| 115 | Mosquito Day | 2010-02-04 |
Well, I missed it. World Mosquito Day was August 20 and I was unaware of the celebration. In fact, that was just last Thursday and I know that I swatted a few that day. I am sorry, I didn’t know it was their day.
We live in an old house nestled in an old neighborhood with lots of old bushes and vegetation which seem to be breeding grounds for the mosquitoes. We are the only house in the neighborhood who does not have a giant No Spray sign in our yard. So they hatch in the privet bushes and the city won’t spray because everyone is afraid of the spray. Did I mention that the mosquitoes thrive in our neighborhood?
Mosquito swatting is just a part of life. I generally do not use repellant, I prefer covering exposed areas; but I am not opposed to using repellant or sitting near people who wear it. While in Colorado this summer, fast Nick wore repellant. No, wait, he bathed in repellant, which was good, because I just had to sit close to him to be included in his shield. Of course if he met anyone on the trail, they would quickly run away holding their noses.
Jon, on the other hand, wore a moderate amount of repellant (Laura would not let him wear more) and would cover up to hide from the mosquitoes. On Mount Holy Cross we saw Jon on the trail. He was taking a break at treeline. Completely covered from head to toe, his jacket hood was drawn so tight that only his nose and mouth were exposed and he was dancing. When I saw him I asked was he cold? No, it was the mosquitoes. I was satisfied with that answer, but I did laugh a bit under my smile.
Generally I try the shoo, swat, and dress method of deterring mosquitoes. If the persistent ones still penetrate my defenses and Nick is not around to stand close to, I will wear repellant. With several grades of repellant to chose from I always start with a green version, then a light DEET, and then the heavy duty dose of as toxic of formula as I can find. Still my preferred method is swatting. Not only am I deterring their bite, but I am preventing them from ever biting again!
My wife said one of her teacher friends warned against swatting mosquitoes. Their theory was if I swat and kill the slow and not so smart insects, I will strengthen their gene pool, because the strongest ones (the ones that got away) will survive. Darwin at his finest. Soon super fast mosquitoes will rule the world. Maybe that is why we are celebrating their special day, a belated Happy Mosquito Day.
Please, go swat a few for me.
links - http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=bite-back-on-world-mosquito-day-09-08-19