On Thursday 19th July I predicted (on "Blue-Grey") that there would be a plague of Mozzies at the end of the summer. It wasn't hard to work out though, eh?
Well, almost exactly one month later, I've (as you know) been away in Greece for two weeks, so may have missed some headlines already, but I KNOW that the Belfast Telegraph ran a "Mozzie story" on August 10th, telling its readers that people in the southeast of England were having to sleep under Mosquito nets, and today in the Independent, is a big story telling us that the NHS Direct helpline is being swamped with concerned people ringing in about Mosquito bites.
We're still squashing a handful of them in the bedroom each night, and they are everywhere around us when we "take tea" in the garden.
Be warned, almost all (in my experience) insect repellants do not offer ANY protection against these buggers, nor do creams, nor does eating shed loads of garlic.
The only way to protect yourself from them is to cover up, and use a quick eye and quicker hand to squash them, (although it IS fair to say they do not like smoke or wind (that's atmospheric / weather related wind I should point out, NOT flatulence).
NB. As for concerns about Malaria-carrying Mozzies, one of the species which does carry the Malaria parasites in other parts of the world DOES live in the UK, (Anopheles), but if I remember correctly, this JUST lives in the Kent Marshes and carries NO Malaria at present. Nor has it for a century (says the Indy today).
Well, almost exactly one month later, I've (as you know) been away in Greece for two weeks, so may have missed some headlines already, but I KNOW that the Belfast Telegraph ran a "Mozzie story" on August 10th, telling its readers that people in the southeast of England were having to sleep under Mosquito nets, and today in the Independent, is a big story telling us that the NHS Direct helpline is being swamped with concerned people ringing in about Mosquito bites.
We're still squashing a handful of them in the bedroom each night, and they are everywhere around us when we "take tea" in the garden.
Be warned, almost all (in my experience) insect repellants do not offer ANY protection against these buggers, nor do creams, nor does eating shed loads of garlic.
The only way to protect yourself from them is to cover up, and use a quick eye and quicker hand to squash them, (although it IS fair to say they do not like smoke or wind (that's atmospheric / weather related wind I should point out, NOT flatulence).
NB. As for concerns about Malaria-carrying Mozzies, one of the species which does carry the Malaria parasites in other parts of the world DOES live in the UK, (Anopheles), but if I remember correctly, this JUST lives in the Kent Marshes and carries NO Malaria at present. Nor has it for a century (says the Indy today).
NB 24/08/07 On the news tonight - a massive increase in cases of Myxamatosis has been reported (the devastating disease which wipes out rabbit populations) due to the huge boom in Mosquito population this summer... (the vectors for Myxamatosis).
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