livermanl

Apparently mix baking soda into a paste and put that on it's supposed to be a home remedy but i have never tried it (i stuck with calomine).

Dave+Jules

I guess one of the benefits to having skin like leather is I get bitten occassionally and it doesnt swell. However Jules is eaten alive and several swell so only ice packs help

Mind you she insists on gardening around the edges of the wood were I stick to the deck area with a couple of cold beers to swat the beggars away

dthomas

There's a trick to develop an immunity to the swelling; let the bastards start to bite you, then squash 'em. They inject some mojo in your bloodstream - but you gotta cut it off before they pump ya full 'o it. Do this for 2-360 weeks - and presto! No more lumps. You can also shove ice down yer keks to reduce swelling too.

Alberta_Rose

It's odd how some bites swell and others don't ... I guess it depends how much poison they inject you with .....

I got about 20 bites on my walk on Saturday, and maybe half a dozen had a bad reaction.

Yesterday I bought some Benadryl tabs and ate half the pack over the course of the day, washed down with plenty of alcohol (which it says to avoid) ... I then slept through the worst of it

The back of my left arm has a red patch from just below my armpit down almost to my elbow, but strangely enough it's not as itchy as some of the littler bites!

I also took Ibuprofen for it's anti-inflamm properties.

I think the worst is over, but not looking forward to trying to sleep tonight ... it's so WARM!

Bloody Mosquitos indeed!!! ..... and WHY DIDN'T I SPRAY!!!! (Doofus!)

allicat001

Are they really that bad there?

We are moving to Okotoks and starting to get a tad worried about this as they love me.

We live in Spain I get about 20 a year tops my daughter and OH don´t get any but most holliday makers you see are covered in them and they are only here for a week.

Anyone know if they are worse there than in Spain? Will I suffer as now it is not to bad bit itchy but doesn´t really bother me that much got used to it now.

Canada Dreams

anyone getting put off moving to NS the above reading is working for us No seriously would love to know some ideas on preventing, as we are worried about our 4 year old daughter when we move over,

paul & jo

G77

When do the little buggers give up? Are they around right until winter sets in?

seanyg

you're lucky - my husband gets the whole tennis ball - size, colour, even the rubber stripe round it! (particularly embarrassing if he gets bit on the groin... )

But seriously... he does get a really bad allergic reaction and the bite goes all pussy and takes ages to heal, sometimes even scarring (he's still got some from our honeymoon in Thailand back in April!).

I found a really good website (in preparation for when we move to Canada) which said mozzies love dark colours, shade and standing water, but don't like sunlight or breezes, so if you stay in the sun and keep a fan on you might just be okay! Oh, and don't go out at dawn or dusk, when they're most active.

It also said they're attracted to aftershave, perfume, sweat, etc. (apparently they're initially attracted to the CO2 we produce, but they then have to determine whether it's coming from something they can eat or from a bonfire, etc., so then they sniff for saliva and sweat and this confirms that you're edible).

That's what the website said anyway

Oh, and I watch GMTV this morning and Dr. Hilary said if you take vitamin B supplements this may deter them (or just eat marmite - some people swear by it for this reason). I guess if you don't like marmite you could just smear it over your body...

Here's the website anyway http://www.doktordoom.com/biting.html

(it also gives tips on how to bug-proof your garden).

Hope that helps,

Anita

seanyg

I read somewhere that they'd found a cure for W.N. in horses, so surely it won't be long before they modify it for humans...?

seanyg

I think it's actually the saliva that we have a bad reaction to. The mosquitoes have a needle which they spear you with, then two tubes go in - one to inject saliva which acts as a coagulent to thin your blood, and the other sucks the blood up (which flows nice and easily now it's been thinned). And it's the saliva that makes us itch.

Yum yum.

dbd33

No, before the winter there's a period without mosquitoes but with horse and deer flies. At that time of year I'm nostalgic for the mosquitoes.

Souvenir

Unusually for me, I've had a few bites this year, mainly around the ankles. My fault for walking barefoot in wet grass at dusk.

G77

Maybe they eat the mosquito's?

dbd33

Or horses and deer.

Jingsamichty

To stop the itchiness from bites, I recommend "Eurax" cream. Like others have mentioned, I don't know if you can get it, or a generic equivalent, here in Canada, but you can get it in the UK.

I suffer badly from swollen and weeping bites, but over the years I've found Eurax really helps the discomfort.