Safe ways to manage mosquitoes/bugs in your backyard??

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Some years are worse than others, check around for standing water, mow a little shorter, and spray your self with a good repellent...no seems get me this year really bad at sundown

 

[Gone Quackers]

Thank you everybody for your ideas! There are so many unique ones that I would have never thought of! Now I have a good place to start getting this under control

dretd, you wanted some clarification with what kind of bugs I had? I have mosquitoes (which seem to be the most annyoing) and then little knats

 

[dretd]

I really can't speak for the gnats, sorry.

As for mosquitoes, we have a 'stream' that runs by the house which is really a stagnant ditch and a breeding ground for all sorts of insects with aquatic larvae. My nemesis are Deerflies. I would take all sorts of mosquitoes over Deerflies. If you have any luck with those I am all ears!

As mentioned before, a cornerstone of mosquito control is management of all stagnant water (I can't control mine because of the stream). There are larvicides you can use that have a bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis that will kill off the larvae. You can use these in ponds and such. I have horse tanks and just put guppies and goldfish in the tanks and and they eat the larvae as they are hatched. The guppies will not survive my cold winter, but the goldfish will.

The Mosquito Magnet I have heard is really good, but is out of my price range.

I used to have a bug zapper I would turn on at night and it really worked very well, if you can get used to the zzapping. Our neighbors have one outside their bedroom that I can hear 200 feet away. Some folks complain they are non-selective but honestly there were very few other insects at the base of the unit, just a big old pile of dead mosquitoes and a few moths.

We have a large number of barn swallows that I have encouraged to breed and multiply and they have eaten so many mosquitoes I didn't get a new lamp for the zzapper when it went bad and we are really doing quite well without it so far.

As for DE, it will only work if there is direct contact with the insect exoskeleton such as grain beetles. I personally tried it for mite control and it did not work at all for me for that application. I know some folks even feed it to animals and to themselves, but it is really hearsay and I have found no studies to support its use as an internal parasiticide.

I have a very organic friend that uses concentrated vinegar sprays (via a 2 gallon sprayer) on any plants she wants to get rid of. It requires repeated application but is very safe, if you don't mind your yard smelling like a salad

 

[Gone Quackers]

Oh wow! You are so helpful

I cannot belive all the info you just gave me. I belive the problem I have stems from our creek that runs past our yard. It is usually it is low this time of year, but with the crazy weather we have been getting it has stayed high.

It sounds like my best option is the bug zapper? That or I could concider breaking out the tools and making some bat houses or make a better habitat for the swallows!

 

[BigECarter]

"I would take all sorts of mosquitoes over Deerflies. If you have any luck with those I am all ears!"

We have yellow flies and have had some success with the beach ball/tanglefoot trap: http://www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/doc/dept/public_works/mosquito_control/yellow_flies.pdf

 

[dretd]

"I would take all sorts of mosquitoes over Deerflies. If you have any luck with those I am all ears!"

We have yellow flies and have had some success with the beach ball/tanglefoot trap: http://www.co.okaloosa.fl.us/doc/dept/public_works/mosquito_control/yellow_flies.pdf

Thanks for the tip! I already have tanglefoot as I tried a method described for them last summer that entailed painting blue pots, cups and balls with tanglefoot and trying to attract them with movement including driving around to troll for them. I even attached one to the top of a hat and drove around on my lawn tractor (thankfully it didn't occur to my hubby get a camera until after I was done

) to no avail.

I was going to tweak it this summer-- I just got attacked this last week. I was going to start with flesh colored balls but now I think I will start with ones painted shiny black