I'm being harassed by mosquitoes, how do i kill them all?

To my knowledge there’s no stagnant water on my property, I’ve run water through all my ptraps, and I’m careful to not leave doors open. Yet at any given time there’s at least 3 in my house. I can’t sleep, i can’t sit on the couch, i can’t exist in the fear of being sucked dry.

The breaking point is when i watched my dog get bit on her head. I’m ready to do whatever it takes and then some. I will kill a man if it saves me from these demons. Any ideas?

teft,
@teft@lemmy.world avatar

Look up how to make a carbon dioxide trap for mosquitoes. They are strongly attracted to CO2.

ablackcatstail,
@ablackcatstail@lemmy.goblackcat.com avatar

Ah that’s right! It is CO2. My mind remembered it as propane for some reason.

SaintWacko,

Please don’t make a propane trap

teawrecks,

Or if you do, make sure to film it.

ColonelSanders,

It’s a clean burning fuel I tell you hwat

erogenouswarzone,
@erogenouswarzone@lemmy.ml avatar

The propaganda from King of the Hill has made for sub-prime cookouts for all my life up until a few months ago.

Believing propane was the superior heating element of the cookout, because of Hank Hill, I never tried a charcoal grill. But when I went to other folks cookouts, it tasted so good. A little sweet and smokiness charred into the meat, “How did they do that?!” I contemplated late into many nights.

I switched to Charcoal after a friendly suggestion, and the difference is mind-blowing. If you’re cooking with propane, you might as well be cooking on a stove.

ColonelSanders,

To be fair, there was an episode of KotH where Bobby and Peggy discover that charcoal was actually superior to propane when it came to taste. It was a whole big thing and hilarious to watch them try to keep it a secret from Hank lol

SocialEngineer56,

In the business we just call that a “bomb” (hard B)

b3nsn0w,
@b3nsn0w@pricefield.org avatar

which B is hard?

late_night,
@late_night@sopuli.xyz avatar

The middle one

ablackcatstail,
@ablackcatstail@lemmy.goblackcat.com avatar

My memory was hazy. It’s actually a CO2 trap. Propane trap would be no bueno! 😹

Dubois_arache,
@Dubois_arache@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

would be malo*

Sheltac,

Muy malo, one might say.

If fire got close to it, it would be muy malo ayayay

Blizzard,

No wonder your momories are hazy, you inhale too much propane.

ikidd,
@ikidd@lemmy.world avatar

Because there’s a unit you can buy that burns propane to make CO2 and pull mosquittos away from you to a different area of the yard.

Pyr_Pressure,

There are traps which are called mosquito magnets and they hook up to a propane tank to burn a small pilot light which produces CO2 to attract mosquitos and pull them into a bag via a fan.

You want to place them at the edge of your property though not close to your deck because they attract mosquitos in order to kill them.

Crisps,

I have tried these. They are expensive to run as you need to burn through a tank of propane each month. They do catch some mosquitoes, but they make little overall difference.

Still looking for a working solution.

MechanicalJester,

Okay then go with the electric ones. I had the propane trap and while it worked well the constant propane tank refill was a drag and I certainly couldn’t afford multiple.

Enter Dynatrap + Mods.

Dynatrap uses an electric light and fan. It works medium but if you put the octenol attractant in the catch basket it really turbocharged it. Want to kill more? Hang a “bug ball” under the trap covered with Tanglefoot spray. Any mosquito that lands on the ball dies there because they are stuck. The ball will be thoroughly disgusting looking quickly but very effective.

I’ve spent many years combating.

The Bt mosquito dunks help for any standing water ( have gutters?)

Encourage swallows, bats, frogs too.

Good luck!

Crisps,

Thanks! I have a dynatrap, I’m going to try this mod!

thebardingreen,
@thebardingreen@lemmy.starlightkel.xyz avatar

This. I knew an engineer once who built a long electrified copper pipe that would leak CO2. He would drink beer on his back porch and watch them die.

nekat_emanresu,

If you get creative you can put maybe a candle floating in the middle of a large bowl of water, then a bit of detergent will break the surface tension to make them fall in. The detergent will also kill them.

mkeee2015,
@mkeee2015@lemm.ee avatar

Watch out! Generating CO2 in enclosed spaces might turn into a health hazard without monitoring it.

CO2 is also “heavy” and tends to sink, so watch out for pets as it could be deadly for them - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Dogs

Joe_0237,

Get a bug zapper with a UV bulb, even if its branded for outdoor use it’ll work fine inside.

oatscoop,

I left my bedroom window open a few times in the summer and came back to a bedroom full of lacewings.

Put up a bug zapper, turned the lights off, and it was no longer a problem a couple hours later. Just had to vacuum up the dead bugs on the floor.

necrxfagivs,

Mosquitoes aren’t attracted to light. You’re only killing moths and other insects with that, maybe some mosquito but not all.

Things that actually attracts mosquitoes:

-Standing Water.

-Carbon Dioxide.

-Strong Fragrances.

-Overgrown Vegetation.

