Question:
it's about that time of year again when I look out my window
wanting to do more work in my yard, but finding myself not wanting to
because of the mosquitos here in NC. I don't like deet or chemical
sprays on my skin - they just annoy me. My lovely wife is not
bothered at all by mosquitos she says they don't bite her - I eat the
same as her, etc. but why do they bug me?
Last year, I tried the catnip trick where I grew a ton of catnip and
crushed the leaves and rubbed them on my skin. I rubbed them on till
my skin turned green, but it didn't help. Mosquitos still got me :(
I've been researching these Mosquito magnets for over a year and find
mixed reviews. My Mom bought one and sent it back. But I don't think
she moved it to adjust for wind or anything. Just plugged it in and
still got bitten. Someone posted to Google that you need to hang a
used sweat sock from the thing to get it to work. Mom didn't do that
either.... Do any of you have luck with the magnet?
I've heard of some blue light thing that attracts mosquitos and does a
good job but that's all they said is it's called a blue light. can't
find anything about it.
I also tried the "yard guard" spray last year, but it didn't work for
even 5 minutes.
I find the mosquitos lingering around my rain barrel. They cannot get
in, but I think they sense the water so they swarm it. Someone told
me if I put some goldfish in the barrel and removed the cover netting,
they'd kill off all the mosquitos. That doesn't make much sense to
me. Will the "dunks" do it?
Answer:
-The mosquito magnet saved my yard. We have wetlands on the back of our
property and the mosquitoes were so bad that unless one was standing in
direct sun you were swarmed.
When we put it out the problem was quickly resolved but we didn't get hardly
any mosquitoes in the net. We got it toward the end of the season and
weren't sure why we weren't getting bitten but we could always tell when it
ran out of gas, that's when we'd start to get bitten again. Last year we put
it out first thing in spring and weren't bothered at all, spring, summer and
fall--even though there never seemed to be many bugs in the bag. In addition
to getting the mosquitoes, it collected a ton of little black biting bugs, I
think they are No-See-Ums.
I think the trick is that you have to pay up for the commercial model, I've
seen reports that the home model doesn't have enough suction. I have mine
placed south west of the wetlands.
-the goldfish will eat the mosquito larva in the water. the dunks will
kill the larva. it would be a good idea to use either of these
approaches, but that will only take care of one breeding area.
