Mosquitoes!!! Ugghh!

Well, it is that time of year again and since our winter weather was extremely mild there wasn't a single mosquito killed off. So what does that mean? It means swarms of those horrid, evil little disease spreading insects. What can a person do to protect their little piece of heaven and their family from them. There are a few things that you can do.

1. Be diligent about not letting water stand around. For water buckets and water troughs you can either disturb the surface of the water everyday for at least 30 seconds or put some goldfish in the water trough. The feeder goldfish will eat the mosquito larvae.

2. I don't like chemicals so I do not use bug sprays, instead I make my own. I make a solution of citronella oil and water which I then spray on our clothing before we head outside. Citronella is a natural bug repellant. Care should be taken not to spray it on the skin though, just on clothing. Even some natural things like citronella are not good being absorbed into the skin. Citronella is a great herb to plant around your house and your yard. Just a few citronella plants strategically placed and mosquitoes won't like your yard very much.

3. Mosquitoes are most active (supposedly) in the morning and evening hours, kinda like sharks. So avoid spending much time outside during these hours. If you must be outside then wear long sleeves and pants during this time.

Down here in the south we have mosquitos big enough to drain you dry in seconds. They also don't follow the typical rules of when they are most active, ours are active all the time. Take special care to avoid being bitten as much as possible, they do spread disease. I have had a friend with encephalytis and it destroyed his life. He had to get rid of all his animals as he was no longer physically able to take care of them. He spent years suffering before he passed away. To me not being able to enjoy my active lifestyle is worse sentence than death. Take care this summer and do what you can to avoid those bugs!