The yin and the yang of summer. I love warm weather, but now that it's tee shirt season, up here in the Great White North it is also biting insect season.
Actually, May through October is bug season up here, but beginning a couple
weeks ago, the starting gun went off for black flies and mosquitos. During the
spring and summer in Canada these insects are omnipresent, and their presence is
both loathed and celebrated. Somewhere I believe near Ignace in Western Ontario there
used to be a large statue erected of a man being carried away by a giant
mosquito. I don’t think there is any repellant that really works for the black
flies, which are tiny little creatures, but which leave one helluvah an annoying welt
when they bite. Mesh bug suits are somewhat effective, and at this time of year I
wear a mesh cover over my head at dusk and dawn. Thankfully, black fly season is relatively short
and that plague usually abates by July when the weather gets hot. Mosquitos, on
the other hand, are always here when
the weather warms up. We have larvicide for our retention pond and rain
barrels, vitamin B patches as an alternative to poisonous DEET spray, a
propane-fired mosquito “vacuum” which may or may not work, a battery-powered clip on OFF bug repellant diffuser (which we find is also fairly effective), citronella candles,
bug zappers, flame throwers … we’ve got it all, and I am still being eaten
alive. This year the general consensus is that the mosquitos are worse than
usual. I bought a bug book and I am learning all about them. There are some
decent home remedies for the bites. Surprisingly, hand sanitizer works pretty
well. Ammonia mixed with rubbing alcohol also seems to help, and is a lot
cheaper than “After Bite”. My favorite mosquito weapon is those electric bug zapper
racquets. Very satisfying. The other day there were a bunch of the bastards in
my car when I left for town, and I almost drove into a tree because I was so
distracted zapping them. You hear about not using your cell phone in a car, but
I might be the first person to get in trouble for using a bug zapper.
Speaking of annoying insects, later this week Ontario elects a new Premier. Will it be the status quo?
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2014 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Speaking of annoying insects, later this week Ontario elects a new Premier. Will it be the status quo?
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2014 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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