After a cool and wet spring, much of Ontario is primed for a particularly nasty mosquito season—one that may already have you scratching at your ankles. Thanks to lower-than-usual temperatures, most stagnant water resisted evaporation over the spring, leaving ample breeding grounds for mosquito larvae. But this year, people are fighting the swarm with a trendy new solution: a popular DIY trap dubbed the ‘bucket of doom.’
The buckets, which are filled with water and organic materials such as yard clippings, are intended to attract mosquitoes in search of breeding grounds. But the addition of a naturally occurring bacteria called Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, or BTI, kills the larvae before they can develop into adults. BTI, which is sold in small pucks called mosquito dunks that dissolve in the water, can be found at hardware stores and garden centres.
The trap was originally conceived by Doug Tallamy, an entomologist and the co-founder of the U.S.-based conservation movement Homegrown National Park (HNP). His goal was to create an environmentally-friendly alternative to pesticide sprays, and a way for people to reduce mosquito populations on a hyper-local level. The organization first launched their ‘Mosquito Bucket Challenge’ last spring, but HNP spokesperson Krista De Cooke says the buckets have really taken off this year.
“There are so many people interested in it that I’ve been hearing reports of mosquito dunks selling out,” says De Cooke. “We are getting thousands of people reaching out and sending pictures of their decorated buckets.”
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Many of the decorated buckets feature flowers, bees, and other pollinators, a nod to the traps’ intention of providing a more eco-friendly solution to traditional mosquito control. Common pesticides such as pyrethroid sprays are effective in taking out mosquitoes, but they can also kill other insects, fish, and even cats. De Cooke says the dunk buckets eliminate this concern.
“BTI is very specific to mosquitoes,” she says. “So if dragonflies, for example, lay their eggs in there, it won’t affect them. If birds or pollinators drink the water, or if your kid dumps the bucket on their head, it will not harm them,” she says. That said, she recommends covering the bucket with chicken wire or a plastic lid with small holes to keep larger critters such as squirrels and frogs out, as well as providing a ‘rescue stick’ for those that do get in to climb out.
To increase the traps’ effectiveness, De Cooke recommends using dark coloured buckets, keeping them in shady areas, and remembering to add a fresh BTI chunk after 30 days. (At that point the BTI supply will be exhausted and the bucket will only serve as another breeding ground for mosquitoes.) It’s also important to get rid of any other nearby sources of standing water, says De Cooke, since mosquitoes can simply lay their eggs elsewhere, reducing the bucket’s effectiveness. For this reason, she encourages people to get their neighbours on board to broaden the no-mosquito zone.
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De Cooke estimates there are now tens of thousands of mosquito dunk buckets across the U.S. and Canada, and online, some how-to videos have hundreds of thousands of views. “I think the buckets are so popular because people feel really good about being able to address the mosquito concern without harming other critters,” she says. “They don’t want to do that, but they also don’t want to get chewed up all summer.”
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