GABIT attendees thread

[Tittamiire]

Mumsey....we get mozzies over here too...and some of them are big buggers!!
I find it best to stay inside at dusk...and definitely cover up and wear repellent...and avoid eating banana's...apparently, they prefer the blood of those who eat banana's...have no idea why but...that's what they tell me!!!
Having just googled it, apparently Oil of Cloves is good too.
Wish I could help more...sorry.

ooh and good old citronella...might as well smell nice so you only repel bugs and not friends and family as well.

Darn Oil of Cloves...I know that stuff well...my mum used to give it to me to put on tooth ache when she was particularly against modern medicine...I have no idea how good it is at repelling bugs, but it is useless against toothache.

I'm just sitting here giggling to myself about banana flavoured people.

And I don't seem able to stop.

*snickers* very silly.

[EH-T]

Need help from the Canadian contingent... Going back to the subject of mosquitos.

I know that Canada has a rep for super-mozzies. I really need a timescale for them. I will be travelling overland from Toronto to Vancouver in August and would like to know if I am likely to be in trouble from them at that time.

I am currently suffering from a leg ulcer that resulted from an insect bite. As a diabetic, this is not good news. My clinic nurse has asked for the above information so that she can advise me on what I can do to help myself.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Huggles

Mumsey

August is definitely a time when mosquitoes can be out but it really depends on how the summer weather will be. They breed in standing water so a period with lots of rain leaves many little breeding pools. If you get hot weather after that, prime breeding conditions. On the other hand, they don't do well in colder weather and can't breed if it has been dry. Windy days will be your friend as a breeze will keep them away.

In Vancouver you will be OK. In western Canada we are having quite a few right now. Not sure what it is like in Toronto but Northern Ontario can be bad.

They don't bother me much (I seem to have built up an immunity) so I never use bug spray. However, you might try Muskol (check out the website at www.muskol.com/). It does contain Deet so you should ask your doctor or the nurse about that. At the very least, do not spray it on any cuts or infections. You would be able to get it at most drugstores, big grocery stores or anywhere they sell camping equipment like good ol' Canadian Tire.

Dollar stores are also selling citronella bracelets. I haven't tried them but have heard from a couple of people that they work. They are like the bracelets you buy for various charitable causes. You can wear them on your wrists or ankles.

Other recommendations: stay indoors at dusk and dawn; wear light coloured clothing; do not use scented deordorant, soap or perfume and wear long sleeved shirts and pants. When we were kids our Mom used Dettol on insect bites to disinfect and stop the itch. You can also find that at any drugstore.

Hope this answers your question.

[SWMBOTGSG]

Thanks folks for all your advice. I have plenty of information to give to my nurse now, and we should be able to work out something to cope with the little beasties.

Another member here emailed me with a suggestion she had from experience with her mother, who suffered with ulcers until advised to try vitamin E. It worked for her, so I will also ask about that.

Huggles to all.

Mumsey

[Strix varia]

Need help from the Canadian contingent... Going back to the subject of mosquitos.

I know that Canada has a rep for super-mozzies. I really need a timescale for them. I will be travelling overland from Toronto to Vancouver in August and would like to know if I am likely to be in trouble from them at that time.

I am currently suffering from a leg ulcer that resulted from an insect bite. As a diabetic, this is not good news. My clinic nurse has asked for the above information so that she can advise me on what I can do to help myself.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Huggles

Mumsey

From Snope.com:
According to the first study to scientifically compare a wide range of products for their effectiveness in repelling mosquitoes, most insect repellents containing herbal oils proved far less effective than those containing DEET. This study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine in July 2002.

Mark Fradin and Jonathan Day of the University of Florida tested 17 nationally marketed mosquito repelling products under laboratory conditions. They asked 15 volunteers to stick a forearm coated with repellent into a cage containing 10 mosquitoes and observed how much time elapsed before the first bite. Products containing DEET repelled best, and the more DEET they contained, the better they worked. Off! Deep Woods, which contains 23.8 percent DEET, provided the longest-lasting protection: 302 minutes on average. By contrast, Avon Skin-So-Soft Bath Oil failed after 9.6 minutes, on average.

For decades rumor has held that Skin-So-Soft Bath Oil is an effective counter to mosquitoes, yet a 1993 Consumer Reports analysis found it ineffective for that purpose. Because so many people were buying the product for its purported mosquito combating properties, in 1994 Avon added a non-DEET repellent and a sunscreen to the popular bath oil and began marketing the new concoction as Avon Skin-So-Soft Bug Guard Repellent. Avon the 2002 results posted in the New England Journal of Medicine study, claiming its Bug Guard Repellent works for three hours, not the 10.3 minutes for its Bug Guard Repellent and the 22.9 minutes for its Bug Guard Repellent Plus the study found, but a 2003 Consumer Reports analysis found the Skin-So-Soft repellent deterred mosquitoes for only one hour.

