SHTF Guide to Pest Control
Mosquitoes Existed Before Us, but We Don’t Have to Let Them Outlive Us
Hello everyone! Rob Raskin of Las Vegas here again, and this week I’m going to be discussing pest control. This is Part One in a three-part series, because there are a lot of different insects and other animals out there that can pose a threat to survivalists, homesteaders, and their animals.
According to the most recent studies, mosquitoes have existed for 226 million years. They survived the Ice Age, and they’ll survive the apocalypse. Just about everyone in the world has been bitten by a mosquito at least once, and most of us have been bitten multiple times.
Mosquito Facts
Once you learn more about the habits of mosquitos, you’ll understand why mosquitos are winning the them vs. everything else in evolutionary history war. Mosquitoes come out on top every time, and here’s why.
- Mosquito season is several months long, beginning in summer and continuing late into the fall.
- How did the mosquito survive the Ice Age? The same way they survive every winter: hibernation.
- Mosquitoes bite day and night, so there’s no time you can avoid them.
- These pests can be found indoors and outdoors, so there’s no place you can go to avoid them.
- Mosquitoes can drink three times their weight in blood. Your blood. While you sleep. Let that sink in for a while.
- There are no vaccinations or medicines that are effective against most mosquito-borne illnesses. These illnesses include malaria, Zika fever, West Nile virus, and many strains of encephalitis.
- Mosquitoes can smell your breath, so the only way to hide from them is to stop breathing. It sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but it’s real.
- You may not even feel a mosquito’s bite. You won’t know until your system reacts to it after the fact.
- Over a million people worldwide die from mosquito-borne illnesses, with another 700 million sickened by mosquito-borne illnesses.
The only way you can stay completely safe from mosquitos is to prevent their bites in the first place.
How to Make a Homemade Mosquito Trap
Commercial mosquito traps can be pricey, and they won’t be available after the SHTF. You can make these inexpensive mosquito traps at home.
Bottle Mosquito Trap
To make a bottle mosquito trap, you’ll need a two-liter soda bottle, a knife, a measuring cup, yeast, and brown sugar. Mosquitoes are attracted to darker colors, so whenever possible go with a green soda bottle.
First, you’ll need to use the knife to cut the soda bottle in half. After that, mix ¼ cup of brown sugar with 1 ¾ cups of extremely hot water in the bottom half of the bottle, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Let the water cool off, and then add two pinches of yeast but this time don’t stir.
The next step is to insert the top half upside-down so the mouth of the bottle is pointed down toward the sugar-yeast-water mixture, with the wider opening of the bottle pointed upward.
You have now created an effective mosquito death-trap. Mosquitoes typically fly four to six feet off the ground, so this is the best height to place your mosquito trap. They prefer to feed at night when they can avoid the sun, but they’re also attracted to certain types of bright lights. Try to place your mosquito trap near a UV light if possible.
Amish Flying Insect Trap
The Amish avoid electricity and the conveniences of modern society, and because of this they are already prepared for TEOTWAWKI in many ways. The Amish have already developed an inexpensive mosquito trap that doesn’t rely on electricity, and it works on other insects, as well.
The Amish flying insect trap relies upon scent to attract mosquitoes. They say you’ll attract more flies with sugar than you will with vinegar, but this insect trap calls for both. To make it, you’ll need a cup of sugar, a cup of vinegar, two cups of water, one or two banana peels, and a two-liter soda bottle.
This trap is supposed to give off a scent that insects are attracted to, and once they fly in, they land in the fluid and drown. It is supposed to be hung in a tree or place on an elevated area to help get the scent into the air.
To make the Amish flying insect trap, cut the bottle in the same method we described in the last trap, but you’ll also need to punch two holes in it so you can hang it from a tree.
Mix the ingredients together, making sure the banana peels are completely submerged, and then place the mixture in the bottom half of your cut bottle. It’s simple, yet effective.
Next week we’re going to discuss how to protect yourself from predators if you’re homesteading, so be sure to check back!
Here are 8 all-natural ways to keep mosquitoes away.
Are you fore of a visual learner? This video will teach you how to build a mosquito trap.