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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2011 15:32:11 GMT
It's that season again. We have mosquitoes and black flies galore  I have a big bite on my neck that I know wasn't there yesterday. And no, it's not a love bite this time  And we are told to be careful of Lyme disease, there has already been one instance of it in NB this year, plus one dog was found to have it. What to do about them? Anyone else suffering with these nuisances lately? And what exactly is Lyme disease? |
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Post by mich64 on May 26, 2011 15:47:17 GMT
Oh yes Deyana, we are being kept in doors right now because they are so bad. To complicate things, we are having cool and rainy weather that is good breeding weather for more of them!
Lyme disease can be very serious. If you are out walking in the long grass without protection such as by wearing pants, socks and shoes, you could be bitten by a tick. Ticks get Lyme disease from biting deer and mice that have Lyme disease and pass it on.
Lyme disease can be treated with anitibiotics if diagnosed. If not, it can hurt you joints, heart and brain.
After all winter being inside due to the cold, these couple of weeks of bugs are bareable though. I am just glad we got all our planting done before they got too bad.
Cheers,
Mich
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Post by tod2 on May 26, 2011 16:43:42 GMT
Even with protective socks etc., ticks love crawling up to your groin. Best time to find them on your body is during a hot bath. Groins, armpits, - they could be snug anywhere....
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Post by rikita on May 26, 2011 20:00:13 GMT
ticks can also wander from one person to the other if you don't find and kill them in time. like, once after going to the forest, we found a tick on mr. r. but it must have just started to bite him as it was not swollen at all. so we went to my dad's to borrow his pincers (is that what you call it?) for pulling out ticks. when we got home again, the tick was gone, but a little while later we found a tick on my body - i am pretty sur eit was the same one...
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 17:01:47 GMT
mich, so you have over there too? Do you find they are worst in the evenings? You're right in that sometimes it's near enough impossible to sit outside because there so many of them. Even with all the mosquito repellents and those smoke rings. Yep, I've heard that Lime disease can very dangerous and have life long affects - even if treated. Just have to be very careful.
tod, Arrh! The thought of them crawling into armpits etc. is awful - I had a grasshopper that made itself into my underpants last summer, I didn't realize until I went to the washroom - I was in shock!
Ricky, I wonder if it was the same one? Ticks are even more gross than mosquitoes. Glad you found it though.
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Post by mich64 on May 27, 2011 19:31:58 GMT
Yes Deyana, much worse it the evening. That is why we have a fire pit as well. If I use repellent and sit up near the fire I can bare them sometimes. I swell badly from the black/sand fly bites. My husband is looking at buying one of those propane repellers. Canadian Tire sells them, they give off a small amount of carbon dioxide and the bugs are attracted to that instead of people. I guess the intent is for it to give off more than we do. I will let you know if it actually works.
Cheers,
Mich
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Post by rikita on May 27, 2011 20:45:15 GMT
i think it was, as we never found another one...
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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 28, 2011 8:19:00 GMT
Good grief....we are quite lucky in England in that we don't really have these biting insects...altho in Scotland they have a problem with midges in the summer. With climate change we may well end up with the same problems as warmer countries in the long run. The biggest worry is that we might have anopheles mosquitos breeding here (host of the malarial parasite) We do have ticks in areas where there are deer etc.....and I know that a friend's dog is always getting them after a walk on Bradgate Park (where there is a large deer population). Lime disease is horrid...I've never come across it in the hospitals where I work. If I found a tick on me I would freak...  |
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Post by mich64 on May 28, 2011 15:29:35 GMT
That is why when in Europe we are surprised that most places do not have screens on their windows. For a couple weeks out of the year, the indoors is the best place to be, but with the temperature warming and the need for fresh air after being closed up all winter, every window and patio door has a screen to keep the bugs out!
One summer the mosquitoes were quite bad, but luckily we have bats around to eat up alot of them. However, this one evening we were playing cards at the kitchen table with the window open and the patio door open (of course the screens are there) when all of a sudden the screens were covered with bats eating the bugs right of the screens. I know this sounds like a horror movie and we thought our young guests (friends daughters about 12 and 10 then) would have nightmares, but, they thought it was great! This was an unusual warm wet summer and have not seen anything like that since. Really though, we are used to having a few weeks of this and then a beautiful summer.
Cheers,
Mich
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2011 20:26:08 GMT
Chikungunya has reached southern France, almost certainly on flights from the French département of Réunion.
In 2007, 20% of the population of Réunion was infected. It is almost never fatal, but it causes great pain and stiffness throughout the body for several weeks.
If global warming continues, Europe could be in trouble.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 12:44:58 GMT
mich, let me know if that propane repeller works. You're right in that when the fire-pit is alight, they don't come near, I never realized a fire-pit could have so many uses. When I first came to Canada I couldn't figure out why everyone had screens on their windows, well now I know!
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 12:51:53 GMT
In Paris, most of the mosquitoes that one comes across are in the metro, which probably has considerable numbers of stagnant puddles in dark corners of the tunnels.
I have almost never had a mosquito in my 3rd floor apartment and very few flies.
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Post by mich64 on May 30, 2011 14:33:49 GMT
Another fact that endears me to Paris.  Cheers, Mich |
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Post by bjd on May 30, 2011 15:36:33 GMT
We have lots of flies, mosquitoes and spiders although no stagnant pools! No screens are my biggest complaint in France.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2011 17:51:17 GMT
Bjd, wouldn't a nice big piece fly tape hanging from all of your ceiling fixtures enhance your decor?   |
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Post by mich64 on May 30, 2011 18:01:10 GMT
Why are there no screens since it appears they would be helpful?
Cheers,
Mich
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Post by bjd on May 30, 2011 18:17:15 GMT
Kerouac, we went on holiday one year to Ariège, renting a house in a village. It turned out there were cows nearby and there were so many flies we ended up with flypaper just like that in your picture hanging over the table.  Mich -- I once came from Canada with rolls of screening to make screens. But the problem for us is that if we put screens, we wouldn't be able to close the shutters at night or when it's really hot. I saw some screens in a store the other day, but none of our windows are a standard size. |
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2011 11:18:53 GMT
And now those awful 'June Bugs' are out in force. whatever next? These can be almost as bad as the mosquitoes - they jump on the windows and screens, make creepy whizzing sounds as they flap their wings like crazy. They rest in the day and come to live at night, if you are outside they will get into your hair, and before you know it are clinging to your clothes and you've bought them inside with without knowing.  |
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