So my wife and I just moved into our first home. Pulte Homes, Carrington Reserve development. Our lot backs right up to a protected wetland. The Jelkes Creek wetland is one of only three of its kind in the entire world. Pretty wild ecosystem to have as your backyard neighbor.
Wildlife everywhere. Deer every single day. Birds all over the place. Love it.
One problem, though. Mosquitos. Absolutely swarming with them.
And it's not just the usual annoyance factor this year. The CDC is reporting West Nile Virus incidents all over, including right here in Illinois. No way I'm exposing my family and friends to that risk when they come visit. So I started digging into prevention options.
CDC's best advice? Slather DEET-based repellent on your skin. Yeah, no thanks. That stuff carries cancer risk too. Next suggestion: long pants and long sleeves. In 80+ degree Illinois summer heat. Sounds miserable. Their final tip: eliminate standing water around your home.
Buddy. I live next to a wetland. Standing water IS a wetland. Pretty sure the EPA frowns on citizens tramping through protected ecosystems draining puddles. So what's a guy supposed to do?
Been aware of the Mosquito Magnet for a while now. Figured it was finally time to try it out. Last year's models needed a power cord to an outdoor outlet. Hard pass. But this year they've got cordless models. Now we're talking. The U.S. Coast Guard actually uses these in tropical areas where mosquito bites cause malaria on top of West Nile. Supposedly your yard's mosquito population just crashes within four to six weeks. Done. No more bites.
Pulled the trigger on the Liberty Plus model. $695 plus shipping. Ouch. But it covers a full acre and it's cordless, which is the important part. Here's how the cordless thing works: there's a motorized fan inside, powered by a rechargeable battery pack. Charge it for 24 hours and that one charge lasts "all summer" according to the packaging. Just recharge once at the start of the season. You also need a propane tank and Octenol attractant cartridges, both swapped out every 21 days. Plus a little net to catch the mosquitos. Replace when full.
How does the thing actually work, though? Pretty wild. Propane gets converted into carbon dioxide. CO2 shoots out through a cone at the front. Inside that cone sits the attractant. So the plume carries both CO2 and Octenol, and mosquitos absolutely cannot resist it. They follow the plume right back to the machine. Fly around the cone, get sucked up into the net by this upward airflow. Trapped. Dead from dehydration within 24 hours.
Brutal. But hey, it's them or us.