Dang Mosquitos...Need Advice On A Deterrent That I'm Using

a reply to: shawmanfromny

This is going to sound crazy but hear me out.
My old home in Oklahoma had a creek and lots of big nasty ones flying around. A friend told me about this app that you can get on a smart phone. It plays multiple different tones most of with you can’t hear. But by god turn that on and just set you phones you won’t have any near ya!
Dude it works and makes being out and enjoying the beauty of outdoors better. Give it a try.

originally posted by: Allaroundyou
a reply to: shawmanfromny

This is going to sound crazy but hear me out.
My old home in Oklahoma had a creek and lots of big nasty ones flying around. A friend told me about this app that you can get on a smart phone. It plays multiple different tones most of with you can’t hear. But by god turn that on and just set you phones you won’t have any near ya!
Dude it works and makes being out and enjoying the beauty of outdoors better. Give it a try.

Interesting...

Mosquito Phone App

Wherever you hang it, the toads will love you. I used one several years and the toads would gather under it to eat the bugs that fell there. Fresh cooked bug. Yum, yum.

PS: Nice back yard, by the way.

I don't know how big your pond is or what might be in it, but have you considered stocking mosquito fish? That's a form of natural control right there. They eat the larvae. Does this pond also have frogs and toads hanging out around it? Another form of natural control. The other option is a bat house placed somewhere away from your house but where the bats can swoop in over the pond. A third form of natural control.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

There are good strategies to trim your mosquito numbers. First of all, those ducks are helping you. Baby ducks eat a lot of mosquitoes.

The electric zapper is dual use, it kills but it also attracts. I'd move it off the deck since you said you don't hang out on your deck a lot at night. It will still work, it just won't draw them as close to the house.

Put minnows into the pond. They'll eat the mosquitoes. Also, this is a bit spendy, but it really does work.

a reply to: JFA13

I agree JFA.... although you can make your own if you like. Spartan uses a combination of sugar and yeast to create CO2 -- which mozzies are attracted to. There is a vinegar solution to feed them and the active ingredient is sodium chloride -- salt.

Still, the system works well, if one recognizes that it draws mosquitos and should be placed far away from your living area.

a reply to: shawmanfromny

As others have said, keep that zapper away from your area. The light frequency draws the mozzies. You mentioned a pond nearby. When it rains long and hard here, we have huge ponds of standing water, and I scatter Altosid mosquito larvacide. I find the Altosid to be safe for the environment -- it doesn't appear to affect frog tadpoles or frogs, or dragonflys that cruise the area. It knocks the crap out of the mosquito larva.

In addition, I have several mosquito traps near the house. For me, a mosquito trap is a 5-gallon bucket with four two-inch holes in the lid. Lid is painted black (mosquitos like dark colours). Each bucket is half-full of water with 1 tablespoon of liquid soap in it. Water first, then soap, don't stir. The soap acts as a surfactant, and decreases the surface tension of the water. Mosquitoes depend upon that surface tension to land on the water to drop eggs. With the soap, they fall in and drown. I also put in one Altosid tablet just in case some larva survive. Final thing is to put a stick going from the bottom of the bucket out one of the holes just in case a lizard crawls in there it gives them a way out. I like lizards.

The bucket lids aren't vital,but I don't want our cats drinking out of it. It works very well. Each bucket will have thousands of mosquitoes after a few weeks. That is our Caribbean strategy for mozzie control. That and several Neem trees planted around the area, which discourages the little buggers to some extent.

Good luck!!

originally posted by: CriticalStinker
Pick your favorites and spread them out on pots across the deck area...

I prefer natural means to repel pests, so not a fan of devices that attract and kill, as per the OP. I agree with you list, plus lavender and rosemary smell good.

Citronella candles work.

Here's the deterrent that I've used for many years: an electric fan.

We have a 12' x 20' deck, and we have two 24" pedestal fans we put out on one side of the deck, in each corner, blowing across the deck parallel to the house.

Mosquitoes cannot navigate in the steady breeze; the moving air blows them right past us and they can't fly upstream )

No chemicals, nothing burning, no zapper popping, and a nice breeze on hot summer evenings.

Try it. I recommend toasting your victory over the blood-sucking vermin with a gin and tonic.

From your patio receptacle, run a #12- UF with a ground from there as far as your roll of wire runs out, or before if you prefer. Run it in pvc conduit out to a sturdy post where it t's up and a water tight recepticle mounted up side down to keep the rain out. You can even put it on a timer at the patio if you wish.

Nothing I have said here is code. The depth doesn't necessarily have to be the code dept but know the run will be OK. If your soil is soft, I have a sharp shooter shovel just made for that dirt. Both wire and receptacle rated 10 or 15 amps depending on the house fuse it will be on. #14 gage is good for 10 and #12 is good for 15 amps.
The white wire goes on the silver lug, the bare ground goes to the green one off to the side and the black one goes to the brass colored screw. I recommend #12 because you never know what you will use it for. Bond the conduit to the post with straps or bands.

I was a licensed industrial electrician once upon a time long, long ago..