Best way to get rid of Mosquitos?

doozie · #1 05/29/12, 09:11 PM

We were up at our place in WI this weekend, we were swarmed by mosquitos! Never in my life have I seen so many, and they were in our house too. I ended up spraying windex at them inside. I had nothing else. My poor dogs were whining at night, they were getting bitten too. I am going armed with a bug zapper and a bug net to cover their crates the next time we go up. Does anyone have other ideas to repel and keep out of the house at least. I am not a fan of pesticides, but this weekend may have changed my mind. We are not squeamish about bugs, but this was the worst experience of my 55 yr old life! ( I wont even start with the Tick population by us, these mosquitos put that problem on the back burner for now)

luvrulz · #2 05/29/12, 10:19 PM

Get some bat boxes, a bat will eat some 40,000 skeeters in one day....

#3 05/29/12, 11:18 PM

Trap minnows and put them in the standing water the skeeters breed in. Humming birds, purple martins, and barn swallows all eat skeeters.

Try Amazon.com: Mosquito Dunks 117-6 30-Ounce Mosquito Bits: Patio, Lawn & Garden .

vicker · #4 05/29/12, 11:40 PM

Skeeters, no-seeums and black flies can, any of them, make for a long miserable night. Worst night of my life was camping in a soybean field one SC August night. It still gives me flashbacks every time a skeeter buzzes my ear.

FarmerRob · #5 05/30/12, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvrulz

Get some bat boxes, a bat will eat some 40,000 skeeters in one day....

That is a great idea. I think I need some of those myself. We did not have much winter to kill them off this La Nina year. I have seen some that were about two pounders LOL.

Avoiding standing water will be quite the trick in WI.

If you don't mind spending a little to attack the problem, this will help until the bats decide to come live in your bat boxes:
Blue Rhino SkeeterVac SV-3100 - SV3100 Mosquito Trap | Mosquito Control Trap

Maybe you can get some useful info from these guys:
Home

NorthCountryWd · #6 05/30/12, 05:49 AM

Screened porch? Seriously, the jury is out on whether the mosquito traps and bug zappers attract more mosquitoes than they catch and the new ones are not cheap.

Bats do work.....their numbers have diminished here due to White Nose Syndrome and the increase in bugs is noticeable.

In our camp in the Alaska muskeg we used to do a smokey fire smoldering in a pit outside and mosquito incense burning inside.....and that only kept them tolerable. Mostly you just had to learn to deal with them.

Backfourty,MI. · #7 05/30/12, 05:50 AM

They have those foggers for mosquitos. I would get spray for the family & also use it on the dogs.
The Yard guard also works pretty good too. You can spray all around the immediate area you want to keep the mosquitos away from, the siding on the house, etc.

Bat's & birds are a great natural solution & maybe if you build them houses they will come, but it sounds like you need relief now from all the bugs up there now.
I'd put out a few bug zappers too.

Old John · #8 05/30/12, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nimrod

Trap minnows and put them in the standing water the skeeters breed in. Humming birds, purple martins, and barn swallows all eat skeeters.

We have a 1 acre pond about 60/70' from the back door, of our woodland home. It has several kinds of fish, bass, crappies, redears. minnows & bluegills.
We also start putting out the Hummingbird feeders about Mid-April each year. So, , we have scads of Hummingbirds, 40/50 at a time in the evenings.And, we have swallows making their nests, along the back of the barn. I feed the seed eating wild birds all Winter and most of the year.

Even with the woods, and the big pond close by, we never see a mosquito.
You can sit out on the deck or go fish the pond and never get bitten.
But, we lucked into the pond, with all the fish. And, as soon as we moved in 9 years ago, the hummingbirds started flying around the windows, looking for feeders. The old owners fixed it up well, out here. I just continued what they'd begun.

wildcat6 · #9 05/30/12, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvrulz

Get some bat boxes, a bat will eat some 40,000 skeeters in one day....

