Which is better, getting rid of *all* the standing water? Or leaving
one bucket full of stagnant water under a tree (to lure them to one
place) and putting one of those "mosquito dunks" in it?

I think I'm gonna try the latter this year.

I dumped out some little flower pots this afternoon and they were full
of wigglers already.

Bob

On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:35:36 -0500, zxcvbob
wrote:

Which is better, getting rid of *all* the standing water? Or leaving
one bucket full of stagnant water under a tree (to lure them to one
place) and putting one of those "mosquito dunks" in it?

I think I'm gonna try the latter this year.

I dumped out some little flower pots this afternoon and they were full
of wigglers already.

Bob


Even better, put a rosy red minnow or goldfish in the bucket. Much
lower cost than those bacteria dunks. Water green with algae works
best.

cruel. put in the dunks. fish cannot tolerate the hot stagnant conditions of a
bucket.

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:08:54 -0400, Phisherman wrote:
Even better, put a rosy red minnow or goldfish in the bucket. Much
lower cost than those bacteria dunks. Water green with algae works
best.

it is better to kill the female mosquito before she takes the requisite blood meal
needed to lay the eggs. mosquito magnets work. altho you got to get them going
BEFORE the swarms hit the area. Ingrid

On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:35:36 -0500, zxcvbob wrote:

Which is better, getting rid of *all* the standing water? Or leaving
one bucket full of stagnant water under a tree (to lure them to one
place) and putting one of those "mosquito dunks" in it?

I think I'm gonna try the latter this year.

I dumped out some little flower pots this afternoon and they were full
of wigglers already.

Bob

Phisherman wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:35:36 -0500, zxcvbob
wrote:

Which is better, getting rid of *all* the standing water? Or leaving
one bucket full of stagnant water under a tree (to lure them to one
place) and putting one of those "mosquito dunks" in it?

I think I'm gonna try the latter this year.

I dumped out some little flower pots this afternoon and they were full
of wigglers already.

Bob


Even better, put a rosy red minnow or goldfish in the bucket. Much
lower cost than those bacteria dunks. Water green with algae works
best.


A couple of years ago, I had a huge flower pot full of water with a
lotus seedling in it and a few minnows. The lotus never bloomed, but it
did look pretty with it's big leaves that danced in the rain, and the
minnows seemed happy.

I was gonna plant a lotus seed last winter to try to get it going early
enough to bloom but I never got a round tuit. (I still have the lotus
seeds, and they keep pretty well.)

Bob

Jangchub wrote:
On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 10:57:48 -0500, zxcvbob
wrote:

Phisherman wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:35:36 -0500, zxcvbob
wrote:

Which is better, getting rid of *all* the standing water? Or leaving
one bucket full of stagnant water under a tree (to lure them to one
place) and putting one of those "mosquito dunks" in it?

I think I'm gonna try the latter this year.

I dumped out some little flower pots this afternoon and they were full
of wigglers already.

Bob

Even better, put a rosy red minnow or goldfish in the bucket. Much
lower cost than those bacteria dunks. Water green with algae works
best.

A couple of years ago, I had a huge flower pot full of water with a
lotus seedling in it and a few minnows. The lotus never bloomed, but it
did look pretty with it's big leaves that danced in the rain, and the
minnows seemed happy.

I was gonna plant a lotus seed last winter to try to get it going early
enough to bloom but I never got a round tuit. (I still have the lotus
seeds, and they keep pretty well.)

Bob

Like she said, it's cruel to put a fish in stagnant water. How do
minnows "seem" happy? That is such a myth an extremely cruel.


It wasn't stagnant, it had plants growing in it to keep it oxygenated.
And my dog drank out of it, so I had to keep topping it up with fresh
water. So maybe it wasn't very attractive to skeeters after all, I dunno.

If the fish are distressed by low oxygen levels, they stay very near the
surface, move slowly, kind of gasp at the surface, and they have worried
looks on their faces. (OK, I made that very last part up)

Bob

It wasn't stagnant, it had plants growing in it to keep it oxygenated. And
my dog drank out of it, so I had to keep topping it up with fresh water.
So maybe it wasn't very attractive to skeeters after all, I dunno.

If the fish are distressed by low oxygen levels, they stay very near the
surface, move slowly, kind of gasp at the surface, and they have worried
looks on their faces. (OK, I made that very last part up)

Bob

That actually sounds like a good idea. Did the fish actually eat the
misquitos or larvae? And how long did they live? I have a small pond I've
been thinking of putting some small fish in. I can't put bigger fish, like
goldfish, because the racoons eat them.

Zootal wrote:
It wasn't stagnant, it had plants growing in it to keep it oxygenated. And
my dog drank out of it, so I had to keep topping it up with fresh water.
So maybe it wasn't very attractive to skeeters after all, I dunno.

