Mosquitoes?

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trinityoaks

trinityoaks

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Where we lived before, it was so dry we almost NEVER had mosquitoes. Here the mosquitoes have been REALLY bad in the last week or two. And it doesn't help that our back yard has a low spot where water collects from the sprinklers and the rain.

We have FINALLY finished our bunny shelter, and we're planning to move the bunnies in tomorrow. Will the mosquitoes bother the bunnies, or is their fur enough protection?
 
Frosted Rabbits":2kgd9k11 said:
Mosquitoes will bite the edges of ears, through the thin hair on the face, etc---
Click to expand...
So what can I do, other than doing my best to get rid of the standing water? We've already turned off the sprinkler system for the winter and will run them manually only as needed. How can I keep the mosquitoes out of their shelter without turning it into a sauna?
 
We have quite a few mosquitoes here in the spring/early summer, but they don't seem to bother the rabbits all that much. Unless you see that your rabbits are distressed by them, I wouldn't worry about it at all.
 
Can you grow catnip where you are, Trinity? I have found it to be an effective mosquito and fly repellent. When the mosquitoes are very bad, I have sometimes hung bunches of fresh catnip in the rabbitry - or put it on top of the cages. I bruise it to release the scent whenever I am in there and it does seem to help.
 
You can get screen door mesh in large rolls for fairly cheap around here and that will not block air flow. I put it on all the windows and over the door wire to our chicken coops so when it was shut no bugs (or small snakes) could get in. It's pretty standard in the midwest to cover every opening with small enough mesh to reduce the number of bugs that get in. One year the mosquitos were so bad that in the couple minutes it took my large dog to run out, pee, and run back her entire head would be swollen. She'd actually be unable to see through the swelling from them attacking the skin around her eyes with less fur. We found lemongrass and mint were the best mosquito deterrents. As a spray on animals it will stop all mosquitos for a few hours and when applied to the wood door frame cut the mosquito and gnat numbers entering the buildings in half for several days before needing reapplied. Simple crushed mint and lemongrass or essential oil sprays proved not to be as useful for humans since sweating would run it right off the skin but dogs and many other animals don't sweat through their skin so it works until it evaporates or they lick it off.
 
We use a bug zapper to reduce the mosquitoes. It must be at least a 1 1/2 acre model to attract mosquitoes; they won't be attracted to less powerful models. Finding piles of fried mosquitoes below a bug zapper is very satisfying -- or you may not see the piles, as birds find cooked mosquitoes tasty. After a week or two of consistent use, though, you should notice a reduction in the mosquitoes.

Using two 1 1/2 acre zappers, we went from opening the door only to run to or from the car, to being able to garden in two weeks. Eventually, we had almost no mosquitoes. This was almost 20 years ago.

Here, I can't put a zapper in the front yard, so we just have one in the back. It isn't quite as effective on the Asian mosquitoes as it is on the regular ones, but we have still made a huge dent in the mosquito population. We experienced a bump in the population a week after a tropical storm, but it went back down again a few weeks later.
 
There are lots of species of mosquito and not all are bothersome. When hiking in a creek last year we came across some species of very small mosquito. Usually when I get bit I swell up with a lump the size of a nickel. These mosquitos completely covered every bare section of flesh and we didn't even feel them. We hiked for several miles covered head to toe in mosquitos and never suffered a reaction. I wish I had some of those around instead of the typical large mosquitos that cause so much swelling.
 
The Asian Mosquitos are related to the Egyptian -- They carried the West NIle Virus here in a cargo of used tires-- yep-- the entry point for West NIle Virus was in a Texas point-- a load of used tires bought to the US for recycling---I think the US is creating a lot of its own problems ....
 
I live right on the 102 river in NW Missouri, so mosquitoes are a huge issue. They range in size from tiny to Labrador. We won't have power to the rabbit barn, and catnip could cause our cat to be more interested then normal. We put down some snake guard, it smells like fireworks powder, around the chicken coop. It works really good. Too good. It chased the black snake out of the barn and now there is mice. We try to not impact the environment as much as possible. A live and let live philosophy. It works pretty good with the exception of the wasps. What are some scents that might work? I have pennies in bags of water hanging around the house to keep flies down, but that hasn't seemed to work on the mosquitoes.
 
Try mixing citronella, tea tree, and eucalyptus essential oils in something like vegetable oil and spraying it around? Those three work well in soap to keep mosquitoes off but I've never tried it in a surface spray. Shouldn't hurt anything though.
 

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