Stinkin' mosquitoes!!!

[Jolt]

I went hiking with a friend today on part of the Midstate Trail (the section in Rutland and Barre, MA) since we finally had a really nice day around here. We were having a great time until we got to a stretch where the mosquitoes were horrendous! We each had a thick cloud of the buggers following us for at least half a mile, and of course we got our share of bites (boy was I glad I was wearing long pants). And we were wearing repellent (lemon eucalyptus). I ended up having to pull out my windshirt, even though it was a warm day, and put that on just to keep the bugs off, and my friend borrowed my rain poncho to do the same. We had done about seven and a half miles at that point, and would have liked to do quite a bit more, but the bugs were so bad we decided to have someone pick us up and take us back to our car!! Next time we will bring head nets...anyone else having major mosquito issues in their area? I think it has to do with all the rain we've had here lately. Whatever it is, yuck!

[shootingstar]

Vancouver seems to have alot less mosquitos than other areas where I've lived (southern Ontario). However I didn't know this until we moved here.

Mosquitoes are attracted to me...I'm often amazed how seldom mosquitoes bite my partner during the hikes we've done in mosquitoey areas. The type of bike touring rides that I don't enjoy a whole lot..is camping in a mosquitoey area after a long hot, loaded ride.

When travelling in Europe, I discovered some older places just don't have window screens.. so without ..thinking we stayed in a pension in Brugges, Belgium right by a canal (a city known for its medieval canals) for several days. I had the bed sheets nearly over my head..at night because of the critters flying in.

And in Lucerne, Switzerland in our hotel, there were these huge friggin' mosquitos cruising all night in room. I sweated under my sheets..

And in Florence, Italy I had to get my pharmacist sister and translator over to a pharmacy to buy ointment to bring down my swelling and itching. This drove me nuts...I missed the Uffuzi Galleries..for the art..

[ridenread]

Major mosquito problem here. Yesterday I was out riding and stopped for a couple of minutes at a roadside stand to buy a zuchini bread. I ended up with eight mosquito bites on my right leg and five on my left, which swelled and itched like crazy on the ride home. Then of course thoughts of Triple E and west nile virus kept creeping in since there has been so much on the news lately of birds with the virus in the area. Today I made sure to use the bug spray every time I stepped out the door.

[Jolt]

Major mosquito problem here. Yesterday I was out riding and stopped for a couple of minutes at a roadside stand to buy a zuchini bread. I ended up with eight mosquito bites on my right leg and five on my left, which swelled and itched like crazy on the ride home. Then of course thoughts of Triple E and west nile virus kept creeping in since there has been so much on the news lately of birds with the virus in the area. Today I made sure to use the bug spray every time I stepped out the door.

Yuck. Must be a general problem in this state b/c of all the rain. And I know what you mean about the thoughts of West Nile etc. especially since it has been found in mosquitoes here in Worcester recently. If I start having any flu-like symptoms, that is what I'll think of immediately. As for the bug spray, we did have it on yesterday but it just didn't seem to do anything against such a high concentration of mosquitoes; don't know if a DEET-based spray would have been any better or not. All I can say is that the mosquito situation on the trail yesterday was hands-down the worst I have ever seen in my life!

[Crankin]

Jolt, I know you are probably trying to go the natural way, but lemon eucalyptus probably is not going to cut it. There is another new chemical spray out. The main ingredient begins with a p, but I can't remember the name. My friend who can't use Deet, uses it. Why don't you check that out? Otherwise, I would go with the regular Deet stuff, especially with the amount of rain we have been having.

[Jolt]

Jolt, I know you are probably trying to go the natural way, but lemon eucalyptus probably is not going to cut it. There is another new chemical spray out. The main ingredient begins with a p, but I can't remember the name. My friend who can't use Deet, uses it. Why don't you check that out? Otherwise, I would go with the regular Deet stuff, especially with the amount of rain we have been having.

I think it's picaridin that you're thinking of, and I might try that since it seems like it's not as nasty as DEET. Either that or just clothing that physically keeps the bugs off (like what my friend and I ended up doing yesterday). The lemon eucalyptus is great for keeping blackflies away, but seems not to be as good for mosquitoes if there are that many of them!

[mimitabby]

Seattle isn't as bad for skeeters either. but when I lived in Idaho, where there is a lot of irrigation (and therefore lots of mosquitoes) I wore long sleeves and slacks in the summer if i was going to be outside much for protection.

