Home » Blog
date 31.Aug.2014

■ Can somebody save us from mosquitos, please?


<rant>
There are two kinds of creatures in this world, things that are generally useful (even remotely so like humanoids) and mosquitos. Their scientific name tells all: mosquito Anopheles — which is greek for "bloody useless". They won't just bite and drink your blood, they give you an ich to remember for a few days and then there are the diseases too. Ever since I was a small kid I had an issue with mosquitos, but back then they only came out after dark, ruining only half the summer day. Nowadays, I don't know what happened, they feast on us 24 hours a day and in limited numbers operate throughout the year, even in winter. A curse for the wicked nation of Greece?

Mosquitos are very fit survivors. Darwin would be happy to see them evolve in such a pointlessly successful species (clearly God—if any—is vindictive :). Under cover of darkness they have few enemies. What puzzles me is how on earth they've switched to biting during the day. Aren't they scared of birds and spiders? Are they too small to be seen? Or do they taste so foul that only the odd predator can stomach them?

It is weird that after so many years of scientific progress there is no cure for the mosquito. You know something to wipe them off the face of the earth. They tell us to take cover inside the house behind mosquito nets. This does work if you don't mind being a prisoner in your own house. For the outdoors, I haven't found any solution. They fly past burning snakes, they steer clear of electric fences, they are deaf to buzzers, they don't mind insect repellent spray (unless you apply every 15 minutes on your skin). Somewhat effective is the electric bat if you don't mind being on the prowl all day.

This summer we tried spraying the grass around the house with a special mosquito killer spray, but it is like trying to empty the sea with a bucket. It only lasts a couple of days and you have to reapply. You cannot cover the entire village anyway, so they can easily jump from the neighbors lawn onto your kid's back (its amazing how with such a small pin-brain they can tell a human face and cunningly fly to bite you round the back where you cannot see them until it's too late, thanks Darwin!)

So is there really nothing that can be done? In many sleepless nights I spent hours thinking of possible solutions inbetween squashing the flying vermin. Wild ideas like using night vision cameras and motion trackers to spot them. The market is full of weird expensive products that try to capitalize on freaked out people like me <g> — most probably as effective as all the other snake oil products that cure baldness.

I'd give the source code of xplorer² to whoever found a reasonable working solution for mosquitos. I would even start attending Sunday church. Please? :)

Post a comment on this topic »

Share |

©2002-2014 ZABKAT, all rights reserved | Privacy policy | Sitemap