Joe_0237,

I made this simulation to show how effective attraction to a bug light can be an emergent property of a mosquito’s navigation and confinement, even though they are not attracted to light innately.

See my mastodon post.

Thanks for sending me in this direction, its been fun!

holmesandhoatzin,

Normally, I would recommend citronella, either the grass or the candles, but I believe it is toxic to dogs.

I believe lavender, catnip and basil are safe, but they’re all mints and may try to take over your garden or yard. They all grow very well in pots though.

You can also try setting a trap. Put out some soapy water. The females are the ones biting you and they need water to lay eggs. They’ll fall in the water and the soap prevents them from escaping. I haven’t actually tried this with mosquitos, just other pests, but I have friends who swear by it.

zurvan2,

Not serious, but amusing: hackaday.com/…/gas-powered-fly-swatter-slightly-o…

sonstwas,

I counter with friggin Lasers! youtu.be/fH_x3kpG8Z4

wizzor,

Here is what we have done

  • A three piece mosquito net AND a cloth hanging at the door. The combination of two barriers is very effective
  • Stainless steel mosquito netting in a removable frame on all windows (no maintenance abd easy to remove)
  • Same net for all ventilation holes
  • A mosquito magnet CO2 attractor outside
  • A UV bug zapper inside (I don’t like them outside, as they will mostly kill butterflies and other non-annoying insects)
yoz,

Have you considered killing yourself ?

Dinodicchellathicc,

Are you from my other post lol?

newguy208,

Before you go on an omnicide on the entire species, consider planting Neem tree. These naturally repel mosquitoes. You can also get their oil to burn in oil dispenser etc but be warned it stinks like hell. I prefer to have a small pot of it next to the window and once it grows big enough, put it in a permanent place in the ground.

Nomad,

There is nothing about insect repelling qualities for the tree itself in the article you linked.

Krompus,
@Krompus@lemmy.world avatar

I am allied with spiders against mosquitoes and bedbugs. I don’t take down their webs (unless they’re in the way) and they eat hundreds of the fuckers. They’re also fun to watch sometimes.

AlexWIWA,

I wish we could talk to spiders. I’d write an agreement with one that says, as long as it doesn’t crawl on me, it can live in the house. I’ll even build it a little shelf to protect from fan wind.

jballs,
@jballs@sh.itjust.works avatar

I would also include a clause that says I never have to see it ever. It can basically be a roommate that lives in the basement and has their own entrance in the garage.

Boinketh,

We can’t write those agreements, but evolution could do it for us. I know that we kill an insignificant amount of them compared to how many are in the wild, but maybe certain spiders in urban areas could be under enough evolutionary strain to actually get better at staying out of our way.

jballs,
@jballs@sh.itjust.works avatar

Not sure if this is good or bad news for our great (10^6) grandchildren. On the one hand, maybe they’ll see less spiders. On the other hand, urban-camo spiders sounds horrifying.

erogenouswarzone,
@erogenouswarzone@lemmy.ml avatar

I woke up the other night gagging in my sleep. I swallowed spastically, compulsively over and over - something was in there. I coughed and wheezed and choked for what felt like hours before it was gone. But a lump lingered until I finally fell asleep again. I chose to believe it was a common house fly, but it went down large and hard.

The moral is, its not about seeing the spiders, its about having stupid, instinct-only vermin that will crawl into any dark, moist space it finds. Their instinct doesn’t even allow for a concept of what a human is. They only know how to eat and screw and maybe be afraid.

carbotect,

spiders usually avoid humans anyways, so that’s good enough for me. also they don’t fly at high speeds or make buzzing sounds, which turns them into top tier animals, that don’t have spines, in my book

imaqtpie,
@imaqtpie@sh.itjust.works avatar

https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/611fc777-f8e6-4539-b7f0-1159191190a0.jpeg

Krompus,
@Krompus@lemmy.world avatar

I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve had spiders crawl on me even while living with them, and yeah it still makes me squirm. They usually mind their own business.

AlexWIWA,

Yeah same. My issue is I’m irrationally afraid of the possibility.

Apytele, (edited )

.

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA,
@HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world avatar

I would like to invasive species your huntsman we moved here and they have roaches in all the garages in the neighborhood (the place used to be an orchard, and before that like all of the americas an indian burial ground)

Apytele, (edited )

.

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA,
@HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world avatar

We had a “pet” spider that lived in the kitchen. There was this spot the ants kept getting in, and he (? I assume) moved there and just started eating the ants. I hate ants. And so a pact was formed. Then one year my mom hired a cleaning lady and she didn’t bother to ask about Gerald.

AlexWIWA,

Poor Gerald :(

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA,
@HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world avatar

For Gerald

PeterPoopshit,

I only remove brown recluse spiders, most other types of household spiders can be trusted.