[emily_in_nc]

Bad mosquitos in the woods here in NC this summer...last year we had bad drought and virtually none. Glad to have the rain, tho...even if mosquitos come with it.

Emily, scratching a few new bites of her own

[bmccasland]

We have several species of the ee-vile critters here.

If you get bit - Blue Star Ointment. It's camphor in petro-jelly. Just smear it on, and within minutes the sting is gone. I wish I knew about it a long time ago. Also works on fire ant bites.

[nancielle]

I went hiking with a friend today on part of the Midstate Trail (the section in Rutland and Barre, MA) since we finally had a really nice day around here. We were having a great time until we got to a stretch where the mosquitoes were horrendous! We each had a thick cloud of the buggers following us for at least half a mile, and of course we got our share of bites (boy was I glad I was wearing long pants). And we were wearing repellent (lemon eucalyptus). I ended up having to pull out my windshirt, even though it was a warm day, and put that on just to keep the bugs off, and my friend borrowed my rain poncho to do the same. We had done about seven and a half miles at that point, and would have liked to do quite a bit more, but the bugs were so bad we decided to have someone pick us up and take us back to our car!! Next time we will bring head nets...anyone else having major mosquito issues in their area? I think it has to do with all the rain we've had here lately. Whatever it is, yuck!

I'm a little farther west than you (the Berkshires) and I swear that mosquitoes are about to be named the regional bird out here. Taking Chloe out for a walk turns me into a "bug buffet" despite using repellent. What I wouldn't give for some occupied bat houses in my neighborhood.

[Sgritn]

I went hiking with a friend today on part of the Midstate Trail (the section in Rutland and Barre, MA) since we finally had a really nice day around here. We were having a great time until we got to a stretch where the mosquitoes were horrendous! We each had a thick cloud of the buggers following us for at least half a mile, and of course we got our share of bites (boy was I glad I was wearing long pants). And we were wearing repellent (lemon eucalyptus). I ended up having to pull out my windshirt, even though it was a warm day, and put that on just to keep the bugs off, and my friend borrowed my rain poncho to do the same. We had done about seven and a half miles at that point, and would have liked to do quite a bit more, but the bugs were so bad we decided to have someone pick us up and take us back to our car!! Next time we will bring head nets...anyone else having major mosquito issues in their area? I think it has to do with all the rain we've had here lately. Whatever it is, yuck!

Jolt, you may want to try a mixture of peppermint oil in water. A natural pesticide which will not harm your body.

[OakLeaf]

We discussed this all a few months back... If I have to wear repellent, I still swear by Bite Blocker (active ingredients soybean oil and geranium oil). Won't melt plastic, doesn't make my skin crawl, has a strong but not unpleasant fragrance, works as well as the chemical repellents. (although it does need to be reapplied a little more often than high concentrations of DEET) - but my mosquito block of choice is still a spun polypro painter's coverall.

But yeah... the fact that only about 1% of mosquitoes are infected with WNV isn't much consolation when I can get 100 bites in a single week if I go out unprotected...

[SlowButSteady]

It won't work with a moving...stopping...moving some more situation, but I'd sit naked in the Everglades with my Thermacell, and I'm a swamp rat.

Sadly, our swamps are drying up. No rain. "Extreme" drought declared.

Our creek has completely dried up. Pond is working on it.

Still, a bug found me when I was out riding in full sun today.

Camphor...yeah, it works on bug bites. That's why our grandmothers used it. Mine kept hers in a jug with a cork.

[anakiwa]

I'm being eaten alive this summer (we've had a lot of rain and there's still a lot of water in the woods)- I can't even pick one tomato from the garden without coming back with bites.

A few years ago the New England Journal of Medicine published a randomized controlled trial comparing various mosquito repellants (how they ever got volunteers is beyond me) http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/347/1/13 - the bottom line is that DEET is the only thing that works reliably.

[emily_in_nc]

Much to our horror, we discovered this very week that our three eco-friendly (and invaluable during NC's drought) rain barrels that DH installed this year were absolutely teaming with mosquito larvae. It's been a bad year for skeeters around here, but if all the larvae in those barrels had matured, we would have had to run for the hills from the swarms of blood-suckers!

Unfortunately, the rain barrels have been decommissioned for now, at least.

Sigh...