Don’t forget the stick (Bucket of Doom)

Don’t forget the stick! It’s the escape ramp for thirsty and clumsy critters.
The goal of a Mosquito Bucket of Doom is to kill mosquito larvae.
The goal is NOT to kill bees or ants or birds or fireflies or skinks or chipmunks, or anyone else who falls into the bucket.

Lately, I’ve heard from three friends that they’ve pulled dead squirrels and birds out of their buckets.
I asked if they used sticks in the bucket. No.

A stick is essential in every Bucket of Doom.
It’s an escape ramp for creatures to climb up to safety.

Stick Bonus: mosquito species which lay eggs above the surface of the water will lay eggs on the stick. Then, when the eggs are submerged by rain, hatchlings will die in the Bti-infused water

Are you dumping your bucket for cold weather? Some eggs can survive our winters, so to be 100% sure that no “stick eggs” hatch in spring, re-use the stick or just burn it next time you crank up the fire pit.

And here are some pics that show what cannot escape a Bucket of Doom:

See the little black sprinkles on the surface of the water? Those are rafts of Culex mosquito eggs. Some mosquitoes lay eggs singly, or in small groups, and some lay eggs in rafts.

Below is a single raft, with well over a hundred eggs.
None of these eggs can become adult mosquitoes in a Bucket of Doom. The Bti dunk kills the hatchling / larvae.

Don’t forget to add 1/4 of a Bti dunk every month — or you won’t doom mosquitoes,
and don’t forget the stick — or you might doom other critters!

Resources:

-My original “Mosquito Bucket of Doom” DIY (LINK), with links to other resources

-“Not ugly” versions of Mosquito Bucket of Doom (“Doom it Yourself” styles) (LINK)

-Update (edited to add on May 27, 2024) Homegrown National Park now includes a stick as part of their own how-to for making a Bti bucket! This is the first use of a stick I’ve seen on their social media, and I’m thrilled they’ve added it as a crucial element. My Sidewalk Nature stick has been around since May, 2022. It’s not foolproof, but it does cut down on accidental doom.

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Bio:
Joanna Brichetto is a naturalist and writer in Nashville, the Hackberry-tree capital of the world.
She writes about everyday marvels amid everyday habitat loss at SidewalkNature.com and Instagram (@Jo_Brichetto); and her essays have appeared in Short Reads, Brevity, Ecotone, Fourth Genre, Hippocampus, The Hopper, Flyway, The Common, The Fourth River, and other journals.
Her book is forthcoming from Trinity University Press: This is How a Robin Drinks: Essays on Urban Nature.