Krompus,
@Krompus@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah, identify any actually dangerous spiders in your area and don’t keep them, most are harmless though.

otter_bee,
@otter_bee@lemmy.world avatar

I wish my wife didn’t have some gnarly arachnophobia. The “spiders are beneficial” argument doesn’t work :(

carbotect,

indoctrinate her with cute spider propaganda

hungryphrog,

I have been doing this to myself for over a year, and nowadays I think tarantulas are cute, and I’m looking forward to learning to tolerate harvestmen.

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA,
@HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world avatar

is this cute enough

Krompus,
@Krompus@lemmy.world avatar

She might be able to overcome it with education and exposure.

LaunchesKayaks,
@LaunchesKayaks@lemmy.world avatar

I have so many spiders on my property. My fave is the bold jumper that lives in my living room. He started off by moving in and residing in a box of captain crunch. I let him live there and he left eventually and moved to the living room. Idk what he ate when he lived the cereal box, but he got significantly bigger.

Fester,

What the spiders don’t know is that I’m also allied with the house centipedes. And neither of them know about my treaty with the cats.

lntl,
@lntl@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

CRISPr is what you need.

It’s what we all need.

FarFarAway,

We hung one of those uv light Bug zapper lamps outside for use on during the evening hours, as it’s too hot during the day for them to really come out. We also got a few of the smaller ones that plug into your regular outlets inside, from Amazon. This has cut down on the ones in the house drastically.

Of course remove standing water, and keep tall grasses trimmed. They actually make thier homes and can reproduce in tall grass esp when you have daily sprinklers (like our aerobic septic system) we have deer that stop by and trim our grass for us.

Our community was built on an endangered toad habitat, which is sad but also helpful. (We really try to keep everything as natural as we can around the house so as not to harm them)

But really the bug zapper were God send

wabafee, (edited )

Use a mosquito coil, manual way is to have huge pan put some oil then start swinging around the general area of the mosquitos you will eventually catch one. Put bleach on areas with possible mosquito larvae or where there is likely stagnant water in it. Introduce spiders and geckos in your home. Could also plant lavander/or any plant that is mosquito repellent lots online and introduce frogs in your garden.

unce,

Window screens, fly ribbons, and a Bug-A-Salt gun lol. The bug-a-salt shoots salt very fast to kill bugs.

niva, (edited )
@niva@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

A lot of good suggestions already here. Try to eliminate the mosquitoes in your house as much as possible. I installed mosquito nets on my windows a few years ago. This helped a lot. I am now asking myself why I haven’t done this before.

But I do still get bites like one or two a day, because I also like to be outside in my garden and sometimes a mosquito still finds a way into the house.

So there is no way you can prevent all bites. But the good thing is, you can treat them really well really easy with heat! I do this when I have a cup of tea. I just press the hot tea cup on the bite for a short while. But there are also special devices called electronic insect bite healer or something similar. They work as well and are probably safer and easier to handle.

Heat does disintegrate the anticoagulant that mosquitos inject and that makes the bites so itchy. The bites I get itch only ones. Then I treat them with heat and they are basically gone. Try to not scratch because you might spread the anticoagulant more. Just treat them right away!

Heldenhirn, (edited )
  • Fly screens (Unrealistic solution but I wanted to mention it)
  • Get a Pet Frog that eats them
  • Get lots of Spiders making Webs. Be aware that the Pet frog might eat the spiders
  • Flood one of your rooms and make a little swamp where you can plant canivourus plants. The issue is that the swamp will breed more mosquito than it kills but the frog will feel right at home
  • Make a small campfire in your bedroom before you go to sleep. It is known that smoke scares them away. Make sure to keep the windows and door closed so no new mosquito get inside. This is probably the most effective as you won’t get stung for the rest of you life
  • Catch some mosquitos and suck the blood out of them. The other mosquitos will see their wrongdoings and change their ways
Marketsupreme,

Campfire solution worked for m-

Faresh,

Fly screens (Unrealistic solution but I wanted to mention it)

Can I ask why you consider that an unrealistic solution? In my experience the plant based products (lotions/patches etc) are ineffective but I haven’t tried fly screens yet.

Heldenhirn,

It more of a joke because its the only real solution in my list. They are limited to your house but from my experience there’s no way normal mosquitos can go through them. I think mosquitos don’t really give a fuck about smells (at least not enough) and the problem is that they dont spread that well.

KrisKao,

In the region where I leave it would be impossible to not have mosquitoes around, the conditions are just good for them, but I have an electric zapper that is shaped like a tennis racquet and I can zap them as soon as I see them inside the house. I also do the chemical fumigation now and then, but for the most part I use the electric zapper. It is very common in countries and regions where mosquitoes are a pest.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • asklemmy@lemmy.ml
  • localhost
  • All magazines
    •
    Loading…
    Loading the web debug toolbar…
    Attempt #

    Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 134217728 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 22653536 bytes) in /var/www/kbin/kbin/vendor/symfony/http-kernel/Profiler/FileProfilerStorage.php on line 174

    Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 134217728 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 10159536 bytes) in /var/www/kbin/kbin/vendor/symfony/error-handler/ErrorRenderer/HtmlErrorRenderer.php on line 339