Hi!
The mosquitoes have hatched and it’s miserable. I am good at waging war on flies (Fly Predators, Fly Traps, Simplifly) but the mosquitoes are killing me. I live in a fairly arid climate but near a river. I have 2 ponds on my property but those are 300+ feet from the barn. No standing water near the barn except for the automatic waterer.
Anyone have experience with the little dunks that go in the water tanks?
Or the spartan Mosquito eradicator?
Any ideas/help appreciated!
Yes, those dunks work! Mosquito torpedoes, also you can get BT rings to put in ponds. How about some predator fish?
We also are in semi-arid country and have good fly control just with predators.
When we get rain enough to have some in our ponds and playa lakes, not that often, mosquito wars ensue.
For that, our best bet is spraying/wiping horses twice a day with Farnam’s Tri-Tech.
It is supposed to be used once every so many days, but don’t believe it for mosquitos.
It is oil based and leaves horses a bit dirty and harder to clean.
We tried other kinds and that one seems to keep mosquitos off horses best.
Similar product by same company that is water based didn’t last as long.
Equi-Sect I think is named, but on that one, mosquitos were at the horses before 12 hours went by.
Usually, we don’t have a mosquito problem here, but last year the timing of the rain meant they were somewhat an issue. I am personally a Mosquito Magnet:no:, unfortunately, so doesn’t take many to be aggravating. We hung up a couple of the Spartan tubes last year, and they worked!
This year, we’ve had a quite rainy spring; I’ve already looked up the recipe on CoTH to refill the tubes, although I may also purchase some additional ones for more coverage.
So my vote is, give the Spartans a shot.
By the way, years ago, I did buy one of those pricey appliances – the kind of thing that runs on propane, and supposedly attracts mosquitos to the smell of ox blood. Not worth the purchase due to mediocre results, and blew through the propane much faster than advertised, so expensive to run; I returned it.
Add lavender oil to your fly spray, mosquitos hate lavender – its a small effort and won’t kill them, and effects don’t last long, but its cheap, smells nice and will help dramatically at dusk when you’re just being swarmed to death.
awesome. thank you! ive used in years past so will try again! thank you amazon
We have found a massive difference with citronella plants. They are annuals around here so I keep them in pots but they make a huge difference and are well worth the extra step
OK, what do you do with the plants, just grow them around the property as a repellent or steep the leaves like tea and then apply to the horses or mix into your other sprays? I use a citronella based fly spray that has so far been working well for me.
@fjordmom actually I do just grow them around the property in planters. I haven’t resorted to making tea yet though its a good idea. I’ve used citronella fly spray before also but I didn’t like it as much as some of the more basic stuff. I find the plants help massively
Mosquito HALT spray best repellent to use on horses here in rainy Fl. I spray in evening just before the skeeters come out.
I forgot to mention OFF, the orange one.
That is what our vet recommended decades ago when we had a really bad mosquito run.
It had rained buckets and was still too warm for last of September.
We were shipping cattle that fall and our horse’s necks at daylight were black with mosquitos and bloody where we slapped them.
Never seen so many mosquitos, it was like a horror movie.
OFF worked very well, used it on both, horse and rider.
Be careful introducing “predator” fish into any type of naturally occurring water. That is how invasive fish get introduced into water where they shouldn’t be. Before introducing fish, ask your county extension agent what species of fish, if any, would be suitable for release.
Deep Woods Off or a high DEET percentage human spray works well on horses, safe as per my vet. I use it as a wipe rather than a spray. An old fleece girth cover cut into 6" mitts is great for applying fly dope.
Has anyone used the Icaridine repellents on horses? I have been using it on myself this season and am very pleased- no smell, lasts longer than DEET and doesn’t leave that sticky feel.
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