Got mosquitoes eh?

[MChalkley]

Well, the way he described the critters up in his neck of the woods, I was afraid to talk about ours anymore for fear he'd tell me how wimpy I am when he gets here. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Mark

 

[TomG]

Sure, got any place that serves blood pudding? Figure I'll need it.

My major regret is not getting our demolition done before the bugs. Now the bugs and me will have to work in the bush together. There's something that hits me sometimes that causes swelling and a dark purple bruise over a 2-3 inch area. Depends on how fast I get the heat and ammonia on. Can last almost a week.

Suppose I'll have to figure out if it's safe to operate a tractor while wearing a bug shirt.

 

[TomG]

Haven't heard of that one, but the government raises and releases dragon fly as well as tex fly. That's at least one good thing for the government.

What I referred to is a pocket sized thing that seems to do some infrared heating. Put it on a bite and hold down the button. Takes awhile, but it actually does some good (for other types of bites as well). The idea is that the component we react to in many types of bites is heat sensitive. If skin around the bite is heated, the amount of toxin is reduced. There is a safety thing; I have overdone it and raised small skin blisters. Dabbing on ammonia probably is a similar idea.

 

[TomG]

'Fraid the only gardening thing around here is green with envy. The traditional frost free day here is still several weeks away. Guess we could take a risk and seed some early crops.

 

[Bird]

Yep, TomG, our growing season is a bit different from yours. But wait until June, July, and August, when our temperature gets to 100+ and I'll be the envious one.

Bird

 

[Thomas]

Well Tom the mud and the bugs are here.
The mud starting to dry up in places with a little help from the Kubota,but as far as the black flies and mosquitoes goes (

Maybe its just me but those little boogers seem to be extra hungry and more of them this year,and it just a matter of time before the horse & deer flies come a buzzing.

When I left the house at 3:30 am to go and film a turkey hunt in Vermont the temp was 62 degress,and by 8:15am the temp was 71 degress,and the insects were just loving it.
Hard to believe about week and half ago it was snowing and the next morning there was 4 inches of snow on the ground.......good old New England.

Remember when working on the farm or in the woods with old chainsaw what one could do to keep those little boogers at somewhat of a distance?
Yep mix little more oil with the gas.

Have a good weekend and keep the insect spray handy.

 

[MChalkley]

TomG, the bug shirt seems to be a no brainer - you know it's dangerous to drive the tractor without one! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Mark

 

[TomG]

Yep, I'm somewhat black fly bit after hauling some junk out of the bush yesterday. The rate the leaves are growing, it won't be easy to get there in a week or so. Sure do like my pallet forks. So, now that I'm gloating, how else does one haul a 25 cubic foot freezer filled with junk out of heavy bush and set it in a utility trailer?

Got up over 80 F here yesterday, supposed to be hot again today. Heat wave in early May, who knows. Well, get a few more days of it and it will wipe out the black fly. They dehydrate I hear.

If the heat doesn't get um, maybe I can turn my exhaust back toward me and forget about the 600 hour injector adjustment.

 

[TomG]

And if that doesn't work, I can get the super shirt. I saw a bug shirt last summer in an outfitter store. You charge the thing with repellant. Guess the idea is that they can keep the bugs away by using a larger mesh, which is cooler. The idea of 'charging' your shirt seems real peculiar to me, but who knows.

I thought about ways of illustrating the bug thing here. Well, just think of multiple mosquitoes under your glasses even while dripping with repellant. Black fly are like a kind of doc. They specialize in crawling in your ears, eyes, nose and throat.

Several years ago when we using a house as a summer cabin, we noticed that every evening we'd get swarmed by mosquitoes inside. The house wasn't exactly tight, but the doors and windows were screened. We'd light mosquito coils, and they'd go away. The next evening they'd be back.

We finally thought: 'Wait a minute, the house isn't that open, where are they coming from?' Figured it out. The coil didn't kill them, just knocked them out. The next day, they were back for a meal, along with any more that got in. My wife took to sweeping them off the floor into a dustpan and throwing them outside.

Somehow the idea of sweeping mosquitoes into a dustpan stuck with me.

 

[Bigfinn]

How are the woodticks up there TomG? I just got back from Northern WI where is was in the 80's both Sat. and Sun. and the ticks are as thick as... well... ticks on a dogs back. Pulled 27 off of me Sat evening alone. Did also see some of the large non-biting mosquitos, but none of the real ones yet.