Buggers, they are out all the time. I was hoping that our low temperatures (46 F or 7 C eh) would slow them down a bit and push the ones that are not well toward immediate death. Did you know the females are the only ones that bite? They need the blood to make their eggs grow. The male dies shortly after mating but the female can live for MONTHS and lay lots of eggs…she only needs to mate once in her lifecycle.
Far Guy has been hoping for a freeze. Wishful thinking on his part.
How many of you do the mosquito dance? In Minnesota that would be stomping your feet and waving your arms at the same time. I just hate it when I swallow one..or inhale one…the dirty little buggers fly around and tickle your throat and make you gag. And why is it that they want to fly into my ears??
Mosquitoes cover poor Chances muzzle where his hair is short. Buggers.
Darner Dragonfly
The Mosquito Hawks or Dragonflies are trying their best to eat thousands a day, but Dragonflies only live a few weeks, a month at the most when they are adults flying around eating mosquitoes. It hardly seems fair.
We have Dragonflies in our yard, and for the first time ever a few Damselflies.
Damselflies are usually blue and very thin. They fold their wings in when they are resting.
Damselflies eat mosquitoes too!
I have just about had it with mosquitoes…I don’t know how anyone can stand it outside after dark for very long. If you ask me between them and the Deer Flies that bite this summer has been miserable.
My stand by go to for mosquito bite relief is Absorbine Junior the licorice smelling green liquid in a bottle…as long as you don’t scratch a bite it will take the itch right out…but boy if you scratch…be prepared for it to burn. When the grands were little we called it the “magic stuff.”
Dry years we have few skeeters, wet years like this one are horrid for skeeters. It is rumored that mosquitoes in Minnesota can be as big as birds…it is all just a rumor..or is it?
The little buggers are bad here also. Wish we had some dragonflies and/or bats around. Too much standing water around so they have plenty of places to lay eggs. I use a product called AfterBite on mosquito bites. It works great.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of DEET, but I will use it when the skeeters are bad. I had them buzzing around my head yesterday as we came down off the mountain. But they were nowhere near as bad as you've got 'em. :-)
ReplyDeleteI've seen some of those mosquitoes, and they really are big. We found a product called Chiggerex Plus...mainly for chiggers, but also works on all bug bites to take the itch out. We have Mexican bats in South Texas that fly out every night to eat mosquitoes, but they currently aren't controlling the population here either!
ReplyDeleteNo, it's NOT a rumor!
ReplyDeleteThe last time I was in Minnesota and the buggers bit me, I had welts the size of dimes for weeks. The welts would fade to a dull pink and then flare the next day to a bright red. The welts were my unwanted souvenirs from MN.
We have had bad mosquitoes here to the summer. That's very unusual for us. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteMy home remedyy is apple cider vinegar held to the bite for 10-15 minutes. If you apply it before you start scratching, the bite will fade and not itch for days. And you smell like pickles, mmmmm!
ReplyDeleteEggs can last for years ans when the right conditions occur they hatch. There are also many variety of mosquitoes so you always have a few varieties at the same time. So there are early mosquitoes and late mosquitoes. They'll get us every time all the time.
ReplyDeleteCan't resist some factoids: Absorbine Junior was invented in a bathtub just down the road from me in Springfield, MA in 1892.
ReplyDeleteIt started as horse liniment, and the founder's father lent him $500 to start the business, but called him a "darn fool" for starting up a horse-based business at a time when the auto was on the rise. (Did you know the first cars were invented in Springfield by the Duryea brothers?).
And let's not forget that W.F. Young's (the founder) wife Mary Ida Young was the one who came up with the formula!
I've got to agree that the mosquitoes have been rather daunting this summer. 40% Deet is the only way I survive.
ReplyDeleteThe flies have been especially bad here this summer. Even the basil plants aren't helping to keep them away. I've read that basil repels mosquitoes, too. Another tip that some say works pretty well in keeping the mosquitoes off is to put a Bounce fabric sheet in your pocket.
ReplyDeleteSounds miserable. We have always been terrorized by skeeters, but not so this year. Love the dragonflies.
ReplyDeleteThey are bad here from so much rain. We have a fogger with repellent in it, and the Bennie does the front and back of the house early in the morning. It sure helps get them away from the doors.
ReplyDeleteugh Mosquitoes ~ they have been bad. Great pics of the dragonflies!
ReplyDeleteNot many Skeeters here - I think the big ones migrate north for the summer.
ReplyDelete...and yeah, big as a bird is no myth!!
A summer without a Minnesota blogger mosquito post would be a rare summer, indeed ;)
ReplyDeleteEven around here where it is always dry in the summertime, on account of the mosquitoes, we don't care much to go out in the evenings--especially after all that West Nile Virus, Dengue Fever and other tropical woes encroached upon our territory. Not worth the risk...but oh, how I used to love the delta breeze in the evenings. It used to be the perfect time for a leisurely walk...
I simply live on our screened porch. I can't do the bugs either! ! The cats go after any moths that manage to get on the porch.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I am not bothered by them down here. I know we have them but I can't remember the last bite I had...it's been years. We have other problems though...voles, armadillos, ticks and chiggers, oh and then there are the many poisonous snakes. I didn't know about the damsel fly but I do love the dragon flies.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't been bothered by mosquitoes this summer. The ticks are awful here!
ReplyDeleteOh, I hate mosquitoes too, and they love me. Another blogger showed a product last year that uses heat from a light bulb to zap mosquito bites. You hold it in place about a minute, over the bite, until it gets hot. It usually works quite well.
ReplyDeleteAbsorbine Jr? I will have to remember that for camping trips. I try not to go out after dark...at least not out in the yard. Our buggers down here are chiggers and ticks right now. When I lived in North Dakota we called the mosquito the state bird.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain...ouch! Apparently 15 years ago there were no mozzies here at all....and now, well it really doesn't matter what time of day or night they are swarming. BADLY.
ReplyDeleteAnd we have West Nile disease in them, so I guess it's going to be even harder to get outside now.
Stay bug free...
Jen
They are horrid here this year too. Got eaten alive when we went kayaking last week, have never put in and taken out quite as quickly as at that launch. Wasn't bad once we got out on the water out of the shade.
ReplyDeleteBeen a perfect mosquito spring and summer with all the rain. I know the mosquito dance too well. And they spray in town. It has to be horrible in the country. Tell FarGuy I was praying for a freeze, too--LOL! But instead we're supposed to be in the 80s and 90s for the next ten days. Mosquitoes will love it. :(
ReplyDeleteWe are having an odd year here also. All the biting bugs have just been horrendous...it's a trial being on the ditch bank. We also have more swallows this year so I'm hoping it helps. What I haven't seen much of are the bats. I sure hope we have some...they are a huge help with bug populations.
ReplyDeleteLinda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Thanks for the tip about Absorbine Junior.....they are terrible here, too, from all the rain this year. Mosquitoes love me !
ReplyDeleteI really remember Minnesota mosquitoes from my Grand Rapids life and we really did have a spring like that down here. Button's first is so thin now that we try to rush him outside and then get him back in quickly.
ReplyDelete