If the fish are distressed by low oxygen levels, they stay very near the
surface, move slowly, kind of gasp at the surface, and they have worried
looks on their faces. (OK, I made that very last part up)

Bob

That actually sounds like a good idea. Did the fish actually eat the
misquitos or larvae? And how long did they live? I have a small pond I've
been thinking of putting some small fish in. I can't put bigger fish, like
goldfish, because the racoons eat them.




There were no mosquito larvae; I don't know if the minnows ate them, or
if the mosquitoes didn't find it attractive and they stayed away. This
was about the size of a half a whiskey barrel. IIRC the minnows
survived until the water surface froze in the late fall. They were
still alive then until I fed them to the cat ;-) (life itself is cruel)

They ought to do really well in a small pond, perhaps even surviving the
winter, depending on where you are.

Bob

In article ,
Zootal wrote:

I have a small pond I've
been thinking of putting some small fish in. I can't put bigger fish, like
goldfish, because the racoons eat them.

Check with your local vector control agency. Some of them give
away free fish that will eat mosquito larvae. For example:

http://www.smcmad.org/mosquito_fish.htm

(Note the comment about having to treat tap water if it
contains chloramine. Your water district may or may not
use chloramine.)


Patty

On Jun 21, 3:05 pm, "Zootal" wrote:
It wasn't stagnant, it had plants growing in it to keep it oxygenated. And
my dog drank out of it, so I had to keep topping it up with fresh water.
So maybe it wasn't very attractive to skeeters after all, I dunno.

If the fish are distressed by low oxygen levels, they stay very near the
surface, move slowly, kind of gasp at the surface, and they have worried
looks on their faces. (OK, I made that very last part up)

Bob

That actually sounds like a good idea. Did the fish actually eat the
misquitos or larvae? And how long did they live? I have a small pond I've
been thinking of putting some small fish in. I can't put bigger fish, like
goldfish, because the racoons eat them.

Look around for ads in "small" newspapers that: "...the FISHMAN IS
COMING -- CATFISH, BASS....." They usually have a baitfish called a
fathead minnow. I dump a few hundred in my main pond in the spring
and fall. I have small ponds (puddles) scattered around my place for
the deer, turkey, and other critters that I have thrown fatheads
into. ]no -- not Billy -- ] They seem to survive the puddles
being frozen over and reproduce like bacteria, providing me food for
the bass.

And, yes; they gobble skeeters.......and anything else they can catch.

cheers

oz

In article
,
MajorOz wrote:

On Jun 21, 3:05 pm, "Zootal" wrote:
It wasn't stagnant, it had plants growing in it to keep it oxygenated. And
my dog drank out of it, so I had to keep topping it up with fresh water.
So maybe it wasn't very attractive to skeeters after all, I dunno.

If the fish are distressed by low oxygen levels, they stay very near the
surface, move slowly, kind of gasp at the surface, and they have worried
looks on their faces. (OK, I made that very last part up)

Bob

That actually sounds like a good idea. Did the fish actually eat the
misquitos or larvae? And how long did they live? I have a small pond I've
been thinking of putting some small fish in. I can't put bigger fish, like
goldfish, because the racoons eat them.

Look around for ads in "small" newspapers that: "...the FISHMAN IS
COMING -- CATFISH, BASS....." They usually have a baitfish called a
fathead minnow. I dump a few hundred in my main pond in the spring
and fall. I have small ponds (puddles) scattered around my place for
the deer, turkey, and other critters that I have thrown fatheads
into. ]no -- not Billy -- ] They seem to survive the puddles
being frozen over and reproduce like bacteria, providing me food for
the bass.

And, yes; they gobble skeeters.......and anything else they can catch.

cheers

oz
As if an devoteé of Dixy Ray Lee could recognize a fat head
without being overwhelmed with humiliation,
but as the saying goes, "Don't matter what they say about you
.... as long as they spell your name right."

Two lemon cucumbers, six tromboncini, and eight leeks planted today.
Damn raccoon is giving me kidney cramps. Gotta drink more beer.
I have this ominous apprehension of looking into container where the
forgotten compost/manure tea resides. If I remember correctly, Charlie
said to spread it along the boundry with my rottenest neighbors.

"Dance for me without your fan",
said Billy Rose, to Sally Rand,
and so she did,
and Billy rose,
and Sally ran.
--

Billy
Bush and Pelosi Behind Bars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0aEo...eature=related

On Jun 21, 11:09*am, wrote:
cruel. *put in the dunks. *fish cannot tolerate the hot stagnant conditions of a
bucket. *



On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 06:08:54 -0400, Phisherman wrote:
Even better, put a rosy red minnow or goldfish in the bucket. * Much
lower cost than those bacteria dunks. *Water green with algae works
best.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

maybe a betta? they don't mind little stagnant puddles, according to
the experts.