How do I get rid of mosquitos and ticks?

[Alex Franke]

It's that time of year again...

I've read a bit about propane traps, plants, bats, and even some new natural products that can help control these pests, but I can go broke trying out all these potential solutions.

So what really works for mosquitoes?

I've noticed that ticks seem to *love* corrugated plastic sheets. I laid some down in the grass, and about 30 minutes later when I picked them up again, there were four ticks crawling up them!

Some time ago I read that ticks usually require mice, and there's a substance you can put on cotton balls that's harmless to people/animals, but will kill ticks when the mice bring the cotton back home. I can't remember what this stuff is, though. Heck, I might have just dreamed that.

Any ideas for getting rid of ticks in the yard? (We have a few acres of trees out behind our house.)

Fortunately we haven't gotten hit too bad personally. I did learn recently (might have even been on this forum) that a lot of the tick extraction methods I grew up learning are just myths. (e.g. Don't use petroleum jelly or a match.) So, in case any gets bit, you're apparently supposed to grab it by the head with tweezers and give it a slow, firm pull until it lets go.

[jlm]

When I lived in Texas, we had a huge tick problem in the yard one year, and I just used the tick pesticide granules from Ortho or one of those companies. Worked great. I normally avoid pesticides, but when my dogs would come back in from the yard, they'd be covered in the little beasties, sometimes a dozen or more at a time. Something had to be done, so poison was the only option. The good news we only had to do it once. After knocking the tick population down that year, there were far, far less in subsequent summers.

For mosquitos, if you have bats in the area, you'd be surprised what building a couple small bat boxes in your yard will do. Careful where you put them, though, because there will be some "guano" under the box. Maybe put a few boxes in the trees behind your house? They're pretty small - a box the size of a cereal box will house a couple dozen bats.

Also, check for any kind of standing water - a tin can with water in it can breed thousands of skeeters in a season. If you have anything that collects water, you'll have mosquitos.

[Jim Boyd]

Can't help much with the ticks. Orkin started doing a mosquitoe service this year that works. I consists first of advising the customer to remove any water holding items to control breeding. Next consists of spraying plants and shrubs in the yard, especially the underside of the leaves, with a residual pesticide. Mosquitoes spend a lot of their time at rest and they rest on the underside of leaves.

[gerti]

We and some of our neighbors run those Mosquito magnets during the warm season. Those things are expensive both to buy and to run, but they make a huge difference! I have a horrible reaction to mosquito bites, they swell to the size of half a ping-pong ball and itch for about 10 days.

I used to not be able to mow the lawn (or go out into the yard period) much after 5 pm without acquiring at least half a dozen bites. The last 3 years I got half a dozen bites through the entire season! I can mow until late with no problem.

Now I can't say if this is just luck of the draw like just the right weather to not have mosquitos hatch, or if it is a combination of multiple of these devices in the neighborhood, but they do seem to make a big difference here.

My estimate given by volume is that ours caught somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 mosquitos in the last season.

I did read somewhere they may not be effective on certain kinds of mosquitos.

No ideas about ticks, hate them though...

[JSCOOK]

My estimate given by volume is that ours caught somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 mosquitos in the last season.

I did read somewhere they may not be effective on certain kinds of mosquitos.

So these things actually work then? ... heard mixed reviews about them and have held off buying one as I was given the impression that they were more or less a "gimick" ...

You mention Mosquito Magnet ... any particular model recommended?
Thanks

[jziegler]

It might sound counterintuitive at first, but building a fish pond will probably help with the mosquitos. The fist will eat the eggs and larvae in the water. If you get any frogs in it, they will eat the adults. I built a bathouse this year (check out batcon.org) and will do the pond next year. Unfortunately, no signs of bats so far, so I can't report on if it works or not.

Jim

[Russianwolf]

Another thing about ticks. The way they usually get on you/your dog is to be hanging out on a plant limb a couple foot off the ground. If you don't have much around to get into at this height, it can make it very difficult for them. So trim your plants and reduce their ability to get you.

I've pulled about a half dozen off my pups so far this year. Alittle higher than usual, so I'll be hitting them with Frontline here soon.

[MilDoc]

A lot of the so-called mosquito magnets work by generating carbon dioxide - a little too environmentally unfriendly IMHO.

