Mosquitos

[bmccasland]

I use OFF to keep from being biten.

But if you get bit/stung - feed the flying indigenous wildlife, I highly recommend Blue Star Ointment. It's camphor in petro-jelly. Just smear it on the bite area. You may notice skin reddening in the area, but no worries. I'm one of those that swells up with welts from mosquitos, but this stuff takes the itch out in just a few seconds. It even works on fire ant bites - although with these evil buggers, a second application may be necessary. If I had the ointment before I moved here, I wouldn't have scratched myself silly, and now have lots of scars on my legs and arms. I was given a jar of the ointment as a housewarming gift from my realtor when I got bitten by fire ants while we were house hunting (I had bought the house with the fire ant hill).

I also waged chemical warfare on the fire ant hill, and after three years they were killed off.

Blue Star Ointment - good stuff. Frankly I hope it's still out there, I'm almost out of my original pot.

[Biciclista]

Not at all. It's very light, lighter than most bug spray, especially including the DEET stuff I used years ago, which I find very greasy and uncomfortable. I don't know off the top of my head whether the base is water or alcohol or a combination, but it doesn't seem greasy to me at all.

the main ingredients were all oils!

BiteBlocker® is safe in that it contains natural ingredients that are mainly food-grade and listed by the EPA as minimum risk. The basic ingredients are Coconut Oil, Soybean Oil, Purified Water, Geranium Oil, Glycerin, Lecithin, and Vanillin.

[OakLeaf]

the main ingredients were all oils!

But the inert ingredients are 93% of the formula, and the #1 inert ingredient is water.

Really, it's very, very light. I hate greasy skin.

[katherine]

Visit the desert instead of the midwest!

Seriously how awful is it to end up with an itchy butt from mosquitos?

Really really awful! LOL!

[bmccasland]

Visit the desert instead of the midwest!

I've been mosquito bitten in Phoenix. Big evil monsters.

[katherine]

It's the golf courses, they breed mosquitos. Tucson has them too. It's unnatural.

[MyRubyE]

Just curious - has anyone ever heard of skin-soft being a good mosquito repelant? Years ago, it was much talked about, but I don't see or hear people talking about it anymore. On occassion I still use it, but not sure if it's all in my mind. I swear it works... Or, at least I think it does.

[itself]

Oakleaf,

Thanks for the link to BiteBlocker. I feel your pain, as I too have the same problem, one mosquito, two hundred people, they aim for my juicy veins!

I'll check Whole Foods for it...thanks again!

[Cataboo]

I spend too much time kayaking in salt marshes or other places where mosquitos are godawful.

Deet works about 10 mins in such situations and then the mosquitos are back eating you alive.

I've switched to picaridin based bug sprays, which is not as nasty feeling, doesn't melt plastic like deet does, and is an awful lot more effective at keeping the mosquitos at bay.

You do have to spray it on your clothing, because very persistent mosquitos will swarm your clothing and try to bite you through it - and depending on the fabric and how tight it is, they can manage to bite through clothing.

Ex officio buzz off brand clothing is also good, but is basically pemerthrin soaked clothing - and you could just soak your clothing yourself if you can still buy the stuff.

[alexis_the_tiny]

Where I live, little bloodsuckers really come out in full force during monsoon season, doesn't make for pleasent mountain biking. Plus, there'd be like 10 people in my group and they will all come bite ME.

I find that repellents sold in stores aren't all that effective for me, and they smell toxic. There's a citronella repellent I used to buy in Thailand that's dead effective. In the absence of that, I use lavender oil, sometimes neat, sometimes diluted with some carrier oil. It has the added advantage of being able to treat bites from mosquitoes that refuse to be repelled. And it smells much better.

[chickabonita]

Got a tip from a family member, he said don't eat a lot of sweats. He said they like sweet blood, so stick to salty, spicy or sour. I am not 100% sure that is true as he may have been pulling my leg, but I guess it's worth a try.

[Biciclista]

mosquitoes are attracted to your scent and your body heat. Not sure avoiding sweets is going to do me much good

[NbyNW]

Just curious - has anyone ever heard of skin-soft being a good mosquito repelant? Years ago, it was much talked about, but I don't see or hear people talking about it anymore. On occassion I still use it, but not sure if it's all in my mind. I swear it works... Or, at least I think it does.

They actually DO market it as a bug spray now: http://www.avon.com/1/1/3735-skin-so...sol-spray.html

Mosquitos love me. Sometimes I'm the only one in the room who gets bit!

I find eating lots of garlicky food can help ward off the suckers.

[Biciclista]

saturday i was rubbing dirt on my arms since i didn't have repellant!

[shootingstar]

Admittedly it's one of the drawbacks I don't like about long summer hiking in the woods or camping: mosquitoes. My bites seem to swell up bigger than some other people's.

It is real frustrating that I am the one the mosquitoes go after and take some bites. Whereas they hardly touch him (dearie) at all.

I have great respect for painters who do their artistic creations outdoors in certain areas where there are many mosquitoes.