Here in NC we're plagued by Asian Tiger mosquitoes, which bite any time, anywhere, and raise sharply the chances of disease being spread. If there are power problems, either from the heavy usage currently (pun intended) or from Y2K next summer, al fresco dining will become very popular. An old hint is to place patio table legs in clean empty tuna cans containing about a teaspoonful of citronella oil each. It keeps ants and other crawlies away too. I should think a little citronella in a container on the nightstand will keep away any mosquitoes that manage to get inside the house and give you a good night's rest.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), June 07, 1999

Answers

Here in Cascadia it is too cold to have to deal with mosquitoes for any length of time. But fleas~!
We no longer have pets, but some patients do, and there's always cats running around outside. Tried 2 different non-toxic anti-flea natural sprays which both contained citronella oil -- one worked better than the other. Have burned little citronella candles, which helps a little bit.

What kept the fleas off was dousing legs, especially shins, in pure tea tree oil. Strong stuff.

We take a rimmed plate, fill with dish-soapy water, put a candle in a safe heavy glass votive holder in the middle. At night, light candle. Fleas will hop toward flame and perish in water because soap eliminates surface tension.

Anybody know if this simple inexpensive trick also gets rid of mosquitoes?

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-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 08, 1999.

Hi Old Git!

Aren't you the poster who had spent some time in New Orleans and knew Ron Faucheux?

I enjoyed three summers in New Orleans 30 years ago as a Mosquito Control Inspector for the Orleans Parish Mosquito Control Board.

The attempt to kill adult mosquitoes (via the fogging trucks) was then (and probably still is) primarily a public relations campaign so the public would appreciate the effort that was made.

The real work to control the mosquito population was the spraying of a fine layer of kerosene over the still water in which the mosquito larvae were developing.

It was not known whether the kerosene poisoned the larvae or cut off their oxygen; but it worked, so nobody cared.

If the Arabs have a big y2k problem, our supply of kerosene may be drastically curtailed. If so, we can expect the mosquito population to explode.

-- GA Russell (garussell@russellga.com), June 08, 1999.

Vector control is one of the first services cut during hard times--at least in my county. Deny the little biters breeding harborage as best you can. Try to smell like something other than animal. The carbon dioxide in our breath is a major attractant. Mints? Slather up and learn how to treat at earliest symptoms of infection.

-- Carlos (riffraff1@cybertime.net), June 08, 1999.

Yup, GA, 'tis I. I worked in a war on poverty agency then politics for some time, had my own crew and did free-lance work. Very exciting in those days. I went to New Orleans in 1967, just in time for the commemoration of the monument to the Battle of New Orleans in Chalmette. Sen. Hebert spoke. I remember it particularly well because every mosquito within a hundred miles made straight for the fresh new blood and caused me a trip to the hospital.

If it's truly kerosene keeping those nasty things at bay, then we ARE in trouble. They're not nearly so bad up here, but still a great nuisance.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), June 08, 1999.

Leska, I wish you had been with us at Chiloquin in 1992 for the vets' pow wow. The skeeters were so thick that they formed visible clouds, even at night.

I discovered both at Tokeetee and Lemolo, among other places, that they can be a big factor in anyone's enjoyment of the PNW, early or late in the season. It's worse in the fall, during deer and elk seasons. Thick clouds, or big, or thick clouds of big...take your pick.

-- LP (soldog@hotmail.com), June 08, 1999.

When they were shooting BraveHeart in Scotland the midges were very bad.Much to the amusement & then amazement of the Scots Mel Gibson et al slathered on one of Avon's creams.(I cannot remember which one ) It certainly worked !

-- Chris (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), June 08, 1999.

Avon 'Skin So Soft' I believe is the product you are thinking of.

It didn't help me that much, tho.

i guess I'm too sweet! ;-)

-- J (jart5@bellsouth.net), June 08, 1999.

Please, don't forget that if things get really bad, we have quite a number of people in this country who are malaria carriers. Malaria was endemic in this country as far north as Chicago until this century. My father came down with it living in Alabama.

-- Jon Williamson (pssomerville@sprintmail.com), June 08, 1999.

