What is the most effective mosquito repellent, Hurricane Harvey has created the perfect mosquito habitat, trouble!

Holy Mackerel! As with most people in the United States for the past 2 weeks, I have been focused on Hurricane Harvey, the disaster. I thought about the suffering of the people first, then everything else is secondary, not to lose the focus on them there are many mitigating circumstances they have to deal with. When I discovered the expected loss of vehicles is over 500,000, half a million gone. Taking into account the new and used car lots, classic cars in garages, I have a tendency to believe there is probably many more. In the whole scheme of things and in light of the terrible suffering happening right now, vehicles can and will be replaced, there were thousands made last month, people cannot be replaced.

This is not a picture of Hurricane Harvey, however I would
think there are similarities.

  I have thought about mosquito's before, I wrote a blog on the pest's, it was how they related to my life and surroundings, . We do not have a problem with them after finding out what the Texans are and will be dealing with in the very near future, like this afternoon. Floods create the perfect world for mosquito's to breed, water everywhere and trapped in pools, tires, ground depressions and all of those destroyed vehicles. Referred to by some people as a flood of "biblical proportions", it truly was, there is another plaque on the horizon and it isn't locusts, it's mosquitoes. Eggs which have been dormant for very long times are now in a perfectly made soup enabling these eggs to hatch. (I can't help but think at this point of what is under the ice shelf's, ancient giant mosquito eggs? Perhaps). The swamps and sloughs in normal weather are a natural mosquito habitat, now with the flood, the habitat has expanded encouraging mosquito breeding. People in Public Health departments throughout Texas are warning people about the sure to come bug infestation, these flood mosquitoes are a different breed, however. The first to appear are incapable of spreading diseases, however, some can still carry Zika, Dengue and West Nile viruses. In the short term the spread of diseases by them is not a worry, however, mosquito's capable of carrying all of the nasty diseases may be on the way.
  West Nile virus has been in Texas since at least 2002, in 2016 there were 370 recorded cases reported. After Hurricane Katrina struck the West Nile virus was not a threat, few cases reported immediately after the storm. One year later West Nile virus reported cases were twice as many as were reported the year prior to the storm. I am sure the Texans are working overtime to eliminate standing water, they are under siege as I am writing this blog.
  What kills mosquitoes in standing water? Management of mosquito's in the first line of defense against the little biting pest, the goal being the eradication of mosquito breeding habitat. It is a noble goal, however, one that proves extremely difficult, mosquito's are capable of laying eggs in one ounce of water, and they survive. Prevention of egg laying is an impossible task, it is much easier to control the larva after they hatch, but we have to be "johnny on the spot" to be effective.

This is from Texas, taken yesterday, September 4, 2017

The mosquito abatement department of the county I live in goes past my house treating mosquito's twice a day. He will ask people if they know of any standing water, most of the time during the week I am the only one around so I talk to him often. They look for habitat everywhere and are permitted to enter most ranches and farms, I don't know how it works in Texas, I do believe it must be similar. Texas is a high mosquito population state in the best of times, now with the flood water, it is off the charts.
   1)  The mosquito larva prefers water less than 2 feet deep, a steep slope entering water than quickly dropping off into deeper water is a deterrent, they don't like deep water.
   2)  Adding air to the pond or stagnant water is an example of a mosquito repellent machine, placing a water or air pump on the bottom of the water and allowed to run all day and night will kill them.
   3)  Remove the food source, they eat vegetation and organic debris (the larva) it also provides shade from the sun and hiding places from predators.
   4)  Mosquito fish work great as well, however, they can not be released in open water, they are an invasive species and are capable of disrupting natural ecosystems.
   5)  In natural environments, which flood water is not, fish, crustaceans, nematodes, bacteria keep the populations under control.
   6)  Predators such as dragonflies and backswimmers are effective mosquito treatment for standing water, it is important no insecticides be introduced to water supporting this natural mosquito repellent.
   7)  Larvicides are much like stomach poison's killing the larva in a few days, they will never fly. Larvicides only kill fly larvae, it will not harm our much desired predatory insects. There are numerous manufacturers and their products differ slightly.
   8)  My favorite is Bats, although they will not eliminate all of the mosquito's, each bat will consume tens of thousands of the pesky little critters every night, encouraging more bats to be born.
  What about natural mosquito repellents? Attractants include,
   1)  Alcohol, yep if you are a drinker, they also are and enjoy a bloody Mary or Bob or they may even land in your wine.
   2)  People with high body temperatures send come hither messages to the belligerent little demons, people that sweat gets bit more often.
   3)  Are you a talker? They are attracted to CO2, Carbon Dioxide, so I guess we can be silent but that won't stop every bite, so keep talking, sometimes swearing helps when it comes to mosquitos.
   4)  Blood type "O", that's me, but I don't get bit very often, in test "O" blood types got bit more often than A, B, and AB. My wife is AB, just the other day I read an article where the author claims all AB blood types are from outer space, I will not comment on that, my wife did when I told her.
  If we don't talk, sweat, breathe, or change blood types we will be alright.
  I ask the question once again, what are some natural mosquito repellents?
  1) Stay indoors during the main feeding times which are dusk and early morning hours, I do remember in my home state when I would step off the road and enter the forest the hounds were released, I got eaten alive by them.

There are not enough words to explain this. This photo is also current from Texas.

  2)  Wear light colored clothing, dark colors attract them, in breezes the pest fly close to the ground comparing your silhouette to the horizon, dark colors stand out.
  3)  As covered earlier in this blog, get rid of standing water.
  4)  Many commercial repellents work, with so many natural attractants some trial and error has to be conducted to ensure it works with your body chemistry, that's the reason some works on certain people and not others. Perform due diligence when searching for repellent.
  The Texans are in for a plague of mosquito's, making life miserable, not to mention the risk of diseases in a year or so. I am sure there will be a number of people standing down wind of bon fires just to find relief. Mosquito's have been around for millions of years, I read about the mosquito's 250 million years ago, during the dinosaur years, the bugs were as big as sparrows and would swarm like honey bees. They swarmed to attack dinosaurs, and they did, driving the giant beast to their deaths by distraction and their desire to escape. That's what I thought of when I mentioned what eggs are under the ice sheets, I hope it's not them. (Read about ancient mosquito's, click here.)
  Thanks for reading, I will continue to pray for the unfortunate victims of Harvey, and the up coming victims of the impending "Irma", the southeastern U.S. has some serious weather. Leave a comment or a story, I am open to all.

jacquesandkate  emergencykitsplus.com