Where can you find some of those?

pancho · #10 05/30/12, 09:25 AM

My muscovys eat all of the mosquitos around my house. I have all kinds of water containers here as I do aquaponics. Grown muscovys will get most of the mosquitos but young muscovys will eat every one they can find.

rj_in_MA · #11 05/30/12, 10:03 AM

We live in a very wooded area with plenty of wetland areas around us, but hardly any mosquitoes. We have TONS of dragonflies, though. We can sit in front of the house later in the day and see at least 20 or 30 at a time within 50ft of the house (hard to count, they're constantly on the move). Here's an article from 2008 that describes some things to do to encourage natural mosquito control:

Mosquito Control

frankva · #12 05/30/12, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wildcat6

Where can you find some of those?

Google Image Result for http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/huntingwildlifehabitat/landowners_guide/images/feeders_homes/bat_house.gif

More than one type of plans out there. I used a scrap of window screen, for the entry traction. Easier than a bird house to build.

You can tell they are occupied by poo underneath.

tinknal · #13 05/30/12, 04:25 PM

I find that a good hard freeze helps....

I saw one with two wood-ticks the other day...................

blooba · #14 05/30/12, 08:28 PM

plant some citronello plants, on the eastern shore of MD the blood suckers are so thick they are like clouds in the sky. Citronello plants surrounding the back porch and not but one or 2 all night.

Kazahleenah · #15 05/31/12, 09:07 AM

I use a combination of bat boxes and skeeter plants.... no problem here with skeeters since I started.

DarleneJ · #16 05/31/12, 11:20 AM

I have read that bug zappers do not help with mosquitos because they are not attracted to the light. They may get fried on occasion, inadvertently, but not intentionally. The bats and birds are supposed to help but it can take a year or so for their houses to become occupied once they are put up.

PrincessFerf · #17 05/31/12, 11:50 AM

Since our winter was so mild in Wisconsin this year, bugs are gonna be a lot worse than in the past. We're already seeing a lot more than usual. Yuck.

To help your issue at the cabin:

Short term, don't leave any containers around where there's standing water. If you have a place (birdbath, etc.) that needs to have it, use Mosquito dunks. You can buy those at Stein's Gardens, Fleet Farm, etc. Most garden centers now carry them. The dunks kill the mosquito larvae and doesn't harm animals or plants. My dogs drink out of a water feature I have in my garden that has mosquito dunks in them, they have no issues.

For your dogs, I would recommend Avon's Skin-So-Soft oil (original scent only). I dilute it with water and use a spray bottle to apply it. It can make their fur a little oily, but it works in a pinch. The mosquito might land on them, but they won't bite. Avon also carries wipes with the same formula - not sure if they're safe for dogs.

There are non-poisonous options of mosquito sprays for people that a lot of stores carry now. I think even Target carries them.

Long term... definitely get bat houses. You can find them almost anyplace they sell bird houses. Garden centers, especially. As another poster said, it takes awhile for them to become established, but its a good investment.

flumes · #18 05/31/12, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarleneJ

I have read that bug zappers do not help with mosquitos because they are not attracted to the light. They may get fried on occasion, inadvertently, but not intentionally. The bats and birds are supposed to help but it can take a year or so for their houses to become occupied once they are put up.

Up here in Canada, my bug zapper gets sooo full of mosquitos some nights, you cannot see the light tubes come morning. Im impressed how well they work up here.

Ohhh...and the light show come evening is well worth the watch while sitting on the deck and listening to the suckers fry! lol

**highlands** · #19 05/31/12, 04:30 PM

Wind, bt, bats, dragonflies, swallows, ducks, cleanup any stagnant water you can.

Cheers,

-Walter Jeffries
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
ButcherShop | Sugar Mountain Farm

DarleneJ · #20 05/31/12, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flumes

Up here in Canada, my bug zapper gets sooo full of mosquitos some nights, you cannot see the light tubes come morning. Im impressed how well they work up here.

Ohhh...and the light show come evening is well worth the watch while sitting on the deck and listening to the suckers fry! lol

That's good to know. We are infested every year. Three catch-basin "lakes" on our neighbors property behind us.

Bug zappers are better'n TV fer sure!

I think we're going to build a bat house and drag out the bug zapper this year and see if it works for the U.S. mosquitos.