Mosquito control - traps? Bat houses? What are my options?

[Jason Green]

You say: "Please don't suggest sprays or burning coils, they are both poison and just treat the problem, not getting to the source."

So what do you mean by "getting to the source"? Aren't mosquitoes the problem? Or do you mean treating the water to kill the larvae...oops, that's poison too.

IF you really want to get to the source, drain all klongs in your mooban and the surrounding ones and keep all areas dry. Do not water plants or irrigate. Get everyone to follow your lead. Bring in industrial foggers (the local governments have them) and drop a thick blanket all over the entire area (they used to do my mooban before, about every 3 months). You'll know the folks as they look like men from Ghostbusters.

Wrap all dogs and birds and animals in cello wrap to ensure that the mosquitoes that do survive will have nothing to feed on. Eat 15 cloves of garlic a day. Buy an amulet of the Buddhist saint of mosquito avengers. Stop taking showers. Slather your body with tamarind sap -- don't forget the back of your hands! Don't exhale, ever.

Things should be looking up already.....

I just meant I would like to kill/prevent/capture/control them, not just repel them with poisons. The coils seem to bother me more than they do the mosquitoes! And the sheer amount of them would not even be phased by sprays... they'd be back in 20 min in full force.

But LOL re: the rest of this msg... Lets hope it doesn't get to these extreme measures! ;-)

[Jason Green]

I can't advise re the mosquitos, but do not do anything that might attract bats.

Unless you want huge problems. (Think tons of guano causing your ceilings to collapse).

They are real pests and very, very hard to get rid of. And they will not stay in their houses when your house offers a nice roof space instead.

Speaking form long and bitter experience....

Geckos and jing=choks eat mosquitoes too, as do frogs. And certain types of fish will consume the mosquito larva though maybe no help if they are breeding in a site not on your property.

There are already geckoes and frogs in the yard. They are not doing the trick. But in the same boat, I also notice that there are bats flying around. I think even if there were bats living in a "bat house" on site, they still wouldn't be swooping down into the yard and garden where all the bloodsuckers are biting humans.

So maybe bats aren't the answer afterall! The more I look at all the options, I think having a couple of the big fan traps, and maybe some of the yeast/bottle traps is the answer.

I'd like to check out one of the propane powered traps, but i imagine they are pretty expensive? In USA they range $500-$800. Anyone bought one here?

[Jason Green]

Hahaha Yeah... pretty much! Bats? Dangerous? Never heard of them being a problem for any human in my lifetime. I'll take mosquito-eating bats any day over blood sucking / dengue fever carrying mosquitos!

Google Hendra virus. I think it is currently running at a 50% human fatality rate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henipavirus

"No infection of humans or other species have been observed in Cambodia, Thailand or Africa thus far."

Looks like that only occurs in India and Bangladesh.

[Trujillo]

All joking aside, I have lived in Asia/SE Asia for 29 years....citronella and circulating air.
They will get in the house, but that's life. The odds of you having complications from a mosquito here is roughly the same as being sucked into a Portable Electric and Propane Mosquito Trap with Lure.

...and get an electric mosquito paddle. Fun and useful.

[Naam]

Yep I heard the mosquito trap works - they even sell them at Home Pro -

but make ur own - Cut higher than 1/2 way. (Place some way, away from where you want to sit.)

Also buy or make the biggest size mosquito net to use out doors.

(IF u find a Cotton one - let me know)

Use available walls terrraces overhangs or huge garden umbrellas to form a roof

then u can be inside - outside.... Much cooler

(Use water proof spay for umbrella then sit out in rain showers ...)

dive in your pool, stay under water and you are safe. most known species of mosquitos can neither swim nor dive.

[Naam]

I can't advise re the mosquitos, but do not do anything that might attract bats.

Unless you want huge problems. (Think tons of guano causing your ceilings to collapse).

They are real pests and very, very hard to get rid of. And they will not stay in their houses when your house offers a nice roof space instead.

Speaking form long and bitter experience....

