. We do have a deck, and I hear they breed under them.
Part of the problem is we had such a mild winter and early spring that none of the garden centres have mosquito stuff in stock yet. Yet we're infested. You can literally see clouds of them out back just looking out the window:-( Re:Mosquito Control
ziggy on 2006-04-27T20:10:14
If they're swarming like that in the open, maybe a flame thrower would help?
Seriously though, if they're that bad in April, then bats may be one of the best things to look into. Pesticide can kill only so many before they develop a resistance, if you can't kill them all. But it's much more difficult to develop a resistance to a voracious predator.:-)
The problem may not be the sewage works, but the sewers. In the summer, most municipalities in the US where West Nile is present have mosquito control programs that involve tossing larvacide down sewer grates, manholes and the like. There's lots of standing water in those overflow drains. I think mosquito control visits them a couple times a week in heavily populated areas, just to drop BTI tablets.Re:Mosquito Control
brian_d_foy on 2006-04-28T14:37:57
I hung out with the mosquito researchers when I was in grad school (and they fed their subjects with their own arms!).
When they went to collect mosquitos, they looked for tires. The mosquitos only need a couple of inches of water to breed in, so that can collect just about anywhere, and a lot of places people don't expect.
