Question:
Probably pushing the envelope posting this here but don't know where else I
might be able to reach other home owners..
I have seen these (rather expensive) contraptions that claim to trap and
kill mosquitos, by replicating the scent of animals (humans) and are powered
by a propane tank.
I recently saw one at Home Depot, made by Coleman. It sorta looks like a
giant Coleman lantern..This one seems to be a bit simpler than the ones that
have fan powered traps..It appears to have some sort of "sticky paper" that
traps em..The price is really less too, under 200 bucks and it comes with
this little electric mosquito repeller that you sit on the table, ect and it
is supposed to "jam" the mosquitos sensors...The webpage says it will run
for 45 days on one tank (the size you use on your barbeque)
Anyone use any of these and do they work?? Seems worth it if they do..Here
in Austin, skeeters can get pretty bad..Heck I went outside by my pool the
other evening and my poor ankles got ate up!
Answer:
Just my opinion, but based on the experience of a friend here (upstate NY) who
has lots of barbques on his farm, right next to his bass pond, a bat house is a
better idea. He put one in two summers ago, in late June. It was occupied within
2 weeks (he saw the U-Haul truck pull away), and the bats were hard at work
pretty much right away. I've never seen one come closer than 20 feet, and nobody
- I mean NOBODY is scared of them, not even ladies who say they'll die if they
see a mouse. Most of the time, you don't even see or hear the bats. And the
mosquito situation's MUCH better.
I've read reviews of electric bug killers and I wonder if the conclusion could
be extended to the propane things: They both attract bugs. Maybe more than you'd
have in the yard to begin with, and they don't kill all the bugs before the bugs
find YOU. Bats don't do that. And considering that mosquitoes carry some nasty
diseases, like West Nile virus, any nonsense about bats carrying rabies is
probably irrelevant. The chances of both are slim.
