Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Ultrasound Mosquito Deterrents do not work!

Blasted things.   Mosquitoes.  I hate them.

But unfortunately, they love me.

I am a mosquito deterrent, at least for you.  I'm that guy that is swatting the little blighters while everyone around is looking confused because they're not getting bit.  I have "Sweet Blood" or whatever you wish to call it, but the nasty creatures seek me out.

I was even getting bit inside the house when I forgot to change the water in a "rooting cup" that I had some cuttings in when Momma Mosquito found it, laid her eggs, and her minions came out to bite me.

Yes, the ones who bite are ALWAYS female.  The guys just want to find flowers and suck nectar for their food.  You're safe.

I've tried sprays.  Deep Woods anything... Doesn't work.  At least for me.  Plus I'm not comfortable turning my skin into a toxic waste dump for a half hour of protection.

I've tried submerging myself.   If I'm relaxing in the pool or the hot tub, we put this massive fan on that blows a gust across the water, then I get as low as I can so there is less surface area.   Still they find me and turn my head into an airport that they're approaching for a landing.

I've had one fly into my eye and get lodged under my eye lid.   One of the problems with inline skating 21,000 miles like I had is that you eat a lot of bugs.  Don't ask.

The best thing I found is to simply wear long pants, and don't go outside just after sunrise or within an hour or two of sunset.  Stay out in the sun because that dries the nasty creatures up.   Drain everything, don't let water collect under pots.   Kind of a problem here since there's a drip feed irrigation system that runs each day for the orchids.

I tried the little ultrasound things that make a high pitched EEEEE! sound.   I didn't think they worked either.   They annoy the dogs though, so since my own Lettie is almost deaf, I use one to keep other dogs away from us.  She's old and doesn't want or need the contact so they stay away to the confusion of their owners.

I did find out that there have been tests of these devices.  Even the smartphone apps don't work, and I've tried them out on all of my phones.  There has been scientific double-blind tests that say don't waste your money.  You can read the BBC article on them.  They'll say the same thing.  Great picture of the piece of software that I use on the phone, on an iPhone, in the hand of a tester.  The hand has mosquitoes biting the hand while it is on.

The tester must be like me.  Sweet blood.

I'm debating if I can find a hamster ball and use it to go outside, but until then, I'll be in my cargo pants.   I've heard they're out of style, but they're great for one thing.  If I have my smartphone in my pocket, I can set the sound on the mosquito chaser to about 17,000 Hz.   They do great for keeping noisy kids away from me too.

No comments:

Post a Comment