Geckos and jing=choks eat mosquitoes too, as do frogs. And certain types of fish will consume the mosquito larva though maybe no help if they are breeding in a site not on your property.

i do remember your earlier posting on bats Sheryl describing the guano problem. but if the bats which hunt insects around our home when it's dark would like our attic they would have settled there a long time ago.

[Jason Green]

All joking aside, I have lived in Asia/SE Asia for 29 years....citronella and circulating air.

They will get in the house, but that's life. The odds of you having complications from a mosquito here is roughly the same as being sucked into a Portable Electric and Propane Mosquito Trap with Lure.

...and get an electric mosquito paddle. Fun and useful.

I have an electric mosquito paddle... they are indeed fun! Very satisfying when you get one and POP! ZAP! And they are useful. Especially for killing the ones that make it into the house. But I don't really wanna have to wield two of them like some sort of mosquito swatting Bruce Lee every time I go into the yard.

And all joking aside, a good friend of mine got Dengue Fever last year in Phuket. While it may be rare, I'd rather try to do anything I can to minimize the the amount of mosquitoes in the yard. Not only for health, but for straight up ANNOYANCE alone. Can't walk two feet without getting swarmed, really damn annoying.

After reviewing the options, I'd say a couple of strong homemade fan traps are prob the best choice. Position the two where they point toward the bushes/trees where more mosquitoes hang out. Maybe those combined w some of the bottle/yeast traps. Less mosquitoes is better than more mosquitoes!

[chickonabike]

First of all, you need to remove any and all standing water in and around your property as best you can. Mosquitos breed in still, standing water. All of the water features, ponds and decorative features holding the guppies you thought would eat the mosquitos are actually providing a breeding ground for them.

Then, start taking large doses of Vitamin B Complex. Vitamin B Complex makes your sweat smell awful to mosquitos and they will not bite you. VBitamin B is water soluble so your body will expekl any of the vitamin you don't need but the mosquitos bites will drop off significantly.

If you have to have a water feature, as per Thai tradition, put bleach in the water.

[searcher22]

Then, start taking large doses of Vitamin B Complex. Vitamin B Complex makes your sweat smell awful to mosquitos and they will not bite you. VBitamin B is water soluble so your body will expekl any of the vitamin you don't need but the mosquitos bites will drop off significantly.

1: Nobody should be taking "large doses" of ANY vitamins.

2: Recent scientific tests have shown beyond a doubt that Vitamin B does not provide any type of protection against mosquitoes.

The only thing to have been proven 100% effective against mosquitoes is DEET.

[Trujillo]

Then, start taking large doses of Vitamin B Complex. Vitamin B Complex makes your sweat smell awful to mosquitos and they will not bite you.

False.

------

What's wrong with citronella? It works, doesn't stain, isn't poison and you can actually make it yourself.

[sean in udon]

Some people don't seem to be bothered by the little sh*ts and some people can't go anywhere without attracting them.

As a member of the latter group I've tried plenty of the suggested natural repellents including high doses of vitamin B complex, marmite and garlic. I've even tried these three at the same time.

The garlic seems to help a little but nothing beats DEET. I spray it on my clothes and try to keep the exposed skin to a minimum, thus reducing the amount of DEET I put directly onto my skin.

If you try any of the traps, fans, etc please post an update, I'm interested in killing as many mosquitoes as possible and reducing my usage of DEET.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Jason Green]

Then, start taking large doses of Vitamin B Complex. Vitamin B Complex makes your sweat smell awful to mosquitos and they will not bite you. VBitamin B is water soluble so your body will expekl any of the vitamin you don't need but the mosquitos bites will drop off significantly.

1: Nobody should be taking "large doses" of ANY vitamins.

2: Recent scientific tests have shown beyond a doubt that Vitamin B does not provide any type of protection against mosquitoes.

The only thing to have been proven 100% effective against mosquitoes is DEET.

Natural mosquito repellants (the spray on kind) are effective. But they smell pretty strong. I am just not a fan of putting poison (DEET) on my skin. There's a reason mosquitoes don't want anything to do with it.

