It's that time of year again. Asian Tiger Mosquito time. Unlike the mosquitos we grew up with, the ones that bit at dusk and night time, the ATM bites all day long. It can breed in a soda capful of water. It breeds on condensation left on plastic bags. Its ability to breed is damn near biblical, as is its ability to bite the hell out of adults and children all day long.
ATMs arrived in Houston in 1985 inside used tires from Japan which were being shipped for rubber recycling. They, according to the Washington Post, simply travelled the country inside old tires. They are currently biting people in New Orleans' post-Katrina neighborhoods at a rate of 75 bites per minute, more than double the average mosquito's rate of 30 bites per minute.
No surprise, the ATM essentially keeps you out of your back yard from May through September. Even in the day time. Seriously. It carries West Nile and encephalitis, and it bites like it's goin' out of style. It avoids only the highest levels of DEET in repellents, and that means that Bambina will be inside for most of the summer...
Let us all join hands and pray that our Mosquito Magnet works.
1 comment:
Ooh, I've seen those trappers, ick. I stayed inside last summer for the same reason, if I keep having kids at this rate, I'll never see another summer!
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