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Oscar2

Aug 15, 2005, 12:27 PM

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Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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Ran across this article on how to get rid of pesky mosquitoes. Pour some water on a “WHITE” dinner plate and add a couple of drops of “Lemon Fresh Joy,” dish detergent. Set the dish on your porch, patio or other outdoor areas. Not sure what attracts the mosquitoes, the lemon scent or the white plate color, but the bugs flock to it and drop dead shortly after drinking the soapy water mixture and usually within about 10 feet of the plate. Sounds like it’s worth trying. If you have pets, be sure to place the plate out of their reach.

Bubba

Aug 15, 2005, 12:35 PM

Post #2 of 27 (3064 views)

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Re: [Oscar2] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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Oscar2:

I don't know where you live down here but, amazingly, I find mosquitos as well as other bugs to be a minor annoyance around Lake Chapala where I live. These creatures seem to be a much bigger problem in the Great North.

Cynthia7

Aug 15, 2005, 1:10 PM

Post #3 of 27 (3050 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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That has been around a long time and the feedback so far is it may not work like you want it to. Do try it because it's worth it to see and if it doesn't you will have sparkling lemon scented dishes. The Downey dryer paper tucked in your shirt pocket or tennis shoe or pants pocket has had good reports of keeping insects away. We use those night light Raid things that plug in. We don't know if they are good for you but we have uninterrupted sleep. If a mosquito bites you - a drop of ammonia will stop the itching. Skin so Soft by Avon is effective against mosquitoes. They sell Avon in Mexico but I don't think they sell Skin so Soft. Plastic bags filled with water with aluminum foil in the water hung at different levels in windows and doors deter flies. The hanging at different levels is really important. Fly paper works but it is hard for me to find in Mexico. I bring it down with me. We have very few insects in SMA but we do have a season or two where they make an apperance.

esperanza

Aug 15, 2005, 1:28 PM

Post #4 of 27 (3040 views)

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Re: [Oscar2] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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For mosquito bites, I use a gel called Andantol. Buy it at your pharmacy, without a prescription. It's magic--one tiny smudge on a new mosquito bite and boom, it's gone. I don't know how I lived without it all these years.

Bubba, the zancudos at the lake don't bite you because they are all busy with ME.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Aug 15, 2005, 2:49 PM

Post #5 of 27 (3026 views)

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Re: [Oscar2] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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Urban legend.

Carol Schmidt

Aug 15, 2005, 3:16 PM

Post #6 of 27 (3019 views)

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Re: [Oscar2] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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What does work is plug-in mosquito killers with replaceable tablets, sold in many grocery stores next to the spray cans of Raid.

Raid makes one kind that stinks, to me, so we use the Baygon brand that we only found in Comercial Mexicano. You slip in a new tablet like an Alka Seltzer tablet into the cage-like thingie and plug it in to an outlet close to where you will be, and it kills mosquitoes for at least eight hours. They look like those plug-in room deodorizers. You can buy packages of replacement tablets.

We start out with ours in the computer room and then take it with us to the bedroom for the rest of the night when we go to sleep. It's the only thing that has worked for us besides spray on Deet.

HHERRINGTON

Aug 15, 2005, 4:21 PM

Post #7 of 27 (2995 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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There is a very good reason that Bubba is not seriously effected by lakeside mosquitoes. Many years ago in the heart of Bama (Alabama for your northerners) mosquitoes the size of sparrows drained Bubba dry. He then had to spend thirty years in the California wine country guzzling red wine to replace the lost fluids. Lakeside mosquitoes know that one sip of Bubba and they'll be drunk for a week, and the headache is not worth while.
----------------------------------------------------

Life is too complicated to be expressed in one liners.

Oscar2

Aug 15, 2005, 5:42 PM

Post #8 of 27 (2972 views)

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Re: [Cynthia7] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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I like the idea, that if anything, you at least get a sparkling fresh smelling lemon scented white dish. Yes, I’ve heard about the dryer paper one also. I’ve found that the Downey dryer paper is also useful underneath the mat where the dog food bowl sits. It repels insects and ants from raiding her dog food.

patricio_lintz

Aug 15, 2005, 5:42 PM

Post #9 of 27 (2971 views)

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Re: [Oscar2] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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For roughly $200 pesos, Soriana sells the new version of the bug zapper. It works for most flying bobos, mosquitos, etc. It does not keep you awake all night with ZzzzTTTs! It is a lower voltage, quiet. However, the UV florescent lights are very bright with enough visible blue light that it has to be out of line of sight of your bedroom, or you may get little sleep.

Look for it on the endcap of the outdoor & patio supplies.

gpk

Aug 15, 2005, 6:32 PM

Post #10 of 27 (2950 views)

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Re: [patricio_lintz] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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I have read that mosquitos are attracted to carbon dioxide (especially as exhaled by animals and humans) not by light.

sfmacaws

Aug 15, 2005, 10:13 PM

Post #11 of 27 (2930 views)

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Re: [gpk] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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Don't worry Bubba, mosquitoes are not just a NOB joy there are more than enough in the lovely country of Mexico. As someone who seems to prefer the same climate they do and who is a luscious delicacy in their many eyes, I've used most everything sold to keep my blood to myself.

