Spryte Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Ok, I need tips. DD is allergic and swells horribly with every bite. Our backyard is semi-wooded, landscaped, and backs to a pond that is full of wildlife. It is used frequently - we have a fire pit area, a gazebo with sitting area, and a dining area on a deck with one of those fabric covered gazebos, plus a bunch of other areas that are heavy use. We're out a lot. We use the dunks in all standing water. We're considering a company that comes out every three weeks but concerned about the environmental impact. For special events, we have a fogger but that only lasts a few hours. And I worry about the wildlife. We live in frog heaven. It can't be good for them. I just learned today that trimming some of the lower branches, to keep our tree canopy high, will help. How did we not know this?! That seems like a good start for natural solutions. What else am I missing? Are there other cool tricks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyS Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 If you own the pond stock it with mosquito eating fish. That will be your biggest help. If your dd likes to play in certain areas you can use thermacell, but it won't cover your whole yard. Bat and martin houses are supposed to help, but I'm not convinced. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted June 10, 2016 Author Share Posted June 10, 2016 If you own the pond stock it with mosquito eating fish. That will be your biggest help. If your dd likes to play in certain areas you can use thermacell, but it won't cover your whole yard. Bat and martin houses are supposed to help, but I'm not convinced. Thank you. Excellent ideas! We do have the pond stocked, so I'll check to see that the fish eat mosquitoes. That is great to hear about bats and martins. We have empty bat houses and Martin houses. We've given up attracting martins - we don't seem to have the right space to attract them, not a clear enough area. Such a bummer. I'll have to read up on how to attract bats. Anything is worth a try. Off to research thermacell, haven't heard of it... Any other no-brainer tips I should have thought of? The tree branches really threw me for a loop. I can't believe we didn't think of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Also, what's the plant cover on the pond? I've found that DD's fully planted test ponds where you can barely see the surface of the water get much less mosquito larvae than when they don't have as much plant cover, even when they're the same size and both have dunks in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted June 10, 2016 Author Share Posted June 10, 2016 Also, what's the plant cover on the pond? I've found that DD's fully planted test ponds where you can barely see the surface of the water get much less mosquito larvae than when they don't have as much plant cover, even when they're the same size and both have dunks in place. Lots of lily pads. Pond cover varies a bit, but it's there. We have a huge frog pop, turtles, beavers and snakes. I don't want to mess too much with it as it all seems pretty healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TammyS Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 If you own the pond stock it with mosquito eating fish. That will be your biggest help. If your dd likes to play in certain areas you can use thermacell, but it won't cover your whole yard. Bat and martin houses are supposed to help, but I'm not convinced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renthead Mommy Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 So funny you posted this. The boy and I were literally just discussing how the Moose Lodge the boy scouts meet at when school is closed is so mosquito infested. And the fact that he needs to come up with a service project for Life Scout. We were just discussing bat houses as his project. I will have him look into the Martin's houses as well. One of the admin guys had the town/county pest guy out to evaluate the place and he told him they aren't regular mosquitoes like from standing water, but "tree mosquitoes". Neither he or I had ever heard of that before. Does anyone know if there is a differenent way to get rid of 'tree mosquitos' since standing water is apparently not an issue? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamanthaCarter Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Clean out all of the underbrush and keep the gutters on your house very clean. Have them cleaned at least twice a year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted June 10, 2016 Share Posted June 10, 2016 Do they still sell Mosquito Magnets? My parents have a couple, it somehow emits CO2 which attracts and traps the mosquitos. They have two on their property and it has cut way down on the mosquitos. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Here's a link: http://www.mosquitomagnet.com/ I have no idea which model my parents have, they have had them about 10 years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted June 11, 2016 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Build bat houses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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