# SHTF dealing with mosquitoes



## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

The article is about ways to avoid deat. But there are some suggestions here to help make your area more inhabitable concerning these pests too.

https://www.healthnutnews.com/take-vitamin-repel-mosquitoes-summer-long-2/


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

Camel923 said:


> The article is about ways to avoid deat. But there are some suggestions here to help make your area more inhabitable concerning these pests too.
> 
> https://www.healthnutnews.com/take-vitamin-repel-mosquitoes-summer-long-2/


They are the scourge of most of America. Thanks for the link, friend!


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Denton said:


> They are the scourge of most of America. Thanks for the link, friend!


My pleasure.


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## RJAMES (Dec 23, 2016)

Mosquitoes and mosquito borne disease are definitely a problem in south Texas and Louisiana now. A couple of Army Preventive Medicine Entomology Detachments have been deployed to at least monitor numbers . I do not know if they will be applying chemicals to control them. 

Control standing water in normal times - so store boats, wheel barrels upside down so they do not catch and keep water for more than 5 to 7 days. Clean gutters, birdbaths, dog dishes, treat standing water with bti . 

Treat your clothing and bed nets with Permethrin. 

Nothing wrong with DEET it works . Follow the label - modern formulations use a smaller amount of active ingredient. Army issue DEET from the late 1950's to the late 1970's was very strong and wore off quickly if you were sweating or it was raining. It Used to eat thru some plastics and generally did not work that well as you sweated off the repellent. 

The modern creams use less DEET and it resist sweating . DEET on the skin, Permethrin on clothing and using a bed net will keep you from getting a Zika, malaria or other mosquito borne disease .


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

I've got away from DEET and found picaridin is an alternative that won't melt my fishing tackle.

Long pants/shirts that are tight weave that the bassturds can't bite through. USGI bug hat.

Permethrin treated clothes and bedding.

"Mosquito dunks" that contain BT. Put those in all standing water, it kills larva and you only need a pinch.

USGI hammock w/netting

Screens for the house.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

mud brother mudd ever wonder why cave man covered themselves in mud now you know also a real Smokey fire will keep them away but might tell everyone were you are and you may begin to smell like one too.


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

For those surviving a crisis on their farm or bugout location, I highly recommend natural mosquito control. There are plenty of natural predators of mosquitoes and on my farmstead, I do everything possible to make those predators feel at home and stay permanently. In my case, I put up bat houses to bump up the population of local bats plus I encourage barn swallows to build their nests wherever they like. That includes a nest we have on a side porch that consistently produces two separate hatchings each year. Think about this. A single little brown bat can eat up to *1000 mosquitoes per HOUR* and that bat can live for 40 years. The barn swallows can eat something like 60 mosquitoes per hour.

Point being, on my farmstead, I can spend all day outside & never get bitten by a mosquito. I can't remember the last time I was bitten and I live in the warm, wet humid south, surrounded by woods with a one acre pond on my property & a large lake a couple hundred yards away. The swallows patrol the yard all day & the bats do so all night. So for example, I was out all day yesterday, feeding horses early, picking pole beans from the garden, spending hours on the tractor cutting pasture and then fed catfish at dusk... and not a single bite and not a bit of insect spray. At our prior house in a subdivision, we had a pond & if you went outside, you would get bit. If you went outside at dusk, you would be swarmed by mosquitoes. But not on my farm now thanks to the bats & swallows.

So yes chemical are nice & necessary, depending on the circumstances, but don't forget God's creatures. I am amazed when folks tell me they knock down the swallow nests because they don't want the mess associated with birds living on your house. To me kinda like the folks that kill every snake they see.


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

I like your thinking *******

I too have swallows/flycatchers nesting about the barns but few bats. I plan on making up some bluebird boxes for next spring.

What is the design of your bat houses and how long before they discover/occupy them? I wonder if they would work as well here as the bats will still need to find winter quarters to hibernate. There is also concern for the bats overwintering in the northeast as there is a disease called white nose syndrome that has killed over 80% of some bat species. Bats only produce 1 offspring/year; the effect will be lasting.

https://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/white-nose_syndrome/

A good friend has a bat colony living in his attic. We have sat evenings at dusk and counted over 60 bats flying out from a gap in the soffit. It gives us some entertainment while we are grilling dinner and having a beer or two.

Eliminating standing water also goes a long way towards control. Old tires pails and cans should be drained. For ponds a healthy population of amphibians and/or fish will keep mosquito larva in check. Another reason to not use pesticides/herbicides that are detrimental to beneficial animals.

"Mosquito dunks" also are great in treating standing water to prevent the larva from maturing. They contain BT bacteria (bacillus thurungus) that the larva ingest and the bacteria eat out their insides. Once the bacteria are established they keep working for weeks to months if the water is not flushed. I break up a "dunk" and only use a small portion for each water container. This is important as I have a rainwater collection system that uses many tanks and barrels. The barrels in the garden are all open top.

BT has little effect on beneficial insects, but a suspension can be used as a spray to also control caterpillar pests like gypsy moths, tent catepillars, and cabbage "worms". Bees are unaffected by BT ,and you can safely eat produce the same day it is sprayed simply by rinsing it with water.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

It was down to 36 degrees a few days ago. No more bugs. I don't know how you guys can live in 90% humidity and all the bugs down south. I'll take a foot of snow any day.


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## TG (Jul 28, 2014)

Mosquios, horse flies, barn flies, deer flies... ugh
Hang bird feeders and bird houses.


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## Redneck (Oct 6, 2016)

Mad Trapper said:


> What is the design of your bat houses and how long before they discover/occupy them? I wonder if they would work as well here as the bats will still need to find winter quarters to hibernate. There is also concern for the bats overwintering in the northeast as there is a disease called white nose syndrome that has killed over 80% of some bat species. Bats only produce 1 offspring/year; the effect will be lasting.


I get mine from the Organization for Bat Conservation. Amazon also sells this & similar models. Some bats will hibernate in place where others will only occupy during the warm season & will migrate during winter. Before putting one up, read the links regarding where to put them. They like to be up high and prefer some clearing around the house but like to be close to some woods too. Note where mine is located. I have the pole on a hinge where I can take the house down for cleaning. You can mount 2 houses per pole, back to back. I have a total of 3 houses on 2 poles. It can possibly take a few years for them to occupy... depends on the situation. Yes, that disease is a great concern.
https://batconservation.org/shop/triple-chamber-obc-bat-house/


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Medic33 said:


> mud brother mudd ever wonder why cave man covered themselves in mud now you know also a real Smokey fire will keep them away but might tell everyone were you are and you may begin to smell like one too.


this...

remember smell


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## Mad Trapper (Feb 12, 2014)

Thanks for the link to the bat conservation org.

I downloaded their plans for building and locating bat houses.

I'll be milling up a bunch of black cherry this fall and the heartwood should be ideal material (rot resistant) for building some rustic bat houses.


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## Medic33 (Mar 29, 2015)

TG said:


> Mosquios, horse flies, barn flies, deer flies... ugh
> Hang bird feeders and bird houses.


or get a butt load of bat houses bats will eat a ton of skeeters


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## TG (Jul 28, 2014)

Medic33 said:


> or get a butt load of bat houses bats will eat a ton of skeeters


Love bats, we have many!


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