One of the best aspects of the colder winter months in Taiwan is that cockroaches, mosquitoes, ants and other pests disappear from our lives (which just about makes up for the loss of those short skirts, bare midriffs, and plunging necklines).
At least, that’s how I’ve always thought it’s supposed to be. But last night, my wife and I were harassed by a large mosquito in our bedroom. And when I spotted it on the ceiling this morning, chased it, caught it, and crushed it to death, it was full of blood, so had evidently feasted well on one or both of us.
So how come there are mosquitoes about and biting at this time of year, especially after the recent cold weather? Isn’t that rather unusual?
Strange isn’t it? I have seen the biggest mesquitos ever over the past month or so. Normally they don’t even like me but these guys are determined to eat me alive! They even go after my dogs! The damp maybe?
I was always amazed at living in North Dakota and after a month of zero degrees F to as low as -30 or more, the little shits would be back as soon as it warmed up. I would have thought that they would have all been frozen to death along with their eggs.
It seems they’re a problem all year.I have the green coils burning on my balcony, the plug-in repellent inside, wear white clothes (they’re meant to be attracted to dark colors!)but don’t want to kill them.I can cope with being bitten,I just don’t like to see them flying around in the house. I’ve put towels underneath both doors but I think they’ve been flying in through the gaps in the window panes(due to someone’s terrible DIY). My Gf says if we clear up the garden area it would help. I think if you try and swipe at them,they get angry and will bite so I’ve been letting them do what they want (just sleeping on my walls or something).However I was bitten this morning and do feel betrayed and that’s why I’m hoping someone has some advice for me.
You mentioned the burning coils and the plug-in thing. I think they both actually kill the mosquitoes.
I assume you already have sliding doors and windows with mosquito netting - it sounds from what you say that they’re getting in under the door anyway.
Having a fan blowing air over or just above you while you sleep helps. I have read that mosquitoes find you by the smell of the carbon dioxide emitted by your skin; the fan blows the carbon dioxide away so it’s more difficult for them to find you. It works pretty well for me anyway.
But in late autumn/early winter when it’s a bit too chilly to be having the fan on, I just spray some insect repellent on exposed areas of my skin before I go to bed.
Your girlfriend might have a point about cleaning up the garden: I’ve read that mosquitoes like to breed around stagnant water.
I had an idea for you. You could put out bowls of blood, or maybe some chicken, for them to feed from. Then they wouldn’t need to bother you.
I’ll get my coat…
I try to not kill them because they are living creatures like you and me.
I don’t use the plug-in thing now because it made me drowsy too and reminded me of Hitler and gas chambers! I think the coils just repel them away but are really bad for the environment.
One tip for getting rid of sore bites is heating them up using a hairdryer.
I still think they kill the mosquitoes although I’m not certain.
I can’t see how they’d be so bad for the environment though; what makes you think that? Personal health maybe, but the environment?
[quote=“hairy knuckles”]One tip for getting rid of sore bites is heating them up using a hairdryer.[/quote]Rubbing on some salt helps. But generally I avoid getting bitten in the first place.
SWAT 'EM. WE ALREADY KNOW THAT A PERSON’S IMMUNE SYSTEM KILLS THOUSANDS IF NOT MILLIONS OF POOR DEFENCELESS BACTERIA AND VIRUSES EVERY DAY! WHY TAKE A CHANCE ON CATCHING SOME SORT OF WIERD DISEASE FROM A MISQUITO BITE???
I like this. You’ll poison them with burny things or plug-ins. You’ll clear up the garden so that they have no water for their larvae to breed in. You’ll starve them to death by not letting them bite you. And presumably you’ll eat something in order to stay alive?
Plants have feeling too, and when is a tomato dead?
Just kill them. I was up at 1am with my magic tennis racquet, and have no qualms about it.
I dislike the poisoned air approach because I usually feel like crap the morning after, and I’m not too happy about putting chemicals on my skin every night either. Nets over all doors and windows is a good way, and you could even get one for your bed. But most importantly, make sure that there is no water nearby for them to breed in. (There are signs everywhere in Hong Kong reminding people about this.) Fans help in warmer weather.
You are one mixed-up kid. Some insects sting as a way of warding off aggressors. Mosquitos bite because they need your blood. It takes them a while, and if they were to try and do it while in combat they would get squashed. Mosquitos that get angry and bite people don’t get to make new mosquitos, so I would think that natural selection puts paid to your belief.
Have you tried getting a frog, or a bat? Something that eats mosquitos.
For some odd reason, the mosquitos here are much smarter than the retarded ones in North America…they are fast little buggers…hard to catch…unless they just finished feasting and have a big belly of blood in them…then it makes them s-s-s-s-slow
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pricing includes 5000NT service call charge. Not resoponsible for bad Karma results. All payments are cash in advance. No refunds. No complaints. Buyer must provid beer and snacks for extermination team.
What? Are you a Jain? Do you wear any clothes? Do you go around with a cloth over your mouth to prevent the catastrophe of accidentally breathing in an insect?
Remedy just for you: Stretch out on your bed naked and let the little buggers feast on you. Then go to bed…they will be full and not bother you during the night.
I once thought about putting a frozen beef steak in the apartment… then in the morning put it back into the freezer…
the little buggers could feast on the blood of the steak.
A couple of things though, they sense by heat and not by smell (??) and secondly disease et al created by the steak after a couple of days of being frozen and thawed repeatedly
HK asked for practical advice. He didn’t say he was judging anybody’s actions or that he thought he was somehow better than anyone else. He only gave his reason for not wanting to kill insects after somebody asked him directly.
I know no further about HKs motivation for trying to avoid unnecessary killing than what he has stated above. That in itself seems like an excellent reason to me.
From my personal point of view, of course I realise that my actions will inevitably cause suffering to other beings (although I’m not too sure whether tomato plants are sentient beings!). In a pragmatic way, I try to minimise the suffering, and certainly try to avoid deliberate killing wherever possible. Thus if one cockroach has flown into my house, I will catch it and put it outside. But if there were a whole nest of cockroaches in my house, I would have to consider killing them, because it would be a health hazard and would get worse over time.
I am a little puzzled that some people have reacted with derision to the idea that one might try to avoid killing insects. As I said, HK wasn’t judging anyone else and I’m certainly not. I would be interested in reading any more constructive advice for HK (thanks for the tip about the mosquito net, Pfeffersack).
Some ultrasonic products claim to repel mosquitoes, but some studies of these have not found any beneficial effect at all. If you want to try ultrasonic mosquito repelling for free, you could try this software; toget.pchome.com.tw/intro/utilit … 15388.html
But I wouldn’t hold out too much hope as to its efficacy.
The principle still applies. If insects were posing a real health risk and there were no other alternative, I would, with regret, consider killing them. Otherwise I avoid deliberately killing them.
