Controlling Mosquitos

[Jbonnette]

Down in Louisiana we have a bit of a mosquito problem. We had to cut our swim short yesterday evening because the mosquitos were bothering us. They are not breeding in the pool but just out bothering us at night. Does anyone have experience or advise on controlling them while swimming?

[aylad]

Yup, martin houses!! Purple martins eat several times their weight in mosquitoes daily, and can be a really good deterrent. We have swallows that nest under the eaves of our front and back porches, and a martin house along the back fence, and we very rarely ever get bitten by mosquitoes in the pool, even late at night. The birds are a little messy while raising little ones in the nest, but I'd much rather rinse bird poop off the patio than deal with West Nile!!

Janet (near Shreveport)

[Watermom]

How about Tiki torches lit at night? That is what I have around my pool and bugs don't bother us when we are swimming at night..

[kelemvor]

I've tried two devices to try and control them because I wanted to avoid having things on fire in the back yard with the kids when possible (tiki torches/ citronella candles).

The stinger bug zapper got lots of other bugs and insects, but didn't do much for skeets at all (even with the attractant chemical addon). It was also VERY loud when it zapped them, and the unit stopped working completely after about 6 weeks. My opinion is this thing is not helpful for controlling mosquitoes at all.

The Mosquito Magnet Patriot. This thing uses electricity and propane gas to attract mosquitoes and trap them. The jury's still out on this one, I bought it used for about $150 and have been struggling to keep the thing running. It has captured some mosquitoes but certainly hasn't come anywhere close to living up to the manufacturers claims about the product. It's expensive, uses about a tank of propane a month, and some electricity. So far, I can't say I'd recommend it; but I've heard a lot of people rave about them. Maybe I should have not gone with a used one. The manufacturer site is here: http://www.mosquitomagnet.com/store/mosquito-magnet-traps/mm4100 in case you're curious.

I'm using the mosquito magnet and bug spray at the moment, but I'm thinking I'm going to have to switch back to the standard tiki torch/citronella candle methods as summer approaches.

[Jbonnette]

I think we'll try a Martin house and some tiki torches. I was considering the bug zapper, but it doesn't sound like they do any good. Thanks for all the input!

[madwil]

I also have a fogger- about $60-70 bucks at Home Depot/Lowes, $10 for a quart of juice. They have electric or propane ones....
If you get one, you need to fog initially 3 times, about 3-4 days apart (1 weekend, midweek, next weekend)
Then about every 2 weeks after
This kills the current generation, the current eggs as they hatch, and the next generation... the 2 weeks after is to kill those trying to move in on you!
I use about 2 quarts a year, when I lived in S Georgia, similar climate to Louisianna...

[Poconos]

I bought one of these things used on Ebay maybe 10 years ago for around $500.
http://www.dynafog.com/foggers/pje/trailblazer/index.htm
I've got a pretty large area and use a permethrin insecticide in a diesel fuel carrier. Generates a pretty good fog. Do the lawn, bushes, poolhouse, and anywhere bugs like to be. Even stick the snoot in a gopher hole and fog under the pool deck. The insecticide concentrate was expensive too and cost somewhere around $300 then but was enough to make something like 90 gallons. The model I have is supposed to work with a water base too but I found the fog isn't nearly as 'foggy' as the diesel base. An exterminator friend uses a slightly bigger version to do the local fairgrounds in the Fall. http://www.dynafog.com/foggers/pje/golden_eagle/index.htm
The company has quite a variety of foggers.
Trick is to find one cheap. People that get them tend to hold onto them.
Al

[PoolDoc]

Keep in mind that it takes at LEAST a year to get martins established - so they won't help you at all this year. You may want to put up martin houses for the future AND try one of the other methods, for now. The links below might help you distinguish effective and ineffective methods.

Of course, you could employ the VERY effective method common to Florida (and hardly anywhere else): a screen house, enclosing your pool! That pretty much works immediately.

PoolDoc

PS: There is also some question about just how effective martins really are:
http://purplemartin.org/update/MosCont.html

http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/health/mosquitoes/mosquito.htm

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef005.asp

[PoolDoc]

All links archived at thread 10844.

[keastman]

Not to rain on the purple martin parade but.... I adore purple martins and used to have a registered colony when I lived on a lake in NYS. I miss them very much and wish I now lived where I could attract a colony. However, it is a bit of a myth about mosquito control. Their diet consists of less than 3% mosquitos. In fact a large portion of their diet in season is dragon flies and damselflies. Unfortunately, the nymph stages of these flies are a major aquatic predator of mosquito larva. So, in theory, purple martin colonies would lead to increased local mosquito populations. But by all means put up some houses, they are beautiful birds to watch and you will never regret having them around. Unless you like to sleep late, they are a very sweet sounding alarm clock as they start their day.

[kelemvor]

Just following up on the Mosquito Magnet thing I mentioned above (http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?10844-Controlling-Mosquitos&p=69851#post69851). I sent my unit off to be serviced, and $180 later it came back working perfectly. It's only been running for 3 days now in my yard and already has what must be well over 20 mosquitoes in the trap chamber. I'm thinking this thing is going to work out well - just don't buy a used one unless you're sure it's in good working order. For what I paid for the device + repair I could have saved money buying it new.

The EPA page linked above by pooldoc provides a reference to the "American Mosquito Control Association" which has a page talking about these devices here (http://www.mosquito.org/traps).

[Nebuchadnezzar]

This is just anecdotal but I've never had a mosquito problem around my pool in the summer, and in GA they are everywhere. I think the secret is that we have bats that live near the house (probably in one of my neighbor's houses, no caves around here as far as I know). They are harmless to people and unless you know what to look for most people think they're just birds. You can mount bat houses to attract them. I think it's pretty cool, especially when I'm swimming at dusk and watch them zooming around and then diving down to grab a drink of water from the pool! And from what I know about them they eat a ton of mosquitoes and other flying insects. Then again, it could also be the tree frogs. Or both. But I've never felt like I needed anything else to stop skeeters.

[Watermom]

I think it's pretty cool, especially when I'm swimming at dusk and watch them zooming around and then diving down to grab a drink of water from the pool!

You gotta be kidding! If I was in my pool and bats were dive-bombing around me, I'd be freaking out!

(Quit laughing, Ben!!)

[Nebuchadnezzar]

You gotta be kidding! If I was in my pool and bats were dive-bombing around me, I'd be freaking out!

(Quit laughing, Ben!!)

It's only happened once or twice, like most animals they avoid people. FWIW my wife saw that happen and immediately went underwater in case one of them got in her hair (which they don't do). I think it's worth it to be able to go outside without lathering waterproof DEET all over myself. But then I don't mind spiders hanging around the corners and killing houseflies either. My mother probably let me watch too much "Wild America" when I was a kid.

[kelemvor]

I'm with watermom on this one. I do see bats in my area going from tree to tree around dusk but I've never seen one dive into my pool. I would not be a happy camper.

[sunlove]

Bats...specifically mexican free-tailed bats love to eat em. Lots of fun to sit in the pool and watch them too, sometimes they will dive down for a drink. I live in deep east texas so I feel your pain on the mosquitos. Some neighbors have a pond about a 100 yards away and they are terrible :(