"One study found that DEET causes diffuse brain cell death and behavioral changes in rats, and researchers suggest that humans may experience memory loss, headache, weakness, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, tremors and shortness of breath with heavy exposure to DEET and other insecticides."

The same article indicates that a very good repellant is Avon Skin-So-Soft® bath oil mixed half and half with rubbing alcohol.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/06/07/mosquito-bites.aspx

But ideally I would like to reduce the population in the yard, not just ward them off w/repellants.

Edited April 2, 2014 by Jason Green

[Jason Green]

Some people don't seem to be bothered by the little sh*ts and some people can't go anywhere without attracting them.

As a member of the latter group I've tried plenty of the suggested natural repellents including high doses of vitamin B complex, marmite and garlic. I've even tried these three at the same time.

The garlic seems to help a little but nothing beats DEET. I spray it on my clothes and try to keep the exposed skin to a minimum, thus reducing the amount of DEET I put directly onto my skin.

If you try any of the traps, fans, etc please post an update, I'm interested in killing as many mosquitoes as possible and reducing my usage of DEET.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Will do! I will say that i definitely plan on building at least one of the fan traps. Those YouTube videos were impressive! That dude had handfuls of dead mosquitoes in a 24 hr period. Certainly can't hurt! It seems more of the bloodsucking bastards hang out in the plants/garden area... so i plan on pointing one ore more strong fan trap that way, to suck in as many as possible.

First of all, you need to remove any and all standing water in and around your property as best you can. Mosquitos breed in still, standing water. All of the water features, ponds and decorative features holding the guppies you thought would eat the mosquitos are actually providing a breeding ground for them.

It was my understanding that the guppies would eat any larva. There are 10 guppies in there per pot! Smaller pots, about 1 foot around. I guess I could always get rid of those... but they kinda come with the house. Maybe just turn them into regular plants. But my friend is doing this (guppies) in Phuket and it's proved effective. No larva, no mosquitoes. But I agree that standing water = BAD! Maybe better to be safe than sorry and just nix the water pots.

[sean in udon]

The guppies should be eating any/all mossie larvae.

The larvae are very easy to spot, as are the empty 'skeletons' they leave behind when emerging from the water. If you can't see any then I'd assume the guppies are doing their job.

Keep the pots.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[searcher22]

Then, start taking large doses of Vitamin B Complex. Vitamin B Complex makes your sweat smell awful to mosquitos and they will not bite you.

False.

------

What's wrong with citronella? It works, doesn't stain, isn't poison and you can actually make it yourself.

Citronella and other natural products only work for short periods of time (an hour or two), if at all. You then need to re-apply. When it comes to Dengue, I prefer to use the heavy artillery (DEET). No half-measures for me.

[Trujillo]

There are shops where you can buy the ingredients for citronella spray (the ingredients are on the bottle and the percentages). You can alter the strength. As for the smell, it's just oil essence of lemongrass. It really only smells strongly right as and after you apply it.

I've never heard of anyone, no matter what they use, to eliminate mozzies from their environment. Let's face it, even in the Midwest US where the winters get to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit, the mosquitoes keep coming back in the spring. And this is a state-wide phenomenon. Trying to control your 100 square wah property (or whatever) is a "Little Dutch Boy" scenario.

[BKKdreaming]

I tried the Tesco 300 baht plug in zapper , it might work on some of the mozzies but it does not seem to get all of them...

and I am not sure if a 3000 baht zapper is any better !

[Jason Green]

The guppies should be eating any/all mossie larvae.

The larvae are very easy to spot, as are the empty 'skeletons' they leave behind when emerging from the water. If you can't see any then I'd assume the guppies are doing their job.

Keep the pots.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I was at the property yesterday and double checked the water pots. The guppies are doing a top notch job in two of the pots, zero mosquito larva

BUT! In the third pot, for some reason the guppies have died. And as a result? TONS of mosquito larva!

I wonder why the guppies died? I will say that the pots are not all that huge, and my girlfriend went a bit heavy-handed on the guppies, 10 per pot! Probably a bit too many.

