Mosquitoes. Bah.

Here's the conspiracy.

They are ALL out to get me.



Yes, it's true.

Take last night. We had a tornado pass through, so yes, it was humid. In my infinite wisdom (ahem), I stepped outside for ooooh...about 45 seconds, total (it was my first tornado, k? I was curious. Silly, but curious).

I was bitten NINE times, in under 45 seconds, by mosquitoes. Now, I don't know if it was one who just had a grudge (The Termiskeeter?), whether it was a family, or just several hungry little blighters.

And I wouldn't be quite as peeved if they didn't leave me with two inch wide welts every time they inserted those wonderfully efficient probiscual appendages (I'm fairly sure I just made up a word there. Oh well). It must be my English blood? Maybe I'm considered a delicacy? Or maybe I'm just "woot! Buffet!".

I understand mosquitoes are food for dragonflies.

But other than that...exactly what is their purpose?!

My running total for the past two weeks is 49.

Forty nine mosquito bites. In two weeks. Extrapolate that to include the matter of each bite leaving (on average) a two-inch welt.

It's NOT pretty.

Bah.

(Though I'm thankful they don't actually carry much in the way of disease, up here in the midwest. Very thankful)

lol,

I've never actually been bitten by a mosquito although I've been outside when there's been dozens of them, I guess I get lucky with them.

Yeah, Im from England but my fiance lives in Iowa which is were I spend half of my time now, untill we get married ...

I experienced my first tornado a few months back but apparently it didn't touch down.. saw a tree fly into someones house but that was from the basement , that was worrying/entertaining .

But after saying im lucky for never being bitten.. next time I go outside the mosquitos will probabley eat me alive.

Vorta

Ah, believe me, it's all a conspiracy

They'll leave you alone until you get your green card.

Then.

THEN.

It's a free-for-all!

Your blood is already theirs.



(in all honesty, it's not nearly as bad as the hassle we have to undergo to actually get the bloody greencard to start with. But that's another rant... )

girl you need to invest in some bugspray
don't take those bites so lightly, you never know when the mosquito carry west nile might make it's way to your door.

if you're prone to being bitten, try wearing long sleeves and long pants, also make sure to cover yourself with something like OFF or other mosquito repellant.

Check your yard for any areas of standing water, drain them.. and in containers like bird baths and such try a few drops of bleach to kill them. There's a product that you can get from home improvement stores for stuff like that too.

Now for the questionable stuff:

It has been suggested that some of us are "sweeter" than others, due to our diets and what scents, fluids, etc our body produces...also the types of products we use on skin. It's also suggested that mosquitoes might be attracted to dark colors..take that with a grain of salt, I've never investigated to know if any of it is true or not... I've never cared to know whether mosquitoes have noses or not

Hey Tinkle, me old flower. Bloody good job you weren't bitten by an English Mosquito 'cause my friend, youd've been blown away for sure.....

Twin RollsRoyce Merlin engins, 4 x .50 and 4 x .30 Brownings = one hell of a bite!

.........and after 1 night I remember why I shouldn't go camping. I sympathise with Tinkleflower completly. The little buggers love me as well and they all pick one part of my body each night and proceed to dine until I have bites on bites and am I itching like a madman.

NOTHING WORKS!!!!!!

I have tried long sleeves/pants legs. THEY crawl up underneath and enjoy the canopy I provided for their meal.

I have tried numerous brands of Bug Spray. It must be like Thousand Island dressing to them, because it only makes them bite me more.

I got one of those Dragonfly whine emitter things. It goes wiiiiiii and the mozzies go wheeeee as they enjoy the BGM. Well, okay, I have had moderate success with it. I wear it around my neck and they go for my ankles. I wear it around my waist and they go for the tips of my ears.

I have tried portable bug spray emitters. Ditto. No good.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
It has been suggested that some of us are "sweeter" than others, due to our diets and what scents, fluids, etc our body produces...

I have heard that the smell of sweaty socks/feet are like caviar to them. Considering the amount I get bitten on my ankles/feet I think it might hold some water as a theory. Drinking beer also attracts them. Dinner AND Drinks for the little buggers.

Worldwatcher's comments about standing water are excellent. I generally avoid them by any standing water, trees, lights and sandy beaches. So it sort of limits my camping options. I will still go next year though as the bites have faded and the scabs from the bites should be gone long enough to remember how I swore I would never go camping again...

I think it should be set up as a Research Project post-haste. Find a way to get rid of them all!!!!

CHRIST ON A BIKE!!!!....you wanna see the mozzys out in west Africa!!!

they look like B52's on a raid!.........

one thing that i always find interesting is that mozzys dont carry the aids virus...coz if they did we'd all be in trouble!

if you let them bite you and then pull the skin tight around their mouth drinky thingy, they cant pull out and end up drinking till they pop.....ummmm...nice!

mozzys.........i hate em!

It's only female's that bite, I have a few myself those rotten btches! I wonder if there is anything to attract more dragon flies to your home? purple malins are supposed to do the trick too.

Couple of other things to consider there Tinkleflower,
Take a look at the perfume you may be wearing as this will attract mosquitos.
Another thing, check with your doctor. Mosquitos realy love people who have average to high chloresterol levels.
My wife hates it that I can stand in a swarm of mosquitos and not get bitten. But let there be a mosquito within a mile and it will zero in on her!

Originally posted by kenshiro2012
Couple of other things to consider there Tinkleflower,
Take a look at the perfume you may be wearing as this will attract mosquitos.
Another thing, check with your doctor. Mosquitos realy love people who have average to high chloresterol levels.

I don't wear anything of a chemical nature on my hair or skin. And lately, I don't even wear my usual patchouli/sandalwood oil mix.

My cholesterol is low-to-normal.

I am guilty of using essential oils in my bath water at times, though these don't appear to make a difference.

For those who are keeping track (ie ME...heh), I added another four today.

I sprayed with OFF, before I went out....this was around 4am, as I had to rush to the ER with a friend, and it was still dark outside. Sprayed, sprayed, sprayed. I wore mid-length jeans, and a long sleeved cotton tunic.

And STILL the little blighters got me. They ignored my sprayed areas, and instead just flew inside the leg of my jeans....

Oh. Except the one persistent little sod who got me through the tunic.

Roll on winter...

Well as a last resort, you could use a product called Bg Dope.
It won't make you any freinds as it does have a reek to it, but you Will Not get bitten again as it drives the bugs away!
We used it back home during Mud Season which is between April-May. During Mud Season, there are millions of No-Seeums, little tiny black flies that you cannot really see unless they swarm. They get into everything! We even wore "Bandito Bandanas" to cover our mouth and nose so that we could breath without inhaling the little buggers!
We found out about Bug Dope and started to use it and we no longer had problems with the No-Seeums!