The Baygon plug ins that Carol mentioned do work really well in an enclosed space. I've only seen them in MX for whatever reason. The Bounce dryer sheets surprisingly do seem to work as well. We wear them and rub damp ones on our clothes, stick them on the screens of windows and put them on the dogs collars.

So far though, the only thing that will reliably keep you from getting bit is DEET. I've read that there is now a new substance that works as well as DEET but I haven't tried it. A daily ritual when we are in the Yucatan is spraying with the ever present can of DEET as you walk out the door and spraying yourself with the can always in the jeep as you get out to go into a restaurant. I joke that I'm sure the cuisine of the Yucatan is wonderful but it all tastes like DEET to me. The good news is that all the horror stories about how toxic DEET is don't seem to be true after over 20 years of testing. For me, it was never a question as I was really sure that the dangers of dengue were greater.

Some of the things that have NOT worked for us are Avon Skin so Soft lotion, all kinds of "natural" or "indigenous" creams and salves, eucalyptus or citronella in any form.

Andantal, mentioned by Esperanza, is wonderful. It isn't always a complete cure for the bite but it often is. I also get the liquid and drink it like a hip flask of gin when I have gotten a lot of bites. It reduces the inflamation and itching while giving you a pleasant buzz. When we were diving the cenotes out in the jungle frequently I could never get the DEET on fast enough or evenly enough or something and I seemed to always have a dozen or so bites. In those days, I took a benadryl every 8 hours or so to keep the swelling down (they get quarter size on me) and to keep me from peeling all my skin off. I was tired and a little sleepy most of the time but no one seemed to notice <g> I try to avoid just dealing with the bites now in favor of prevention, I got a bad fever and the fear of dengue converted me to precaution.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

(This post was edited by sfmacaws on Aug 15, 2005, 10:23 PM)

Georgia

Aug 16, 2005, 7:23 AM

Post #12 of 27 (2885 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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Odd. But these wimpy Mexican mosquitoes, and even the ones in the Amazon, fail to even raise a bump or an itch on me. Now, when I used to summer in Maine with the black flies, or when I lived on the north shore of Massachusetts with the green head flies which actually bite a chunk of flesh off and large, thirsty mosquitoes there, I got huge welts. I try to avoid the bites, at any rate, because of disease. Since we have lakefront property at the west end where there is a huge lirio pack (Lake Chapala, that is), we get more mosquitoes than they do further up the hills. We use the Raid plug ins with the liquid and it does keep them controlled. We also use our ceiling fans and floor fans to disrupt the little bugger's flight patterns!

Howard Botz

Aug 16, 2005, 7:57 AM

Post #13 of 27 (2874 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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OK, we are back on this subject again. I brought all this mosquito stuff with me to Mexico a couple of years ago. It just sits on the shelf...I have never used it. Mosquitoes are not a problem at my house either Bubba.

Howard

P.S. I have not seen a bobo in many weeks (knock on wood).

Carron

Aug 16, 2005, 8:38 AM

Post #14 of 27 (2860 views)

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Re: [Georgia] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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We have been innundated with rain over the past 3 weeks and are beginning to have a few mosquitoes. Our computer is set up in the corner of our living room and that is also where the bugs are. Can't use it without turning the floor fan on high and directing it toward our feet and ankles.

Carol Schmidt

Aug 16, 2005, 10:21 AM

Post #15 of 27 (2819 views)

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Re: [Howard Botz] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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>I have not seen a bobo in many weeks (knock on wood). >

What's a bobo?

Carol Schmidt

patricio_lintz

Aug 16, 2005, 11:12 AM

Post #16 of 27 (2807 views)

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Re: [gpk] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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The better traps, killing machines use both CO2 and light. However, they are pricey. A Co2 cylinder set to leak slowly would probably help.

esperanza

Aug 16, 2005, 2:18 PM

Post #17 of 27 (2773 views)

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Re: [Carol Schmidt] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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It's a flying insect that looks almost identical to a mosquito. The difference is that where a mosquito is sleek and fuzzless, a bobo has fuzzy legs and wings. They're prevalent at Lake Chapala during certain times of the year. The bobo flies in clouds of zillions, getting into your mouth, ears, eyes, down your shirt, up your skirt.

The biggest and most important difference is that the bobo does not sting.

http://www.mexicocooks.typepad.com

Bubba

Aug 16, 2005, 3:52 PM

Post #18 of 27 (2750 views)

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Re: [Howard Botz] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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I must tell you guys this.

The worst mosquitos I have ever seen and breathed were in Northern Minnesota. In all my years in Alabama, California, France and Mexico I have never seen anything like those monsters which cover you like bobos but do sting. If you are bothered by the wimpy mosquitos found around Lake Chapala, they sell an excellent local repellent under the brand name of H24 Repelente that is cheaper and certainly as effective as the widely available OFF.

If you decide to sleep with yo baby on the Gulf beaches in Alabama you had better pray to God that the Gulf breezes do not reverse themselves and start blowing in from the bayou because you will soon become a mosquito feast and that night will seem to last forever.

