Community Discussions

Here in Nova Scotia we have an unslaught of biting bugs that seem to hit every Spring.  (misquitoes, black flies, no seeums, etc..)  They seem especially bad since there's lots of wet, soggy ground for them to breed in.  Is there any way that any of you have found to 'scare' the biting bugs away.  They were so bad last night that they upset the bucket of soapy water Chris was using to wash the truck.  They were absolutely horrid!!!  Thick black clouds of biting fury, no swatting could keep them away.

Thanks for any advice that you can provide.

Sherri

At work we have lots of dragon flies, they hang out around the lake, but home there's running water, but it's slow moving.  I don't know if we have purple martins here.  I would be happy to see the bugs being eaten up by anything.  Oh Windy one why don't you come and keep up the breezes to keep the flies down???

Sherri

INTERESTING FACTS ON PUPLE MARTINS

( I thought they ate mosquitos too).   

Purple Martins (Progne subis) are the largest member of the swallow family in North America, measuring 7 1/2 inches (19 cm) long and weighing 1.9 ounces (55 grams). Taxonomically they are placed in the Kingdom: Animalia; Phylum: Chordata; Subphylum: Vertebrata; Class: Aves; Order: Passeriformes; and Family: Hirundinidae. Three races (subspecies) are recognized: Progne subis subis breeding in eastern North America and eastern Mexico; Progne subis hesperia breeding in the deserts of Arizona, western Mexico, and Baja California; and Progne subis arboricola breeding along the Pacific coast of the United States and Canada, and in the Rocky Mountains.

Purple Martins spend the non-breeding season in Brazil then migrate to North America to nest. East of the Rockies they are totally dependent on human-supplied housing. West of the Rockies and in the deserts they largely nest in their ancestral ways, in abandoned woodpecker nest cavities. In the Pacific northwest, Martins are beginning to use gourds and clusters of single-unit boxes for nesting.

The pair-bond of the Purple Martin is monogamous. The male and female cooperate equally in building the nest out of mud, grass and twigs. The female lays two to seven pure-white eggs at a rate of one egg per day. The female incubates the clutch for approximately fifteen days, then the young hatch. The parents both feed the young continuously for a period of 26-32 days until the young fledge. The young continue to be dependent on their parents for food and training for an additional one to two weeks after fledging. It's not uncommon for the fledglings to return to their human-supplied housing at night to sleep during this period. (Click to see an animation of the growth of a nestling purple martin.)

Martins, like all swallows, are aerial insectivores. They eat only flying insects, which they catch in flight. Their diet is diverse, including dragonflies, damselflies, flies, midges, mayflies, stinkbugs, leafhoppers, Japanese beetles, June bugs, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers, cicadas, bees, wasps, flying ants, and ballooning spiders. Martins are not however, prodigious consumers of mosquitos as is so often claimed by companies that manufacture martin housing. An intensive 7-year diet study conducted at PMCA headquarters in Edinboro, PA, failed to find a single mosquito among the 500 diet samples collected from parent martins bringing beakfuls of insects to their young. The samples were collected from martins during all hours of the day, all season long, and in numerous habitats, including mosquito-infested ones. Purple Martins and freshwater mosquitoes rarely ever cross paths. Martins are daytime feeders, and feed high in the sky; mosquitoes, on the other hand, stay low in damp places during daylight hours, or only come out at night. Since Purple Martins feed only on flying insects, they are extremely vulnerable to starvation during extended periods of cool and/or rainy weather.

Smart dragonfly....smart enough not to go for the great big pest....just wait for all the small pests to congregate. 

Okay now seeing the growing cycle of a purple martin - I'm sure that I haven't seen any.  I am however going to find out which trees Chris isn't going to cut down and figure out how to make bird houses.  Small ones, medium sized ones, and large ones...they can't be that hard to make.  I'm real good with a needle and thread - so how hard can it be for a hammer and nails???  Hopefully my housing will attract bug eating birds.

Sherri

Marshall,

That's interesting. I was always believe the purple martin ate mosquitos.  The golf course thought they did. Sounds like you don't want them since they eat dragon flies.

Sherri,

Bats are probably your best choice. You can google for ideas on how to make homes, but they are simple and I don't think bats are too fussy about whether you sew them nice duvets or couch covers.
Sorry, I don't make enough of a breeze to keep them away. They don't go after me as much as they do other people, except when they are real hungry.

And like typical females they are out for all the blood they can drain from you.

Paula,

"Smart dragonfly....smart enough not to go for the great big pest....just wait for all the small pests to congregate.."

Yes, and they were still waiting for you to show up the next day, but you didn't.

Marshall,

Martins are not however, prodigious consumers of mosquitos 

I bet  the martins stocked their cupboards with mosquitos and ate them after the nosy researchers left. 

Highwind wrote:

THAT'S GOT TO BE IT!

Windy, I could have sworn they ate mosquitos. My grandparents were purple martin lovers, they had five of the very tall houses, etc. I would sit and watch the martins fly around and eat, I was always under the impression much of their diet was mosquitos.

Marshall,

We should always keep in mind one of the basic laws of scientific research:

"Any organism, when observed under rigidly controlled conditions of temperature, light, pressure, water, and subjected to controlled stimuli, will do as it darn well pleases."

Actually, that sounds like how Paula reacts to other folks postings on here. Sort of uncontrollable.
<right back at you short block >>

http://www.batconservation.org/content/bathouse/buildyourown.htm

This is the first set of instructions I've looked at.  Not real good with anything that requires thinking about numbers (maybe I'll have to send you my dimensions Highwind).  Maybe I'll stick to making them some curtains for the windows and pretty cushion covers to rest their weary head on after a hard nights bug eating.   I think I'm going buggy.

Sherri

Highwind wrote:
Watch out Wind, I think Paula likes controlled stimuli.