Saturday, December 04, 2010

If I Could Erase One Animal From the Face of the Earth

Culex mosquitos (Culex quinquefasciatus shown)...Image via Wikipedia(from NaBloPoMo)

If I could erase one animal from the face of the earth, without a doubt, it would be the mosquito. I despise them. They spread disease, itchiness, and dread.

A few years ago, after a lot of Summer rains and flooding, we ended up having an infestation. Octogenarian farmers were saying that they had seen it that bad. The air was thick with them. If we stepped out of doors, we mosquitoes would swarm at us. I sent my son to feed the rabbits in protective gear. We had mosquito netting over the rabbit cages. We kept the dog inside.

There were mosquitoes bigger than I had ever seen. I was told that those were the ones that carried West Nile Virus. I don't know if that was true. Before that Summer, I just considered them a nuisance. Now they seriously freak me out.

It's also why I am thankful that we switched Daylight Savings Time, because here, very few come out in the day (except during that Summer), and with DST, grilling, baseball games, and gardening duties can all be done before the evil bloodsucking beasts become active.
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4 comments:

Scott Diekmann said...

Don't ever move to Alaska. Mosquitos are so numerous and big up there that they're considered the Alaska State Bird.

Dan at Necessary Roughness said...

It's not so bad in Prudhoe Bay, but I imagine South Alaska would have it pretty badly. :)

RPW said...

I've heard its even bad around the Arctic Circle in the Summer. Alaska, as beautiful as it is, is probably not my cup of tea.

After 7 years in Indiana, I'm convinced that the only place to tolerate the cold is on a ski slope.

Amie said...

I agree completely - my idea of heaven is earth with out bugs, especially mosquitoes.