Controlling Mosquitos

[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. 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.

[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