3:00 snapshot #1366: (not that) unusual pest control issues

[urbpan]

I have come to despise metal pipe construction. Any opening is an invitation to cavity nesting social wasps. In this case I was lucky that it was European paper wasps, which are fairly non-aggressive, rather than yellow jackets.


Anyone care to guess what pest issue is betrayed by the behavior of these grackles? Answer behind

The grackles are drinking from a massive puddle that formed in the sagging material of the tent. Trapped leaf litter and bird droppings turn the puddle into a stinking mass of bacteria-laden water, the kind of places that mosquitoes like to lay their eggs. I found a metal post and used it to push the puddles flat from below, splashing gallons of foul-smelling water all over the ground (and my pants).

Comments

[plantmom.livejournal.com]

The second picture illustrates why I keep goldfish in our fountain base out back. I feed them fish food, but sparingly, so they keep the mosquito population down.

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

Sorry about your pants....

My 8-year-old niece noticed mosquito larvae in my mother's fountain. (Hooray for after-school science classes.) Mom freaked out, did a dump-and-bleach and got some of that copper filament stuff, which seems to be working. Don't know how it works, but there aren't any larvae any more....

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

For future reference, bleach doesn't seem to do much to stop mosquitoes from breeding. I've seen people do it and the mosquitoes are back within days. It seems if a water source is going to get bacteria, it's going to get bacteria. You might kill some with the bleach but the organic material quickly overwhelms it.

Never heard of copper being used for anything but slugs. I wonder what the principle is supposed to be. Dumping the water once a week is the easiest solution.