The PG 13 Discussion

[Occhidiangela]

I guess I did not imply the correct amount of "facetiousness" with appropriate smilies.

However, I have been doing and saying that for years, since I, at a young age, have been a rabid mosquito, fly, and moth killer. It all started when we were sitting in a baseball dugout, playing a game after a rather bad rain storm, and being pestered by swarms of skeeters.

I killed 5 in almost no time, and declared myself "an ace." This prompted a spontaneous outbreak of skeetercide, but they never stopped coming. Our pitcher, Steve, got his kill total up to 74, so he never got the title of Rittmeister he was hoping for, the Red Baron being a popular icon in those days due to recent Snoopy and the Red Baron cartoonage.

The kill of the day, however, was produced by our catcher. While warming up a pitcher, he threw the ball back and when the pitcher caught it, he noted a dead skeeter on the ball. Killed either in mid air, or more likely when the ball thumped into the pitcher's glove.

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

[--Pete]

Hi,

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

Where was that? Some friends from Minnesota tell me that at the hight of skeeter season there, you can swing a pint jar and catch a quart of skeeters. :)

--Pete

[kandrathe]

It is true. We've had a wet summer, so the populations are skyrocketing. Mostly, as a native, I don't notice them unless I'm walking through undergrowth, or are out and about near dawn or dusk.

[Roland]

That you were being facetious, that is. Even so, I felt the need to make my point. :)

As for mosquitos, I only kill them if they come near me. ;)

[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.

[Occhidiangela]

The dead skeeter game took place on the baseball field, and in the dugouts, behind the High School in West Berlin, Germany. :o Not sure if Berlin American High School still exists, I doubt it. I'd guess, knowing what I now know about skeeters, that the standing water in the dugouts and behind the backstop, and in the woods behind the school, was where the skeeters came from.

Speaking of skeeters:

Here in Corpus Christi, the West Nile madness has begun again, and when it rains here, the skeeters just appear out of nowhere. Go figure, this being in the humid coastal plain of a semi tropical climate, where rainfall, this year, is double the annual average so far.

There are a variety of foggers and other chemicals we put on the grass now and again, but when we do, we have to keep the dog indoors for a day. He does not mind, since he loves to lie on the cool tiles in the kitchen on hot summer days.

Cigar smoke still works, however. :D

[TaMeOlta]

Hi,

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

Where was that?  Some friends from Minnesota tell me that at the hight of skeeter season there, you can swing a pint jar and catch a quart of skeeters. :)

--Pete

:o Numsay's from Minnesota - I guess that explains the helmet he uses as an avatar , it protects them from gettin' their brains sucked out from giant skeeter swarms !! :P

[--Pete]

Hi,

Federal law now requires protective gear when saddle breaking the larger skeeters :)

--Pete

[kandrathe]

... but, I found that building bat houses has been very effective. In the fall I cover the outsides with some insulation to help them make it through the tough winters.

I actually own the 2 acres of ponds and wetlands behind my house, which is where the bulk of my mosquitoes come from. I would prefer to just live with them and let the birds have the food, but with the arrival of West Nile here in Minnesota and since I have two small defenseless children, I thought I should do something. I'm pretty much against the use of any chemicals on myself or on the land or in the water.

Anyway, you should see the looks from the neighbors at nightfall when the swarms of bats leave my yard for their evening feeding.

[Numsay]

QUOTE (Pete @ Aug 7 2003, 06:10 PM)
Hi,

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

Where was that? Some friends from Minnesota tell me that at the hight of skeeter season there, you can swing a pint jar and catch a quart of skeeters.

--Pete 

Numsay's from Minnesota - I guess that explains the helmet he uses as an avatar , it protects them from gettin' their brains sucked out from giant skeeter swarms !! 

A promotion you often see around the state for various restraints and hotels is, bring in 10 dead mosquitoes and receive 10% off your bill :lol: .
I don't think anyone's ever been killed directly by a swarm of mosquitoes here ;) , but if you get caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, they can be so thick it's hard to even breath. I know I've inhaled more then my fair share. Tastes a little like chicken.

[Occhidiangela]

. . . bat man? :D

[kandrathe]

nt - nocturnal transgressions.

[ShadowHM]

... but, I found that building bat houses has been very effective.  In the fall I cover the outsides with some insulation to help them make it through the tough winters.

Bats are one of the better ways to minimize mosquito populations, although they do prefer other insects if available.

One of my best friends now has custody of her family cottage, which was converted by her grandfather in the 1940's from a boarding house, which was itself converted in the 1910's from a church. Her colony numbers in the thousands, and makes for a very nice bug-free zone around her deck. They have forborne killiing the colony, despite her fear of them. They have tried several times to convince the colony to re-locate, first building a bat condominium beside the boathouse, and then trying the lost cause of plugging the entry holes.

Her only real concerns are the few who accidently make their way into the cottage, most often in July when the youngsters are learning to forage on their own. She finds it particularly trying to make the trip to the toilet facilities in the night with bats swooping in the hallway.

There are a few other colonies on the bay. One is in the old one-room school house, now converted to a community centre. This one is a perfect location, as no one ever sleeps there. Others reside in a number of the older cottages and boathouses in the area. Unfortunately, as these places change hands the new owners often react with horror and kill the colony outright.

I have built a number of bathouses and placed them in what seemed to be appropriate locations about my property, but they have yet to attract inhabitants.

I am intrigued by your attempt to insulate the bathouses for winter residence. Do they actually stay? My friend's colony winters elsewhere, and only returns in early May each year. (It is rather obvious when they return.) The Bruce Peninsula features a lot of caves on the eastern side that we surmise are the winter digs of the colony for hibernation.

(No spell-checker here at my mother's Star Lake cottage, so I hope there are no major errors ;) )