LP, that sounds awful! Sorry we represented our fair region as being relatively free of the bzzzzers. Never heard of bad or long-lasting skeeter problems, but will be sure to stay away from the areas you've mentioned. Maybe Cheryl & Marsh and some of our southern Cascadians can report if their areas are afflicted.

Anybody use mosquito netting?

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-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 08, 1999.

The *only* active ingredient in Avon Skin So Soft is the oil. (Indians used to smear their bodies with bear grease.) It would be cheaper just to use baby oil.

It is not legal to dump oil in waters because of the destruction to the ecosystem. Try Bt "dunks". Make sure you are not inadvertently creating breeding sites on your property by preventing situations where water would hang around for some time (like barrels or the insides of tires).

If you are in an infested area, maybe quinine is something you should obtain.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), June 08, 1999.

"Are mosquitoes a problem?"

No. They are fully Y2k compliant.

(Unless, of course, their purported Y2k readiness is really just a government scam, right?)

-- Jeff Donohue (Jeff_Donohue@hotmail.com), June 08, 1999.

Where could one obtain quinine?

I read H. Ryder Haggard's "She" last month, and in the first half of the book quinine was a must have sort of thing. Is it a prescription sort of thing?

I've always thought of quinine as a mysterious tonic issued to the military and missionaries in the tropics. Now you've got me wondering if we might need it for our forays into the backyard and fields.

BTW, we are near the foothills of the Adirondacks, and we have ferocious black flies and voracious mosquitoes nearby. Some years they have sprayed (fog trucks! fog planes!) and some they haven't.

-- Arewyn (nordic@northnet.net), June 08, 1999.

"Anybody use mosquito netting?"

Yep. Been using it for years. Got some off of a roll, then sewed some to the end of my sleeping bag, and more to drape over my head in freshwater areas (streams, lakes, etc.).

About fleas: two good flea repellents I have used are orange rinds, and cedar. You peel an orange, then score the inside of the rind with a knife or a sharp fingernail. Then put them where you want them. The fleas hate the chemical emitted by the rinds. I get some oranges from the store, enjoy a couple then scatter orange rinds all over the apt. Freshens up the air, and cleans house, too.

When walking outdoors, get some cedar needles, and put them in the tops of your socks. Fleas, and some species of ticks don't like it, and stay away. I suppose if you wanted to be fancy about it, you could get an old sock or something like that, fill it partially with cedar needles, tie it around your leg, then pull your socks over it. It's up to you how creative you want to be.

-- LP (soldog@hotmail.com), June 08, 1999.

Thanks, LP! Gotta go peel an orange ...

-- Leska (allaha@earthlink.net), June 08, 1999.

Hold on, Carlos!

Mosquitoes are more attracted to artificial scents such as perfume/after shave than they are to the human's natural body odor.

Humans are third, relatively low, on the mosquito's preference list. Tops is birds, then dogs. The birds carry diseases such as malaria, and the mosquitoes transfer the diseases from the birds to the humans.

Mosquitoes are also attracted to dark clothing. In warm weather, for example, you are less likely to be bit wearing khaki than navy blue.

It was my experience that a person's metabolism is very important. Some people's scent (I'm referring to people who are perfectly clean hygenically) just attracts mosquitoes more than other people's.

-- GA Russell (garussell@russellga.com), June 08, 1999.

And then there is dengue fever !!Ill or dead within 24 hours,I believe depending on what type you are infected with.

I'm off to order my injections.

-- Chris (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), June 08, 1999.

Well, you know I live down here on the bayou, and I do believe I saw mosquitoes recently. Two of the little ones were carrying a cow into the woods, so the big skeeters wouldn't take it away from 'em.

I recently remodled the old cabin for y2k, with 27 large SCREENED windows. I don't know how screening is manufactured, but I'm gonna get some extra just in Never had much luck with citronella, but use BT donuts in the water trough, and keep the ditches draining, and no old buckets, tires etc. to hold water.

-- Lon Frank (Postit@here.com), June 08, 1999.

Quinine is what gives tonic water its distinctive taste. Now you know why gin and tonic ("G&T") is such a popular British libation. The British in India drank copious quantities of the stuff.

