SkeeterVac
September 12, 2009
A number of OR peeps heard me going on about my new SkeeterVac, the device that sucked up all of my savings and purports to do the same to mosquitos and other biting bugs. I guess it technically isn’t outdoor “gear” but I am outdoors writing this post with the help of my SkeeterVac and it’s my web site so I’ll post irrelevant topics if I want to. But I really don’t think this little beauty is irrelevant – hear me out.
This year I couldn’t use my backyard. At all. I don’t have an epic backyard or anything; just a modest little suburban grass patch, but it was completely overrun by mosquitoes. There was no way to go outside without lighting 40 citronella torches and covering oneself with DEET, and the bugs were still bad. In desperation I dropped almost $500 on the SkeeterVac, grabbing the last one in town and going on blind faith that there is no way a company could stay in business charging that much for something that doesn’t work. And now I’m wondering if that wasn’t the best $500 I’ve ever spent. I got my backyard back! I could weed the garden, hang out on the deck, and play with my dog without being sucked dry by the bloodthirsty hordes of mosquitoes. The difference was noticeable right away – incredible.
The SkeeterVac works by attracting female mosquitoes – the ones that bite – and either catching them on sticky paper or sucking them into the trap, which is basically a little net that holds the bugs until they dehydrate and die. It runs on propane and emits carbon dioxide, just like a human, which is what attracts the bugs. There is also a lure that evidently works on some species of mosquito, but the salesman told me that the Alaska species responded just to the carbon dioxide so not to worry about it, and it seems to be working just fine with just the propane. The SkeeterVac is designed to run 24/7 and is meant to capture the breeding bugs before they can produce thousands of eggs. For this reason it’s best to get the trap out early and leave it running all summer. Mine got in place late, but it still has made a difference. I don’t even have to wear bug repellent in the yard anymore – haven’t had a mosquito bite in the backyard all summer. I can see from inspecting the trap that it’s made a difference in bug population. It used to catch dozens of mosquitoes and now it hardly catches any, because there aren’t any to catch anymore; it’s already got them all.
I can tell when the SkeeterVac is out of gas the second I walk outside because I can feel the difference in the bug population. Even if the trap isn’t catching bugs it’s attracting them, so positioning the trap as far as possible from my house helps keep the bugs away from the house. The sticky paper is a little gross to change and the propane tank needs to be filled every three weeks or so, but it’s a small price to pay for being able to brave the big bad backyard again. All that DEET could not have been good for me, and now I don’t need it until I leave the safety of my own property. So if you find yourself with a spare $500, rest assured that the SkeeterVac is a sound investment in your sanity and blood supply.
