More than regularly we, on the Eastern Shore , are bombarded with advertisements to visit
this special place.
These ads are laden with pictures
of families frolicking on the beaches, playing in the water, dining in any one
of seemingly countless restaurants, and herds of free-roaming horses.
But for some reason these Madison
Avenue-types the Shore’s most prolific creature is invariably omitted. The Culicidae are those oft-neglected bugs,
otherwise known as mosquitoes.
In the unlikely event you’ve
never left your domicile, or you reside in Antarctica ,
you have either seen of been bitten by – or both – by a mosquito.
I’ve written about these things
before but, today we’re going to address their positive side.
For some reason mosquitoes are
viewed as pests that not only bite, they also carry diseases to humans and
pets, alike.
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| Actual size, almost |
Mosquitoes breed by laying eggs
in standing stagnant water. And only the
female mosquitoes bite. It seems they
use the extracted blood from their bite to help their eggs develop.
Since the males don’t lay eggs –
you should have paid more attention in your biology class – they tend to bite
fruits and drink dew from vegetation.
The lifespan for a mosquito is
roughly 50-days, in the event the bitee doesn’t have reflexes conducive to
rendering the female mosquito flat.
Because water is a key element in
their breeding, it is important to leave plenty of undisturbed water in old
tires, birdbaths, and plant saucers.
Without those amenities, the population would sadly diminish.
Many people attempt to ward off
mosquitoes by applying anti-bug sprays and wipes. Sometimes they work, sometimes not.
They also deploy devices that
emit carbon monoxide in an effort to attract mosquitoes. Once in the device, the hapless mosquitoes
become stuck to a glue loaded panel to which they become attached. Eventually they die. Alas.
For your information, mosquito
bites leave a welt because their proboscis injects a blood anticoagulant to
better allow their victims’ blood to flow.
Most humans are allergic to that anticoagulant, hence the reaction in
the form of a welt. You’re welcome.
In any case, mosquitoes are very
entertaining while they buzz your ears and fly behind your eyeglasses. My favorite skeeter activity is when you
climb into your car and a half-dozen quickly fly in with you.
They so badly wanted to be there
with you.
It’s kind of like the neighbor’s
dog that, every day when you pass by their house, the dog jumps off the porch
and violently chases your car down the road.
This is a daily event continues until one day when the dog, snarling and
barking, shows teeth and angry eyes during the chase, catches your car – teeth
fully implanted in the bumper, paws being used like brakes.
Now that the car has been caught,
what does the dog do with it? But I
digress.
So those mosquitoes are now
inside your vehicle and you need to spend the next few minutes trying to quiet
them down. Sure, they’re pretty annoying
bouncing off the windshield and side windows now desperately trying to get back
out. I find all this genuine
entertainment, though.
Local officials can’t seem to
find money to pay for spraying, so maybe it’s time to view mosquitoes in a more
favorable light. These County executives
seem to think we live in the Commonwealth’s Official Mosquito Hatchery. They’re wrong.
The way I see it there are two
solutions to this situation.
Since their lifespan is about
50-days, simply wait them out. Plan B
would be to move to Antarctica .