I am going to dump, clean, and re-do that pot. Maybe start a bit smaller on the guppy population, 5 sounds like a more realistic number. Only problem is i know they are basically the rabbits of the water world! One pot already has babies in it. So I guess having a large population of guppies is somewhat unavoidable...

[sean in udon]

Lots of possibilities re the pot of dead guppies.

Could be positioned where it gets too much sun and they overheated.

Overpopulation may lead to a few dying at once and there bodies decomposing, causing the death of the survivors.

Could have been something in the pot which caused problems with the water.

Think you are doing the right thing, with the dump, clean and restart.

With regard to the guppy babies, they should create a natural balance. It's been a long time since I kept fish, but if overpopulation starts to happen, generally the little ones become a food source as other food becomes scarce - if I remember rightly. Not quite the same situation as overpopulation with adults.

The good news is, it looks like the pots are working. And you had the satisfaction of killing TONS of mozzie larvae.

It may take a while for you to break the cycle. Whichever water source the mozzies are currently emerging from, will probably have a good supply of mozzie larvae. As they start using your pots and the guppies have a feast, the numbers should diminish. But as mentioned, before, eradication is probably only a dream. They are survivors. Mate of mine in the UK has a scrap yard and one day he showed me a broken tea cup with about an inch of water in. It wasn't full of them, but there was a good number of mozzie larvae in there.

[MoD1977]

Hi,

i have a little diffrent Problem.

On my Land i empty everything (Pool, Pot and all sort of small Plants) so i think there is no Living space for them.

But the Problem is my Neighbor.

Their Pool is not used and cleaned for years so it is a paradise for the mozzies.

They are also not offten here and dont want to do anything against the mozzies, also dont want to empty the pool.

I found on an US Website a sort of Tablets you can put it in any sort of standing Water and it kills the larves for 1 Mounth.

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/bti-mosquito-dunks-p-323.html

I cant found this Tablets here in Thailand and also the Guy from the Pestpatrol dont know/understand for what i want this tablets.

Does anybody know if i can get this here or know a solution for the Problem?

thanks

MoD

Edited May 31, 2014 by MoD1977

[sean in udon]

Depending how you feel about anything else that maybe living in the pool, chuck some chlorine in. Will kill all plant life and algae in there. Then the larvae have no food.

Put enough chlorine in there and it'll kill all the larvae as well.

Have no idea about the price of chlorine, so don't know how cost effective it would be.

Or put some fish in there.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[wolf5370]

Hi,

i have a little diffrent Problem.

On my Land i empty everything (Pool, Pot and all sort of small Plants) so i think there is no Living space for them.

But the Problem is my Neighbor.

Their Pool is not used and cleaned for years so it is a paradise for the mozzies.

They are also not offten here and dont want to do anything against the mozzies, also dont want to empty the pool.

I found on an US Website a sort of Tablets you can put it in any sort of standing Water and it kills the larves for 1 Mounth.

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/bti-mosquito-dunks-p-323.html

I cant found this Tablets here in Thailand and also the Guy from the Pestpatrol dont know/understand for what i want this tablets.

Does anybody know if i can get this here or know a solution for the Problem?

thanks

MoD

Either sneak in a pour a bottle or two of cooking oil in it - will float on top and drown the lavae - or drop in a bag of guppies (if the water is clean enough). Can plead ignorance to both, if they ever notice.

[wolf5370]

Hahaha Yeah... pretty much! Bats? Dangerous? Never heard of them being a problem for any human in my lifetime. I'll take mosquito-eating bats any day over blood sucking / dengue fever carrying mosquitos!

Google Hendra virus. I think it is currently running at a 50% human fatality rate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henipavirus

"No infection of humans or other species have been observed in Cambodia, Thailand or Africa thus far."

Looks like that only occurs in India and Bangladesh.

No, but bats are one of the biggest carriers of rabies. Rare to get bitten by them though. The only cases of rabbis in the UK (other than people returning from over seas already with it) - were both in Scotland and came from bats that flew there from the continent!