[AT] Was: Shop ceiling, now mosquito control

Mike Sloane mikesloane at verizon.net
Wed Sep 28 09:36:06 PDT 2011


Being somewhat involved with mosquito control (I am chair of the county 
mosquito commission <http://www.warrencountymosquito.org/>), I feel I 
might weigh in on these comments. First off, the amount of mosquitoes 
consumed by bats has been grossly overblown by many "naturalists". Bats 
to eat a fair amount of flying insects, but not anything close to the 
numbers that have been floated around in lore and urban legend. In 
studies, dragon flies eat far more mosquitoes than bats. And bats, 
unfortunately, are the single largest carrier of rabies in the US, so 
you need to be very careful about inviting them into your home.

As far as mosquitoes themselves, they are very weak fliers, and, as you 
observed, prefer to stay close to the ground and in the shade. And, as 
you also may know, only the female mosquito bites animals. Also, there 
are hundreds of different mosquito species (in our immediate area, there 
are some 60 species identified), but many of them don't bite people - 
some bite only reptiles/amphibians, some feast only on birds, and so on. 
And, while some mosquitoes are drawn to light, many are not. Aside from 
the discomfort from bites, the bigger problem is that mosquitoes are 
vectors for malaria, West Nile virus, dengue fever, equine encephalitis, 
canine heartworm, St. Louis virus, etc.

  The most vicious biting mosquitoes in our area are the ones that breed 
in discarded beverage containers, old tires, hubcaps, bird baths, rain 
gutters, swimming/wading pools, livestock watering tanks, and that kind 
of environment. Those which breed in still ponds and ditches have many 
natural predators that *tend* to reduce their populations.