When we remodeled our home in the Mayacamas Mountains in Northern California and did a bit of excavating, the workmen were besieged by brown scorpions. We just did a similar job here in Ajijic and never heard a complaint from the crew. In four years we have seen four brown scorpions and they are now dead. I was stung by one and it killed him. not me.

Cockroaches here are pathetic. They are the Canadian Football League vs. the NFL when compared to cockroaches on the U.S. Gulf Coast. U.S. Gulf Coast cockroaches can fly and they will fly into your hair and bore down in there and suck out your brains which is why so many people up there walk around asking, "Have you seen my counselor?"

I observe elegant water snakes swimming about in Lake Chapala and they are harmless and a sight to see. You see a water snake swimming about in a lake in Alabama and you jump in there to swim with him and shortly thereafter you will meet your maker.

Those of you contemplating moving down here should get your priorities straight. The bugs that harm you down here you don't see 'cause they be livin' on the hands that just prepared your taco. Those same bugs were there when they made your Whopper in Toledo. Stop worrying and join us. You are going to die anyway, you may as well be comfortable in the interim.

lakechapaladreamer

Aug 16, 2005, 5:09 PM

Post #19 of 27 (2732 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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Bubba,

While (impatiently) waiting to come down and join you guys, I read the new posts several times a day. Add me to your fan club! Many times I laugh out loud while reading your posts. This one is a keeper! Thank you, everyone, for making me feel as if I am already there!!!

ncferret

Aug 17, 2005, 1:34 AM

Post #20 of 27 (2683 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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Bubba, as usual you made my day. You should write a regular column in some online E-zine.

1ajijic

Aug 17, 2005, 7:55 AM

Post #21 of 27 (2649 views)

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Re: [ncferret] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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We live 1/2 block from Lake Chapala. During the rainy season we have to close our screen doors at sunset. Our house has screens. To keep the bedrooms completely mosquito free we use a product from raid. There are two types. the cheaper one with the daily insert gives off a slight smell. For 78p at Guadalajara pharmacia the other one is like a heated scent machine. I hook them up to a timer , on at 10 p.m. and off at 7a.m. and forget them for 45 days. Refills can be bought separately. The basic unit has lasted for 4 years so far. The Walmart in Guadalajara also carries these units and refills. We also use them on the terrace for bug free evening parties.
http://www.newbeginningsmexico.com

johanson

Aug 17, 2005, 9:20 AM

Post #22 of 27 (2640 views)

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Re: [1ajijic] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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I live about as far away (North) from the lake as one can, about as far up the foot-hills or mountains in Ajijic as you can get. I do not have a mosquito problem. The only reason I would even close the screens is because the lights attract the type of non biting or stinging flying critters I am exposed to.

Marta R

Aug 17, 2005, 9:33 AM

Post #23 of 27 (2634 views)

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Re: [Bubba] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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I must tell you that according to my father, a genuine font of veracity, the biggest and meanest mosquitos he met were those who inhabited Anchorage Alaska during WWII. These creatures, he claimed, not only regularly made off with non-commissioned personnel (not, alas, with officers), they also were seen requisitioning rolling stock and once, working together, made off with the mess tent and carried it off into the tundra. This, he said, was no great loss.

He also claimed that the California woods were the haunts of the infamous California Coastal Two-Foot Sabre-Toothed Moth, and pointed to suspiciously neat holes scattered throughout campgrounds as proof. Those were entrances to their burrows and not the results of the sabre-teeth because, he explained, anything with teeth that big wouldn't be able to gain enough altitude to clear the manzanita.

He also said that in Merida, where my mother was born, mothers who wanted to send the kids over to visit Grandma for the day, would mount them on the backs of trained flying cockroaches and send them off.

Bubba, is there any chance that you're a Randall in disguise?

Marta

Elaine

Aug 17, 2005, 11:11 AM

Post #24 of 27 (2613 views)

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Re: [Oscar2] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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Another thing that will attract and kill those little flying bugs, of all kinds, is a glass of wine, etc. Especially if I haven't finished it! Actually, if I ever have a problem with that buzzing little mosquito when I'm trying to drop off to sleep, I will put out a small glass of wine. Within a few minutes the bug has been attracted to it and will be found floating in it the next morning.

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When one door closes, another opens. Some people are so busy looking at the door that has closed, they don't see the door that has opened. Keep looking for those open doors.
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Oscar2

Aug 17, 2005, 11:23 AM

Post #25 of 27 (2606 views)

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Re: [johanson] Those Pesky Mosquitoes

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Mosquitoes, mosquitoes, mosquitoes in Southern California and the West Nile scare is now way up there in the frenzied media hype bordering ramped paranoia at par with red alert terrorist attacks! Talk about squeamish, not matter what, if it’s small, has wings, duck, start swinging or run for cover and hope no one is watching you. Cheeeeez …….after listening to you guys down south, I don’t care how beautiful the weather is up here right now, those morbid, buzzing little creatures of death have you smacking yourself like a nut in a slug fest at the slightest provocation (imagined or not) and is now something akin to breathing. Give me liberty or give me ……………… Mexico!

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