Letter: Self-Maintaining Mosquito Trap

With all the excitement about the Zika virus lately I thought I’d share my discovery of an effective low-maintenance mosquito trap.

Take a 1/2 oak barrel. Line it with plastic to keep the leakage down. (Most gardening stores sell a plastic tub-like liner for this purpose.) You could just saw a plastic barrel in half I guess, but that’s not very pretty. Put it in a sunny spot and fill it with water. Add two goldfish. Put a bit of shade over part of the barrel for the “fishies” to shelter under. Top off with water as needed through the warm season to keep the barrel full. You’re done. The skeeters are drawn to the warm, still water and lay their eggs there. The goldfish ravenously eat the mosquito larvae quite happily.

I discovered this system quite by accident some years ago but was pleasantly surprised by the reduction of skeeters locally. It works. I’m sure your readers will come up with refinements to this idea, but it works well and is low maintenance and inexpensive– the trifecta! – J.N.