[Skydiver]

deet is the one 'tried and true' deterrent. other stuff works, just maybe not as good. And, well consider what you're doing? do you need 8 hour protection? if not, then the 'weaker' stuff could work just as good.

always remember to reapply after you sweat or swim, or every few hours, just to be safe

[Chelle DB]

When we were kids our Mom used Dettol on insect bites to disinfect and stop the itch. You can also find that at any drugstore.

I don't know if you guys get this over there...but I find that the best thing for stings and bites is "Stingoes"...bloody brilliant stuff!!! We always carry a supply of it when we go camping and what not...I swear by it!!! Not literally though...

[EH-T]

LOL! I love how this thread has become all about the skeeters!

Interesting info Strix. FYI Mumsey, Muskol is 23.5% DEET.

[Mandysg1]

LOL! I love how this thread has become all about the skeeters!
Interesting info Strix. FYI Mumsey, Muskol is 23.5% DEET.

Oh, did you miss the cooking part

[ames]

Psst...ames doesn't follow any rules

Pot, meet kettle.

Wait - am I the pot or the kettle? Mandy, can you whistle? Hmmmm... of course, I'm definitely louder than Mandy -- guess I get to be the kettle then

Kettle and pot, meet skillet.

suse

Ooh we are having a cook out

LOL - I was just thinking that!

Over a vent in the Fire Swamp.

suse

So we're boiling up some lovely ROUS then?

Yeah, the menu is a dead duck named suse.

I wondered when suse was joining our culinary set
Wait - where does Jan fit in? Or DD? Hmmmm.... well we still need cutlery and a chopping board ... *ponders*

...you guys are a riot!! I hope you're all going to be at AT4!!!
So...we have the pot, kettle, skillet, dead duck and the fire swamp...all we need now is the moonshine!!!!

Fingers are currently X'd chelle (which makes typing interesting, to say the least!) ... are you volunteering?

Bug spray is your best bet, and mosquitos come out at dusk and dawn, so long sleeves and pants as well as bug spray

What she said! Plus, eat citrus. Apparently mosquitos don't really like the citrus scent (hence citronella working for so many people), and eating lots of lemons/oranges/etc means the scent will be on your skin as well (yay for pores ) ... this could also explain the banana avoidance - maybe mosquitos just have a sweet ... um ... sucker nodule? Hmmmm. Either way, the citrus thing usually works fairly well for me (S. Ontario).

I don't know if you guys get this over there...but I find that the best thing for stings and bites is "Stingoes"...bloody brilliant stuff!!! We always carry a supply of it when we go camping and what not...I swear by it!!! Not literally though...

We have this great stuff called 'AfterBite'. It comes in a discreet white tube with orange writing on it, and the liquid works really well at killing bug-bite itches.

[EH-T]

I don't know if you guys get this over there...but I find that the best thing for stings and bites is "Stingoes"...bloody brilliant stuff!!! We always carry a supply of it when we go camping and what not...I swear by it!!! Not literally though...

Nope, don't have that here. I can see it now, AT3 was all about the chocolate exchange, AT4 will be swapping insect repellent and medication for stings and bites.

Oh, did you miss the cooking part

Cooking skeeters?

[PengYn]

I can see it now, AT3 was all about the chocolate exchange, AT4 will be swapping insect repellent and medication for stings and bites.

*imagines customs officials as they examine this luggage*

[SWMBOTGSG]

Nope, don't have that here. I can see it now, AT3 was all about the chocolate exchange, AT4 will be swapping insect repellent and medication for stings and bites.

I'll wait until I get to Toronto to buy what I need, then I won't have to worry about that 100ml restriction on liquids and ointments.

Cooking skeeters?

ROFLMAO! Poor old EH-T 'Gets confused!'

Mumsey

[donamac]

Thanks folks for all your advice. I have plenty of information to give to my nurse now, and we should be able to work out something to cope with the little beasties.

Another member here emailed me with a suggestion she had from experience with her mother, who suffered with ulcers until advised to try vitamin E. It worked for her, so I will also ask about that.

Huggles to all.

Mumsey

My Dad swore by Vit E--he used the capsules and just broke them open and smeared the oil on wounds of all types and they healed much faster even than Neosporin. As for mosquitoes, I have used Avon's Skin-so-soft over years with great success. I used to get all kinds of insect and spider bites until I discovered this great product. originally it was just a moisturizer but someone discovered its bug repellent ability and now they also sell it for that purpose.
Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver have always impressed me as having much fewer mossies than I've experienced elsewhere. But get out in the country or the seashore or mountains and they descend!

See ya soon

[EH-T]

ROFLMAO! Poor old EH-T 'Gets confused!'

Mumsey

Hey! Who you calling old?

[Mandysg1]

Hey! Who you calling old?

I was wondering how long it was going to take you to notice that

must have to do with age