Mosquito Magnet

[Sherman]

Has anyone used one of these to lessen the biting critter population in their yards and gardens?

Sherman

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.

[KCnRichmond]

People here get 4 or so families involved and split he cost 4 ways. Then put the MM in the corner of the four yards,and let it run 24/7..Then each month take turns buying the propane, nets, and octenol baits....Works great through mosquito season. A typical yard runs about 12000' sq. so the 1 acre model works great...This will be the 2nd year in use, so we will see what happened to the population from last year...I think Isabel is going to re-haunt us though...Stump holes, etc....

[David Hill]

".... we got one for my mother who lives at the top of a hill overlooking a swamp. Ingrid ........"

With that sort of trade, I wonder if I would get one for the wife?

David Hill Abacus nurseries

[Lar]

:) Has anyone used one of these to lessen the biting critter population in :) their yards and gardens?

I would think close to two dozen or more of my customers have purchased them over the last couple of years, haven't heard one say they thought it was effective.

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!

It is said that the early bird gets the worm, but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

[J Kolenovsky]

Besides what's mentioned in the referenced article below, the chemical harms butterflies and moths and their pupae/larvae. It's rumored not to be good for humans, either.

JK

May 1, 2003 MANY MOSQUITO CONTROLS ONLY HAMMER BUYER=92S POCKETBOOK Writer: Robert Burns [phone], [e-mail] Source: Dr. Jimmy Olson [phone], [e-mail]

OVERTON =96 When it comes to mosquito control devices, about the only thing that works is common sense, says an entomologist with Texas A&M University.

"What's particularly disturbing to Olson are the pesticide misting devices now on the market. There are several models, but they generally work by emitting small puffs of the insecticides at timed intervals around a house's perimeter. The devices are expensive, costing as much as $5,000, and their effectiveness is suspect. Worse is the amount of pesticide they release into the environment over time and the possibility of inhalation by residents and the drift of the pesticide to other properties."

"It's about the most indiscriminate, irresponsible use of a chemical control that I've ever seen," Olson said.

Full article:

Quinn, New Braunfels, TX, [e-mail]

Sherman wrote:

[Salty Thumb]

J Kolenovsky wrote in news:40AACFA1.B56D1666@hal- pc.org:

What chemical would that be? The question was about Mosquito Magnet which is a registered trademark of American Biophysics Corp.

which uses octenol, carbon dioxide and water.

The relevant information from the link you cited are: ... fortunately for the mosquito, the pest is not attracted by the sound of heartbeats but by the carbon dioxide and heat large mammals such as humans emit.

...

...Another type of mosquito trap goes a step further. It uses propane to produce carbon dioxide and heat to draw the mosquitoes close enough to be sucked into a fan-driven trap. Though these propane-fueled devices may trap thousands of mosquitoes in a few days, there are again generally hundreds of thousands or even millions of mosquitoes an acre to deal with, thereby overwhelming the trap and its ability to effectively limit bites.

A warning flag on these devices is that they come with the caveat that they must be left on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and then the owner will only realize a lowering of mosquito numbers in four to six weeks.

"With most mosquito species, weather conditions and the insect's breeding patterns will result in a decline in four to six weeks without any intervention," Olson said.

As with the bug zappers, the propane-fueled devices may actually draw more mosquitoes from long distances onto your property than can be controlled to prevent bites.

The question here is will these extra mosquitoes wait to be collected by the trap or take the opportunity to feed upon the trap's owner?

"It's probably a toss-up," Olson said. "Plus, with the fact that running the propane burner 24/7 will draw more and more mosquitoes onto your property, you're probably not going to lessen your chances of being bitten."

[Salty Thumb]

"David Hill" wrote in news:c8e3ql $2pg$ [e-mail]:

at the risk of getting pelted by rotten tomatoes ...

... I dunno, if she's in good shape, ask them to throw in a free propane tank.

"Where the men are men, the women are men and the mosquito magnets are scared."

[Janet Baraclough..]

The message from "David Hill" contains these words:

Or Nuisance Neighbours, Crapping Cats, Greenfly....

Last summer the machines were imported here (west Scotland) to trial control of midges, which are much tinier than mosquitoes but very bad biters. Over three months, one of the local hotels collected 6 pounds of dead midges from their "magnet", and reckoned it made a huge difference to customers enjoyment of the garden.

Janet (Isle of Arran).

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.

[dr-solo]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.

[J Kolenovsky]

Salty, I just started looking into this subject and still a green banana on it. I think the chemical in question is a form of pyrethrin - oid, noid, etc, whatever. I need to look more into this. The organic people I know say this too. I probably need to make reference to misters and not magents.

JK

Salty Thumb wrote:

=

[dr-solo]

the actual theory is ... attract and remove "breeders" that is the females and they wont be around to lay eggs and start an exponential growing population skeeters for the rest of the year. now we didnt get the MM for my mother until well into mosquito season. and she moved it around until she wasnt getting bit. in fact, she moved it very close to where she worked in her gardens and evidently the mosquitos went for the trap not my mother. having lived most of my life above this particular swamp, I can say without reserve it is hell to go out at almost any time of the day and drought included the mosquitoes are there and biting. I dont know why anyone would say the trap is overwhelmed. the skeeters go in, get trapped, dessicate nicely. the bag is never actually full like we would think a vacuum bag is "full". there is no caveat about it, it states quite BOLDLY that the MM must be on 24/7 for minimum 4-6 weeks. At least in my mothers experience the trap started working right away. we will see this year. it probably would be a good idea to get it going as soon as the first hatch of mosquitoes emerge. Ingrid

Salty Thumb wrote:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List

the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make.