If you don't spray for mosquitos, what are the best alternatives?
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Anonymous
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You can buy something (a fungus that prevents mosquito eggs from hatching) that goes into a bucket of water. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in the water and that is the end of the process. The eggs do not hatch.
The ingredient is a fungus that is not harmful to birds, dogs, etc. after a bit, the mosquito population will be greatly reduced. |
Anonymous
Darn. These look promising but my property isn't big enough, there's literally no spot that is "at least 80' from where people spend time outdoors." |
Anonymous
| I just ignore them. They'll die quicker than I will, so if they need a quick last meal, that's not a problem. |
Anonymous
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Misquito dunk trap
https://www.audubonva.org/news/how-to-set-up-a-mosquito-larva-trap |
Anonymous
this solution is making rounds on my local nextdoor app. looks promising. I have a pond and I'm told mosquito dunks won't hurt the fish. |
Anonymous
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- you can use one of those new carbon dioxide traps BUT they have to run continuously.
- dunks and addressing standing water on a neighborhood scale. They don’t fly far, but they don’t have to. Check your gutters, too. - native blooming plants, again on a neighborhood scale. More native blooming plants means more pollinators, which means more birds hunting those pollinators and your mosquitos. The day time mosquitos are the invasive tiger mosquitos; bats don’t do much for them because bats, obviously, are active from dusk till dawn. |
Anonymous
| Attract bats and dragon flies. |
Anonymous
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Fans + netting. No stagnant water for 5+ days. Nantucket Spider and similar essential oil deterrents/incense/candles. Attract bats and dragon flies. We have zero issues unless someone (like a neighbor) sprays.
Spraying does NOT work. Mosquitos just fly in from somewhere else and can travel several miles. Just increase the predator pressure-don't spray and get an attractive bat house. Bonus-they're fun to watch and eat 500-3000 insects every night. Dragonflies also eat hundreds of mosquitos every night and even eat them while in larval form-https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/14-fun-facts-about-dragonflies-96882693/ |
Anonymous
| We put buckets with mosquito dunks in our yard (under the deck, near garage, behind swing set, etc). So when they have eggs in the bucket, they never survive. |
Anonymous
It’s true, dunks won’t hurt your fish (or frogs etc). If you put dunks in your pond it essentially becomes a big mosquito trap, like the bucket! Just refresh the dunks as needed (package will tell you how often). I’ve noticed fewer mosquitoes since I put in my pond with dunks. I also now have quite a few dragon flies, and they eat mosquito larvae, too. |
Anonymous
Bumping this because the annual “how do I murder every insect in a mile radius and not feel bad about it?” posts are starting again. If everyone makes these dunk buckets, the mosquito population will be far far reduced. |
Anonymous
| If you use boric acid suppositories, mosquitos will leave you alone. |
Anonymous
Well that’s novel one. Or you could just make those mosquito dunk lure buckets… |
Anonymous
The combo works well. |
Anonymous
| Plant lemon balm, mint, penny royal |