The PG 13 Discussion

[ShadowHM]

We lost the game, but we sure kicked some skeeter butt!

It has been a slightly more damp than usual summer at the cottage. There actually are skeeters at the cottage this summer. :angry: (Normally the skeeters just don't manage to be a factor in outdoor life there, due to being on the east shore of a Great Lake with the prevailing winds coming from the west.)

Between the damp summer and the media enhanced fear of West Nile Virus, there are a rather amazing variety of 'new' products about to kill/control skeeters. I have been settling for wearing long pants and long sleeved shirts at the appropriate times, augmented by a few quick sprays of Muskol brand repellent (25% DEET) on the still exposed skin for those occasional evenings in between the on-shore and off-shore breeze when the skeeters are about, but there are always those who are looking for other solutions.

A neighbour showed up last weekend with a product that she purchased on the recommendation of a friend. She didn't read the fine print on the package until she got to the cottage, unfortunately. Here is a product that promises eight hours of relief from skeeters in large letters on the front. However, it involves butane cartridges (careful where you dispose of them) and repellent pads that last four hours apiece in the fan up top (don't change when the fan is hot and don't put them in household garbage either). They are not effective when there is any breeze at all. They promise protection for 15 square feet - do you sit outside that close to your friends? And, last and most damning - the sprayed fumes are extremely toxic to fish.

Good LORD.