West Nile Virus Caution

[Brightsu]

I'm in South Carolina and I can't even weed my flower beds without getting eat up, we've had alot of rain and I guess the Mosquites.love it I use spray with Deet, but it doesn't seem to work, they're out there all times of the day. Maybe I'll even try Avon, Skin So Soft, that stuffs so strong, it even run's my husband off. LOL ;D

Pam

Something else that might help some folks in here. I bet a lot of you didn't know, or were aware that Laural repells mosquitos, and is why deer bed down in it frequently. It's not bad to look at either, so a little planted in the backyard isn't too bad. On one mission, we had to bed down for the night about 100 yards from one of the biggest mosquito filled cess pool of a pond I've ever seen in eastern Va. I got all 8 or so of my guys to bed down amongst the laural which was plentiful where we were at, and not one person even heard a mosquito all night, nor did one single person have to put on any bug repellant. Tho the comedy which ensued in the middle of the night concerning a small, never identified furry animal that wandered through the real country boy's hooch, (a poncho held up by bungee cords no higher than waist high, considered a "Motel" lol, to a typical soldier), I will NEVER forget!

Jones: "Ah felt something bump into me in the middle of the niiite and said, "Meeks, Zat uuuuuuuuuu???"
Meeks: "What are ya talking about?"
Jones: "Wasn't hym, so I reached around to cop a feel, uuuuu know, to see wat it waz, and it was FURRRRY!"
Jones: "So ah hopped up in my fightin stance!"

(Now picture a really big ol country boy who's half asleep, who carries a really thick country accent simply sitting up and putting up his fists, remember, a hooch is only waist high right?) LOL The small furry creature made a hasty retreat outta there immediately at that point, and also bear in mind there were quite a few screams, and yelling, then laughing which is all we heard from our hooch where we were 30-40 feet away.

We laughed the rest of our time on that whole mission over that! Those guys were a lot of fun, and from somewhere else but training with us because we all used the same weapons system.

[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails........[/glow]

Well Happy, I'm glad to finally know that there's a good use for Laurel Hedges because we have the 'Hedge from Hell' growing alongside our house... :

It was planted in 1955 by the original owner, right on the property line, and today it resembles a hedgerow. It runs the full 145 foot length of our property line and is now "only" about 10 feet thick. Makes a great fence.

It's now only about 12 feet tall or so.

When we first moved in it was at least 12 feet thick and fully 30 feet high... We keep beating it back into submission every 4 or 5 years...

You can't kill em!! But they also make a great windbreak too...

Glad to know it keeps the skeeters away. So whatever you do, DON'T plant one. They grow like stink, and IF you don't stay on top of em', they take on a life of their own.

You can cut them, but it's kind of like painting a bridge. Once you get to one end, you've got to turn right around and head back the other way... :P

Gregg

Gregg

I don't know about where you guys are from but down here most folks get around Laural and they sneeze their heads off. Happy's tube and SSS sound like the best bet so far.

[Brightsu]

For all those who suffer from Mosquito bites while outside, try this. It was sent to me, don' have any idea if it works but is worth a try.

Mosquito Remedy



Pass this on to anyone who likes sitting out in the evening or when they're having a cook out. So you don't like those pesky mosquitoes, especially now that they have the potential to carry the West Nile Virus? Here's a tip that was given at a recent gardening forum. Put some water in a white dinner plate and add a couple drops of Lemon Fresh Joy dish detergent. Set the dish on your porch, patio, or other outdoor area. Not sure what attracts them, the lemon smell, the white plate color, or what,! but mosquitoes flock to it, and drop dead shortly after drinking the Lemon Fresh Joy/water mixture, and usually within about 10 feet of the plate. Check this out---it works just super! May seem trivial, but it may help control mosquitoes around your home, especially in the South and elsewhere where the West

Nile virus is reaching epidemic proportions in mosquitoes, birds, and humans.

Pass it on.

Pam ;D

i just read that the virus was now found in southern california near the salton sea... the salton sea is in the path of the bird migration. starting to really spread..

teresa

[B_and_D]

K Mart had a lot of insect repellant stocked up right inside the door in Capitola today (CA). We have a regular program here in the southern area of Santa Cruz county to abate the mosquitoes...but they are everywhere else.

I've noticed that we don't have as many bats and barn swallows as we used to; they don't have anything to eat (mosquitoes). I miss the bats, but not those swallows.

I hate the way bug repellant smells, but I guess it's going to be a must now.

Happytrails,

What's the name of a brand of insect repellant that contains the same stuff as the tube of army repellant you recommended?

Since you talked about all of those mosquitos you encountered when you were stationed in Hawaii, were you aware that mosquitos were introduced into the Hawaiian Islands by whalers? Yes, Hawaii was really a paradise at one time - without any mosquitos - until the whaling ships brought with them their water barrels that were loaded with mosquito larvae. As a young boy growing up on Oahu I can still remember the sounds of the mosquito fogger trucks coming by in the evenings to spray our neighborhoods for mosquitos. That mosquito abatement program was necessary because there had been outbreaks of Dengue Fever in our islands. In the Waimanalo neighborhood, several miles away from our home, the mosquitos came out so thickly at night that one could swear that every cubic foot of air contained at least 10 or more mosquitos! Nowadays my wife and I get upset if one mosquito gets into our home.

Larry, to be honest, the army type is the only type I've seen like it. I've never seen a civilian version of it anywhere. It just says "Personal Care Products/3M" So it's made by 3M anyway.


[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails.......[/glow]

I live in Washington State, and we just had our first confirmed case of WNV. Up to now there have been suspected cases, and they confirmed the virus in horses & dead crows. Since I am widely known as a "mosquito magnet," by which I mean that if there are any mosquitos anywhere nearby, they will bite ME and leave everyone else alone, I am paying close attention to the WNV scare!

The good news about WNV is that it usually causes only mild illness - headaches, chills, etc. I think the media hype has some people panicked, thinking it is certain death to catch WNV. Lowering one's risk is obviously the only sensible thing to do, but when stores sell out of repellent in one day, people are going overboard!