The Biting Bugs of Summer Are Back

To Reduce Mosquito Populations Get rid of standing water where they breed, such as clogged gutters, planters, bird baths, tree stump holes. For these, as well as swamps, or areas that flood after rain, throw in Mosquito Dunks, which are brickettes of BT (bacillus thuringensis israeliensis) , a safe insecticide, that kills the larvae and should last through the summer. (At most garden centers.) For heavens sake, don't use Electric Zappers because they mostly kill good bugs. In one test less than a tenth of one percent killed were mosquitoes but lots of good predator bugs were killed. Ultrasonic electronic devices don't work either. Neither do bird nor bat houses. Protective Clothing There is the ShooBug jacket (with hood) and pants. It's a tan colored mesh with cotton threads that absorb the DEET. The jacket is doused once or twice a year with strong DEET, and kept in a sealed plastic bag when not in use to preserve the smell. Not cheap, but airy and cooler than regular clothing. What I really want for my birthday this year is a beekeepers hat with a netting down to the shoulders. That'll show those dastardly mosquitoes just who's boss! Furthermore, I think the Garden of Eden must have been screened in. To Help the Itch Other than grandma's remedies, cortisone skin ointment may be useful or oral antihistamines. Ask your doctor. Some Other Bugs of Summer Biting Flies: Hoards of biting flies swarm and chase people from the tundras of Alaska to the game preserves of East Africa. They are all big, bad and unpleasant. Each locale has it's own. For instance, horrid greenheads often ruin visits to the glorious East Coast beaches in July. They come from the salt marshes, where they live, to molest with their painful sting. Then sometime in early August they just disappear until the next year. Use DEET, protective clothing or stay out of their way. Yellow Jackets: Also wasps, bees and hornets. They really don't prefer people, but are just looking for sugar or nectar. If you smell like a flower, or are serving food, they will find you and fly around. Just stand still and hopefully, they will lose interest. Flailing about upsets them and then they might bite. Meat tenderizer put on the bite quickly may help dissolve their irritating proteins. Many leave a barbed stinger which carried the toxins in the skin. It should to be removed, ideally without breaking the poison sac. Call a doctor if the itch, pain and swelling is bad. If a bitten person's throat feels swollen or difficulty breathing or swallowing ensues, go immediately to a hospital emergency room. If a person is known to be highly allergic, they should always carry an adrenalin injection vial and syringe at all times. Black Flies: They plague us in spring near the running water brooks they need to breed. Traditionally a plague in northern climes, they have recently enlarged their range. One really hot spell usually wipes them out until next year. Bite prevention is with DEET. Ticks: Ticks attach themselves to the skin and swell as they suck our blood, often transmitting serious diseases. Lyme disease is found in the Northeast, the Northern Midwest and on the West Coast. In the east and Midwest, deer ticks are the culprit. These ticks have a complicated life cycle but are most infectious and most hungry in spring and summer until they lay their eggs in early August. They live on lawns and in the long grasses on golf courses, meadows, brush, wherever Bambi walks. Practice the same precautions as for mosquitoes: repellents, long pants tucked in socks. Additionally, inspect the body carefully for the tiny black ticks, the size of a grain of pepper. Remove them by dabbing with alcohol ( to loosen their grip), using a tweezers, and be sure to get the head. The ticks have to remain attached for 24 to 48 hours to transmit disease. In the West, black legged tick is the common carrier. Rocky Mountain spotted fever which is actually all over the United states, is carried by the dog tick, and the wood tick in the west. The disease is most common in men and boys. So inspect the poor pooch for ticks, and yourself as well and remove any ticks found. A tick and flea collar on the dog is useful.

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