Mike

On 9/28/2011 11:26 AM, robbrut at aol.com wrote:
>
> Ken-
>
> On every weekend I am at my cabin that I built on a ten acre plot
> that is heavily wooded, has two streams, two ponds, and countless mud
> holes, springs, and swampy areas.
>
> In short, it is an IDEAL honeymoon resort for mosquitos and a great
> spot for them to raise a family, too.
>
> Despite this, I and my family/friends have only been bitten a few
> times in the 25 years since I built it, even though some of us sleep
> out on the second story porch, which is roofed, but not screened-in.
>
> If we go down on the ground level it's a different bug story, but on
> the first deck (4 1/2 to 5' above ground level) there are very few
> bugs seen, and on the upper level none (unless I leave a light on and
> moths are attracted) to it).
>
> A naturalist I spoke to said "Sure, the tastey bugs are staying close
> to the ground due to the bats keeping the upper altitudes policed for
> you." so I have kept certain pieces of siding on the cabin and the
> barn that I built unfastened at the bottom with gaps for them to use
> for sleeping during the day.
>
> I also got the plans for a bathouse, painted it the recommended
> color, and mounted it on the proper compass point of my cabin outside
> wall and after a bit I could tell by seeing the droppings below it
> that it was occupied.
>
> There are several bat-friendly resourses on the internet that will
> give you a lot more info on their beneficial aspects, as well as how
> to invite them to coexist with you without any negative aspects.
>
> And on the subject of coexisiting, while I was standing in a pool of
> light uunder my spotlight one night, I had one of them repeatedly fly
> right past me at shoulder level to get particularly tasty moths, I
> remained still the whole while and it felt almost like being touched
> (and not unpleasantly at all).
>
> -Bruce
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Ken Knierim<ken.knierim at gmail.com>
> To: Antique tractor email discussion
> group<at at lists.antique-tractor.com> Sent: Wed, Sep 28, 2011 8:18 am
> Subject: [AT] Was: Shop ceiling, now mosquito control
>
>
> Bruce, Sorry to take things off-topic but tell me more about the bats
> and how ou use them for mosquito control. This sounds quite
> interesting. With West ile Virus making the rounds, natural
> suppression of those little loodsuckers sounds like a great idea. I'd
> like to find more information on his; where did you find out about
> bat houses? My wife gets eaten up by mosquitoes. They fly right by me
> and leave her ith itchy red welts. I tell her I'm too old and crusty
> for them but I eally have no idea why they prefer her. Maybe it's the
> gear lube cologne I se? Ken in AZ On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 3:52
> AM,<robbrut at aol.com>  wrote:
>>
> I agree with Mike's blown-in insulation recommendation, and for
> another reason other than the obvious ones like its ease of
> installation, R value and filling cavities well. Mine has to do with
> critters' (mice, squirrels, bats, flying squirrels) aversion to the
> blow-in stuff. When I built my house in the woods, i used fiberglas
> batt insulation (itchy) an really built up the attic ceiling. Within
> a year it was a condo for mice, two years later tha squirrels
> discovered it. and within ten years, all of the insualtion over the
> main area was gone, having been pulled to the eaves for huge nests. I
> had all of the FG removed, along with the mummified remains of
> former residents who didn't like the TomCat diet, and replaced it all
> with loose-fill cellulose (blow-in type). That was 5 years ago, and I
> still don't see any disturbance of the cellulose material, nor is
> there any mouse/squirrel poop to be seen anywhere up there. I have
> been told that there are two factors that make vermin dislike it, one
> is the fireproofing treatment (boric acid) done to the cellulose,
> and the other is that it sticks to the critters fur and resists
> tunneling. By the way, I built a bathouse/condo for my bats who are
> enjoying their new digs and are still keeping us mosquito-free. Bruce
> Thompson
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message----- From: Mike 1countryguy<mdo_1 at hotmail.com>
> To: Antique tractor email discussion
> group<at at lists.antique-tractor.com> Sent: Wed, Sep 28, 2011 12:38 am
> Subject: Re: [AT] Shop ceiling
>
>
>
> teel roofing when nailed or screwed in will be strong on 4 ft
> centers. Blown nsulation is the easy way to get a lot of r values.
> Mine has been on ten years nd no problem.  Why go to the time and
> expense of the waifer board.
>> Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:51:03 -0400
> From: rlgoss at insightbb.com To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com Subject:
> Re: [AT] Shop ceiling
>
> I think I would want something a little more substantial to support
> the nsulation than just the tin that's used for ceilings.  When I
> built my shop, I sed OSB for the bottom four feet (laid
> horizontally.) and TEMPERED peg board or the top four feet.  That
> lets me hang shelving and tools anywhere above the our-foot level,
> and work benches and storage cabinets fill in over the OSB. I sed
> standard gypsum drywall for the ceiling.  I rented a drywall lift
> from Home epot, and installed the whole ceiling in less than half a
> day all by myself.  I ear you loud and clear on needing to raise and
> lower whole panels to make sure he cut outs are in the right
> location.  That's why I rented one that was made or the job at Home
> Depot.  Just put the panel on the carrier, cut it to shape, dd the
> cut outs, flip it to horizontal, and turn the big wheel to clamp the
> hole panel to the ceiling.
>
> Larry
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Don
> Bowen"<don.bowen at earthlink.net> To: "Antique tractor email discussion
> group"< at at lists.antique-tractor.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 27,
> 2011 9:17:28 PM Subject: [AT] Shop ceiling
>
> I was talking with my builder friend this evening about the next step
> in my shop.  It is a pole building that I put up false walls between
> the 5 by 5 poles.  The walls are 2X4 on 24" centers with roll
> insulation between then covered with 7/16" OSB.  For the ceiling I
> put 2X6 joists between the trusses and was planning on covering with
> the same OSB.  THe problem soon became obvious.  The building is not
> square, I have 6 lighting outlets, 4 switched plugs for task
> lighting, and 4 hanging outlets, all would need holes through the OSB
> so each sheet may be lifted two or three times to a 9' 6" ceiling.  I
> had designed a panel lift for my engine hoist.
>
> Then my friend said that many here use tin.  He said I could get No
> 2 tin and he and I could put it in place in an afternoon.  Then I
> will use blown in cellulose insulation.  It will make a nice warm
> shop for these mild Ozark winters.
>
> Any comments on this idea?
>
> -- Don Bowen           KI6DIU
> http://www.braingarage.com/Dons/Travels/journal/Journal.html
>
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