[gerti]

So these things actually work then? ... heard mixed reviews about them and have held off buying one as I was given the impression that they were more or less a "gimick" ...

You mention Mosquito Magnet ... any particular model recommended?
Thanks

I was very skeptical at first myself. I researched it back then, and read people raving about it and people saying they don't work. My guess would be that they only work on certain kind of mosquito species, and if those aren't the ones in your area they will not work. In the end the agony the mosquitos here put me through and the fact that no poison is involved made me pull the trigger.

All I can say is that the last few years there were far fewer mosquitos than before. If that is because of our device, or if the combination with the neighbors devices makes enough of a dent in the breeding population, or if we just got lucky I can't tell. I did not have the need to clean the device during the season, but at the end of the season that sack in there is pretty full.

The model we have is the Mosquito Magnet Liberty. Can't comment on others.

A lot of the so-called mosquito magnets work by generating carbon dioxide - a little too environmentally unfriendly IMHO.

They got through a 20 lbs propane tank every 4 weeks. But no poison, and a lot less agony for me makes it worth it to me.

They use some catalytic conversion process to convert the propane into CO2 to mimic a breathing mammal, and add Octenol as an attractant (supposedly smells like bull sweat to a bloodsucker).

[TheRic]

Seems what I remember with the mosquito Magnets / bug zappers (of years gone by) is that they attract them. The best thing you can do is give them to your neighbors.

Seem to remember that mosquitoes will travel 1/2 mile (don't quote me on this exact number) to find a target / host / body / etc. SO your best bet is to give people within 1/4 - 1/2 mile these things around you, then your setting good.

[Russianwolf]

I'll add that you should avoid the mosquito magnet knockoff that uses sticky traps instead of the bag trap. It is effective for a short period then you have to replace the glue traps.

I don't even know if they sell them anymore.

Looks like they have a new mosquito magnet that doesn't use the CO2 for you environmentally conscious types.

http://www.mosquitocentral.com/440.htm

[gerti]

that doesn't use the CO2 for you environmentally conscious types.

http://www.mosquitocentral.com/440.htm

I would suspect that this unit would attract any insect that is attracted by light, not just mosquitos. The original mosquito magnet is very selective.

[MilDoc]

From Mosquito Central - sure hope they're better now, even though they spew CO2, a greenhouse gas:

"We have not been fans of propane based traps until this year. The reasons? the propane traps that caught the most mosquitoes, the early Coleman MD2500, the Mosquito Magnet Pro and Liberty, had big reliablility problems. Many machines did not work after about a month..."

[Kristofor]

I think it's good that folks at least consider the C02 impact of their actions but I'm not sure there's a very strong case against this type of device all things considered... 3x 20Lb tanks in a season per household versus almost 6 tons of emissions per person in the US puts this near rounding error levels.

People breath out a bit over a kg of C02/day. Go from 3 kids to 2 (or 10 to 9) for one month out of the year (a neat trick if you can do it) and you can happily run your mosquito magnet all summer long with a net savings just from their breathing and have a clean conscience.

The mosquito control district helicopters, tractors, and trucks running all summer long pump out plenty of their own C02, could their activity be limited by more targeted systems? (obviously some areas don't need/have these)

Spending more time outside due to being more comfortable may reduce the usage of electric lighting, TVs, etc. and partially offset some of the C02.

Choose to live in Minnesota instead of Texas during the summer and your AC electric carbon savings will be enough to run 10 mosquito magnets all summer long with a smaller footprint (of course that reverses somewhat in the winter....). Or live in San Diego and avoid both of those extremes...

Avoid a case of Encephalitis, Malaria, or West Nile and the savings in health care is enough to buy many many tons of carbon offset.

C02 is/should be part of calculations today but it shouldn't be the single driving point for making decisions in my opinion.

On the subject of the Mosquito Magnet itself I don't own one or know anyone well who does, but a few neighbors/acquaintances seem to think they work.

[MilDoc]

... 3x 20Lb tanks in a season per household versus almost 6 tons of emissions per person in the US puts this near rounding error levels....

Until a few 10's of millions buy them.

We sit out back all the time. My wife is a mosquito magnet. Bit all the time. I almost never get bit.

3 cans of Off! last a full summer and fall. and she doesn't get bit at all. Far cheaper than any elctronic machine, but I guess not as sexy.