Part of a site containing a lot of info re malaria:

http://www.cimm.jcu.edu.au/hist/fever/fever/dande.html

Description.- By malarial fever we mean or refer to a condition produced by the entrance into and development in the blood of certain germs known as "plasomodium malariae". There are four forms of this disease - intermittent, remittent, relapsing and pernicious. Intermittent Fever - Fever and Ague or Chills and Fever, - There are chills, fever and sweating. These may occur daily, or alternate days or every third day.

Remittent Fever. - This is continued fever with remissions. Symptoms are a great deal like intermittent fever. Relapsing Fever. - This is the sub-acute or chronic form. Pernicious Fever. - This is a malignant form where the symptoms are very active.

TREATMENT.- Quinine is usually the treatment. Must also treat the symptoms as they arise. If the fever and chills occur daily the quinine is to be given each day. If it does not occur every day then give the quinine on the days it is expected. For the milder forms give from 10 to 15 grains. For the more severe cases from 30 to 60 grains may be given in powder. If it is the pernicious form give in soft capsules as quickly as possible.

Herb Remedies for Ague and Intermittent and Remittent Fever.- Where quinine cannot be given use dogwood bark. Put the dried bark into water and boil it down to the proper consistency. The dose of this is from 20 to 60 grains. The dose of the extract is from 1 to 5 grains. Another remedy is to give hot boneset tea to produce vomiting. During the intermission give the tea cold. It is to be given every hour as a tonic and anti-periodic. A decoction made by boiling ironwood in water is another remedy. The dose is from 1 to 2 ounces 3 or 4 times a day.

For Ague, Malarial Fever, Etc.- I give 2 grains of quinine every 1 to 2 hours in acute cases, until the patient hears his ears "singing". Then I give him just enough to keep him in this condition, say a dose every 2 to 5 hours. Give to children in proportion to their age. In chronic cases quinine is not so good. The bowels and kidneys must be kept working well by laxatives and diuretics if necessary. For chronic cases Fowler's solution of arsenic, 5 drops four times a day, is good. http://www.funkandwagnalls.com/encyclopedia/low/articles/q/q021000141f .html

QUININE

QUININE, alkaloid derived principally from the bark of the cinchona tree. It is an efficient antipyretic and is used to reduce fever in many diseases. It was the only remedy for malaria until the development of synthetic drugs.

The efficacy of quinine was probably discovered by Jesuit missionaries in Peru, who introduced the drug into Europe about 1640. The increase in its use through the years threatened the exhaustion of the South American trees, and efforts to cultivate cinchona trees in other countries finally succeeded in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in the late 19th century. Production from the cultivated trees was so much superior in both quality and quantity to that of the native South American trees that the Netherlands East Indies soon had a practical monopoly on the market. At the outbreak of World War II, the Japanese invasion of the Indies cut off more than 90 percent of the world supply of quinine. During the war substitutes were developed and produced in great quantities for the protection of Allied troops. In 1944 the American chemists Robert Woodward and William Doering (1917- ) synthesized quinine from coal tar. Natural quinine is still in demand, because some malarial organisms are resistant to the synthetics.

Cut and pasted by

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), June 08, 1999.

As Mr. Russell said, dogs are one of the preferred victims of mosquitoes, so be sure you have heart worm medicin for your dogs as mosquitoes carry the disease.

Pennyroyal is a very good oil to discourage ticks, fleas, gnats and frisky husbands; it stinks to high heaven.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), June 08, 1999.

AVON's Skin So Soft works because there is citronella in the oil. Avon also has a new product called Bug Gard that repells bugs and tics without any DEET. It is a lotion and smells much better then the old oil we used to use. I have been uning the bug gard for my grandbabies and it works great and is safe for children.

-- Homeschooling Grandma (mlaymon@glenn-co.k12.ca.us), June 09, 1999.

I had forgotten all about this thread, started just a few weeks ago. More info on the subject at:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000qES

under the title, "Home Made Insect Repellent?" in the "Health/Medicine Threads" archives.

-- LP (soldog@htomail.com), June 10, 1999.