mosquitoes

MOSQUITOES 
yesterday as i sat on our old porch swing
taking a break from working in the yard
drinking a cool drink of our country n rainwater
i heard a buzzing
felt a sting on my left cheek
damn that mosquito i thought
they usually dont attack me
but
they love my wife she

i got to thinking about those mosquito diseases
like west nile virus
i had a patient once with this
he was sicker than sick
just short of hospitalization

also my neighbors horses got it once
spent time in a horse hospital they did
of course they didnt have horse medical insurance
out of pocket it all was


inhabitat.com

then there is this new zika virus
its bad when it infects a pregnant female
eventually possibly leading to a baby with microcephaly
a sad condition dooming the patient to a life
of long term care
costing the health care systems thousands of dollars
costing families years of caregiving
like a live long alzheimers patient
sad

in our part of the country
there is no immunity in the population against this virus
so its effects will probably be worse early on


npr.org

so i started looking around
my small ponds have mosquito fish in them
those without fish get mosquito dunks monthly
all my outside plants have their bottom pots turned upside down
so the water drains out onto the ground
anything that can have standing water in them is removed
even small things that hold just a little water
can breed the mosquito that carries this virus

spraying poisons is a waste of time
plus you breathe in more of that stuff than they do
cant be good for your kids and pets

here is a link to a video done by john dromgole from the
natural gardener on making a trap from a water bottle
click here to watch 

think ill try this

now i dont use deet or those other chemicals
i just try to control the environment closely
to get rid of their breeding sites
turning over pots
emptying buckets of water then turning them over
removing trash and debri from our yard
turning over anything that can hold water
if its there they will find it
making sure screens are on all our rainwater tanks
working to keep the yard mowed and weedeated
you can see them come out of the weeds when you
weedeat and mow
maybe citronella and other herbs may help
use a fan on the porch or deck while you are outside

then
the best way i keep mosquitoes from biting me
is
to invite my wife she
onto the porch swing to swing with me
those mosquitoes
they just love her

the organicgreen doctor