Rain, rain…..and more rain.
Over the past two days, we have had about 5 inches of rain.
Things are very green, spectacularly lush, in fact.
But there is one HUGE downside to living in the rainforest that is my neighborhood……
Mosquito-the scourge of humanity.
Image from Wikipedia
It is guaranteed that as the refreshing rains encourage the lush greenery and flowers, they also will foster mosquito nurseries. We will soon be hiding in our home from dusk until dawn.
We have not found anything that will successfully repel these disease-carrying, blood-thirsty demons. Can you hear the high-pitched sound that begins just before dusk each day? That is the sound of mosquitoes laughing at us as we smear chemical repellant all over our bodies.
The tiny monsters squeeze themselves through the finest mesh of window screens. In the dark quiet of a bedroom, humans have been known to go mad as they attempt to locate the source of the high-pitched whine of a single mosquito.
When we hosted an outdoor party for a friend, we rented an electronic bug zapper, and borrowed a new-fangled machine that emitted a chemical repellant. The party broke up within 10 minutes of dusk as the guests ran for cover in their cars as the swarms of mosquitoes descended on the backyard in anticipation of a human blood feast.
We live on the edge of a small woods, along a major river. We fight moles, mice, deer, woodticks, box elder bugs, Japanese beetles, voles, creeping charlie, bats and other miscellaneous wild things for control of our home.
But nothing compares to the mosquito.
The sun set a few minutes ago. You can find me in the house.
Just My Life 
Mow anything you can. That’s what I have been doing…
By: Beth Dale on May 24, 2012
at 9:46 pm
It is mown all around us. But we don’t own the wooded areas. It has been so wet that it’s been hard to mow at all lately.
By: chlost on May 28, 2012
at 8:32 am
Cool creepy crawly lol!
By: starscraper99 on May 25, 2012
at 2:16 am
Bug zappers tend to attract and kill beneficial insects, so they really are not effective against mosquitoes. However, there are all kinds of other devices out there, check out: http://mosquitocentral.com/
That said, just a 5 mph breeze is more than the little buggers can fly against.
Fortunately they are not bad here in Oregon very much. Surprisingly, considering our moist climate.
By: Robert the Skeptic on May 25, 2012
at 2:54 pm
That was one of the things that I noticed about Oregon when we visited. I loved that! No mosquitoes! We are going to be trying something to get rid of them, but I am not hopeful. They’ve survived much longer than humans on this earth.
By: chlost on May 28, 2012
at 8:31 am
Have you no respect for our state bird?? The early season breeders land at our local airport (yes, they are that big up here). The skeeters aren’t that bad compared to the black flies and no-see-ums. They take a piece of flesh when they leave. They are not usually too bad after June is over depending on conditions, but with this climate change that we can’t possibly be having it gets harder to predict.
By: Jon on May 25, 2012
at 7:12 pm
Oh, I have NO respect, that’s for sure….I think the black flies are a little easier, because at least you see them coming from a long way off. Their bites are worse. I feel bad for the horses when those flies are around. You are right that we may be having weather closer to Florida soon. Maybe we will be seeing gators in Superior soon!! 🙂
By: chlost on May 28, 2012
at 8:30 am
I’m with you!!!! I hate skeeters!!!!
By: kaydennison on May 27, 2012
at 9:49 am
They are truly the scourge of our world, between the disease and annoyance they carry.
By: chlost on May 28, 2012
at 8:23 am
Yeah, I hate the little freaks. They seem to be worst during the best gardening hours (early morning and evening).
By: Secret Agent Woman on May 30, 2012
at 10:23 pm