Bzzzzzzzt. SLAP! Doggone it.

Watchful

Watchful

Joined
Dec 8, 2004
Messages
4,812
Look, mosquitos go with the territory. And I've been bitten multiple times probably every single year since I was two or three, so I really don't go around crying about it.

But HOLY CRAP they're bad this year. I don't remember them this aggressive. Good old reliable insect repellent? They don't care. Those new Off clip ons? Work great, but only if you stand still for a while. Once you move, you exit "the shield" until you stop long enough. In that time, they swarm.

What really set me off on this was I had to abandon a perfectly good hike today through some very friendly woods. Check this out: I got one on my arm. As I slapped her, *another* one instantly alighted on my slapping hand and bit me on the f%@#ing knuckle. Mid slap!

They were literally crawling into my ears and nose. I looked like a some poor soul with some Tourette's-like dyskinesia as I hiked, twitching and slapping and wiggling my hands around my head. After fifteen minutes, I said screw it.

Now I know why I was the only one out there.

Whew. Okay. I feel better now. Your turn.
 
Agreed. I don;t remember them being this bad. Most years i get a few bites here and there, but lately seem to get a few even just taking out the trash. Got a few bites through my jeans; don't remember that happening before.
 
This year isn't so bad here but I remember a few years back when we had an unusual amount of rain... Like you said, they'd swarm. One or two mosquitos at a time isn't much of a bother but when you have a dozen or so on you it's torture.
 
I don't think I've been bitten even once this year. Good rain but no standing water in the woods like some years.
 
Watchful and New adventure:
I'm in your area also and there is no repellent that is working for me.
This is the worst year in recent memory for the lil buzzards!
Lots of moisture this year and the ground by me seems saturated which is highly unusual when we hit the "dog days of summer". Fortunately the ones that carry west nile typically breed in brown stagnant water. It seems most pooled up areas has been fully flushed weekly with the above average rain this year.
Looking forward to fall myself.

I've been going out on short hikes when it's pouring rain or real windy. Seems it's a no-fly zone time for them.
 
Wait til you get out in em and have to take a whiz. Lil SOBs have no respect for ANY part of your anatomy.

Hard to slap at em where they might happen to land, while watering the forest.
 
They do seem to be more aggressive than normal this year. I have heard that there is something like 5 years worth of mosquito's hatching this year because of all the moisture.

They were bad enough this weekend that me and a buddy had to abandon shooting after a couple of rounds each. They were attacking us so badly that we couldn't lay still long enough to do more then make sure we were sighted in.
 
Guess you got all of ours. I've been getting covered up by gnats, flies, and ticks this year-worse than I've ever seen, but mosquitoes have been rare.
When I was younger they left bumps that itched for days, but through my 30s they've given me big welts. They look horrible, but barely itch, and are gone within the hour. Got a couple of bites putting my kayak in the river Monday morning, but that was probably the first time in months.

Got some kind of mystery bites several weeks ago, though. Made holes up to 1/4" wide(though usually less), and about the same depth as the width. The skin gets inflamed around it, and it looks like the skin right there in the bite shrivels up, so you have to dig out this wad of black stuff with goo around it that's still attached to the meat, but it doesn't bleed.
The biggest one had me afraid I'd been bitten by a brown recluse at first.
Suppose it could be from ticks whose heads got left in there, and not bites at all, but I don't know:confused:
 
It's been so dry in south AL that skeeters have not really been an issue...let it rain for a couple of days and we'll be in trouble...
 
If I as much as look at the woods I will be carried away by them. They are everywhere out here. There have been a lot the last 5 years here.
 
Bad this year here in upstate NY, NEVER, EVER buy coleman "smart skin" deet free repellent.
 
Huh, don't think I've seen more than a few this year, and haven't been hit even once.
 
I camped out 5 days this week and a smoke scent makes such a huge difference... it's night and day. I was fine for two days until I took a dip in some hot springs for a few hours-the instant I came out the mosquitos and black flies were on me. After sitting by the fire all night, the next morning I was fine... only to hit the hot springs again. It was a night and day difference. Overall though I find myself much less affected by the bites. They don't drive me nuts, don't swell up, don't turn red. I think you kinda build at least a mental immunity to it. Either way I carry Benadril tabs in case I have a serious reaction...
 
DEET. It works. It melts plastic and synthetic gear, but buy the highest concentration you can get. Usually, the smaller the bottle, the higher the concentration.
 
I cant even step out of my house unless I spray first. Seemed like yrs ago it was only bad at early evening, now it is all day long. We have had a dry summer so far too. Maybe the Moss - kee- toes are evolving. I have been experimenting with different bug sprays, Repel,OFF, and Cutter. I have found Cutter to work best and I like that it comes in a pump spray.
 
Flipincanadian said:
They do seem to be more aggressive than normal this year. I have heard that there is something like 5 years worth of mosquito's hatching this year because of all the moisture.

They were bad enough this weekend that me and a buddy had to abandon shooting after a couple of rounds each. They were attacking us so badly that we couldn't lay still long enough to do more then make sure we were sighted in.
Click to expand...

Flip- the issue we have here right now is that the "spring" mosquitos had a late hatch and as a result we have the spring and summer species making their appearance right now. Compound this with the fact that the spring variety is most active during the day hours and the summer varieties are more prone to dawn and dusk and we do not have the natural lag times between them that we are accustomed to. With the massive thunderstorm and downpour that we had 2 days ago there should be a new molting of adults by tomorrow or Friday (egg hatch based on moisture and degree days- the overall combined heat for a number of days- and the mosquitos here have a 3 day 20 degree+ hatch level) so get ready for another invasion soon!

I don't know why but this year the bites have been very reactive in my family. My 4 year old daughter has been swelling up massively after a single bite and I've even noticed that I am reacting worse than usual. Her first bites of the year swelled up her ankles so much she could barely walk for 2 days- and it was only 3 or 4 per leg!
 
I was told this was an El Nino or some other kind off weird tidal year-which explains all the backward weather everyone's having. Boise has been very wet, and it didn't consistantly reach summer temperatures until mid July. Heck we weren't consistantly over 75 degrees until mid June. The spring was constantly rainy and cold (we got almost a year's worth of water in one season) while Winter was mild and dry. Esav's condition has applied here for the most part-all this rainwater goes straight to the rivers, which are flowing too fast for bugs to hatch. The standing ponds, mountain lakes and springs are the local spots where you'll find the mosquitoes. Black flies are an entirely different story though...
 
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