# Eating Mosquito Hawks??



## natali861 (Dec 22, 2011)

Recently we've started having a TON of mosquito hawks where I live. Our 4month old Aspen is **obsessed** with chasing and eating them!! :yuck: At this very minute he's out there "hunting" and I can't get him to come inside (without trekking through the swamp of my backyard after all the rain today.) 
Just curious.... are these mosquito hawks (or any other bugs in particular) going to make him sick? So far he has been perfectly fine and normal but I still worry! Thanks ya'll!


Natalie


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## GoldensInRI (Jan 25, 2012)

Hmmm i dunno, but i have always wondered about some of the insect vectors for parasites (such as fleas being an intermediate host for tapeworms, the dog ingests the affected flea and infects himself with tapeworms). I do know that my old girl "Jigger" (Goldrush's Southern Comfort OD) used to chase down, crunch up, and chow down June bugs when i lived in Dallas!! Jigger lived until 14 and was very healthy!


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## Rainheart (Nov 28, 2010)

I have no idea; Mosquito's are a vector for a lot of parasites among other things... Heartworm especially. Be sure he is up to date on your heartworm preventative at least!


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## hat trick (Jan 22, 2009)

Just wondering, what is a mosquito hawk?


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## luvbuzz (Oct 27, 2010)

Ditto...I thought you were talking about a bird.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

I know a little about this because my friend who literally knows everything, told me mosquito hawks are really male mosquitos. He said kill them all.

So I looked it up:
Male mosquitos are often mistaken for crane flies - which are harmless but don't really eat mosquitos.

Male mosquitos are also harmless but since they help breed more mosquitos, I agree to kill them all.

Crane flies are bigger and have a V on their thorax. I would recommend looking online at some photos and the geography of your area to determine which you have.

Difference Between a Male Mosquito & a Crane Fly | eHow.com

I'm sure most dogs wouldn't die from eating a couple bugs, but I would try to control the situation, since lots of bugs carry all kinds of germs and parasites.


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## CharliedogsDad (Nov 22, 2011)

Charlie eats ants.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Male mosquitos don't bite animals or humans, only the females do. Mosquitos are species specific. In other words certain species of mosquitos only bite humans or only bite dogs, etc. Some will bite multiple species. But not all mosquitos bite all species of animal. We get a very good education on mosquitos here in Alaska. A record swat here by a biologist here killed 270 mosquitos at one time!


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## natali861 (Dec 22, 2011)

Wow thank ya'll for the info! I had no idea these were just giant male mosquitos. I know they don't bite humans, and it doesn't look like they are attacking my pup.. they just kind of fly around randomly making it a fun game for Aspen to chase them! 

Aspen is up to date on his heartworm and all his meds so hopefully that's sufficient. We'll try not to leave him outside to eat them on his free will, but he does it WHILE he's going potty (he walks and pees at the same time!) or the entire time on our walk around the neighborhood. It's annoying, funny and worrisome at the same time lol. 

I live in South Houston area so it's normal to have a bunch of mosquitos, but not normally so many of these "mosquito hawks" (or whatever the technical term is for them!)


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## natali861 (Dec 22, 2011)

By the way-- these are what the ones we're experiencing look like..... I think! I've never looked at them THAT close but they are very thin, stringy looking things. I'm not sure what the technical term is for this kind.


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## bioteach (Nov 13, 2010)

Nugget has eaten a lizard or two, as well as a number of carpenter bees. No accounting for taste!


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## Huggenkiss (Nov 3, 2009)

I'm in Houston too and my house is covered in mosquito hawks! When I open the door they fly in too! Luckily Levi isn't interested in them.


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## Looni2ns (Mar 26, 2010)

Yup, those are the male mosquitos. Sounds like Mosquito Control should go ahead and start their late night fogging runs. When I lived in Kingwood, they used to go by my house between 10:30-11:00, with the fogger running. 

Since we've had literally no winter, the bugs are going to be ferocious this year.


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