Annual blood donations

last year

to mosquitoes will soon be in full swing. Keeping rainwater storage free of wiggle tails requires never ending vigilance and effort. For the longest I couldn't figure how they managed to get past screen. The only logical explanation is that eggs are laid in gutters and wet debris then washed into barrels. A tiny bit of vegetable oil will spread on surface to suffocate wigglers but a spoon full of oil turns into far more slime causing a mess on withdrawal.

Last week as I contemplated dumping another barrel with a million wigglers and hope to catch fresh water, I got an idea. I placed a piece of cling wrap covering only about 25% of water surface. To my amazement, population had decreased over 50% couple hours later. I looked the following day and only saw a a few that were much smaller than before. Evidently some hatched in the interim but they to were gone later. Oh happy days, what could be simpler without leaving a trace? With experimentation I found thicker plastic dropped through opening of less than full large containers unfolded onto surface. I've already fabricated a hook on long handle to retrieve plastic should it find it's way to drain valve.

Featured Answer

A Mat

last year

Have you considered using mosquito dunks?

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Comments (8)

annpat
last year
How does this work, Klem?
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klem1
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
It suffocates them ann. The wiggler must surface often to take air and there's no air between plastic sheet and water.
klem1
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
A Mat if by considered using you mean have I entertained thoughts of using dunks the answer is no. I don't want chemicals in water and that's why I'm not using water from a hydrant.
A Mat
last year
Dunks are made from naturally occuring bacteria.
socks
last year
I use Mosquito Bits in my pond. I don't want the crumbles in my pond or filter, so I mix the appropriate amount of Bits with water in a watering can and let them soak a bit, then pour it into the pond through a sieve screen. The Mosquito Bits people told me how to do this. The product does not kill fish or plants or animals in the pond.
vgkg Z-7 Va
last year
I empty out anything that may catch rain water except for just one trap container. Then I'll monitor that container daily for the wigglers. Once they are present, then dump.
PRO
beesneeds
last year
I saw a fun idea recently. Use feeder fish. A few of the cheap ones from the pet department. They eat the critters, leave extra nutes in the water. And if they die in the fall... hey, they just feeder goldfish. I'm not sure I would do it, but sounds fun. I do have some froggie friends that hang out close to my kitchen tank, and that area does seem to often have less wrigglers than some others do.

An alternative to using a drop of oil is using a drop of dish soap or shampoo- it also breaks the surface tension of the water.

A solar fountain in the tank will cure skeeters too.

I used to bother more with this sort of thing when we first moved in. But our property hosts three ponds, a creek, and some low wets... sort of moot to work to keep a tank clear of them. The get in from gutter debris, they get in any opening big enough to fly/walk into, when you take the cover off, by stinkin'skeeter magic, sigh.

As a silver lining. We have a wonderful and diverse array of dragonflies and damselflies. Praying mantis in various colors are common. A great bird population and froggie one. It's noisy as hell all warm season, lol. And a blessing of jewelweed and broadleaf plantain in abundance, lol.