Mosquitoes

[Mrs Dazzle]

Is anyone else being eaten alive by Mosquitoes at the moment? I can't believe how bad they are this time of the year! I have counted twenty two (and rising) bites at the moment, it's so embarrassing, I look like a pin cushion cum dot-to-dot

Apparently, us who suffer from silver nickle allergies are prone to bad reactions to mozzie bites - oh goody Still, at least that explains why I've never been able to wear silver earrings for any length of time.

Nothing seems to be stopping the mozzies at the moment, not even my super-dooper strength Deet formula.

And as for the spiders - well that's another story and I'm freaked out enough by them to even tell you some of the tales of how they've stalked me the last few weeks If anyone know how to successfully stop spiders coming into the house, I will you for the rest of my life.

 

[Miffy2003]

Annie,

If you ever find out how to ban spiders, PLEASE let me know!!

Poor you with the mozzie bites Have you tried the Avon's Skin So Soft stuff?

Karen

 

[Madjock]

I'm not but my MIL is she's also covered at the moment. I read recently that they can't stand Marmite (can't believe I have something in come with the little blighters) so if you like it try eating loads of Marmite sarnies

Can't help with the spiders I'm afraid. The ones we've had recently are huge and DH is away so guess who has to deal with the them

Annmarie

 

[Hilary]

Annie, I've no miracle cures for the mozzies, just wanted to sympathise

As for the SPIDERS , thay are the bane of my life at the moment as DD1 is completely freaked out every time she finds one (and that's about five times a day at the moment ). I'll be glad when she goes back to uni so that we won't have quite so many upturned pots around the place waiting for someone to empty the eight-legged visitors outside.

None of us can bring ourselves to do them any harm so I'm 99% sure they all just come straight back in the house! Does anyone know the average life-span of a typical house-spider?

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Originally posted by Hilary
Does anyone know the average life-span of a typical house-spider?

Well, I have two trains of thought on this one . . . .

1. Too %"@#+* long
2. Not long once I've "Raided" them

This is the first year I've done anything other than get frozen to the spot and then finally run in the opposite direction. DH is away for a couple of weeks at a big show last week August/1st week September for the last few years. We are surrounded by fields and farmland, so when Farmer Joe has harvested we get loads of mice (I love mice ) and more worringly LOADS OF SPIDERS - big, hairy momma spiders - and you know they come in to breed It's bad enough when Darryl is around, but knowing he's away - and especially at beddy-byes time - that's when I get a really sick feeling

So I'm afraid the last couple of weeks the only way I've been able to cope at even some small level is to be armed with my can of Raid ant and cockroach killer. I know it's a really horrible thing to do to them (and if anyone says they'll be more frightened of me than I am of them, NO THEY CAN'T POSSIBLY BE), at least I know they're dead

I am actually off to the doctors next week to ask for help - be referred on for some therapy because I really don't think I can go through another summer like this.

Hilary - your DD is really brave if she gets close enough to put something over them I feel physically sick just thinking about it.

What a pathetic state for a grown woman to be in

 

[Hilary]

I don't like spiders, but I'm not phobic about them, fortunately. However, I had a nasty moment last night when I was sitting up in bed, reading, and spotted a largish one on the ceiling. As he seemed in no great hurry to go anywhere, I just kept an eye on him, waiting for DH to appear so that he could deal with it (well, he's tall enough to reach the ceiling).

So, there I was tracking the spider's progress around the ceiling in between paragraphs of my book, and then ... he disappeared!!!! I leapt out of bed, but couldn't find him anywhere, but he certainly wasn't on the ceiling any more. That'll teach me to wait for DH to deal with them.

 

[WDWfan uk]

Annie that's a LOT of mossie bites Loads of sympathy for you. Do you live near water??

I have had a few and they have lasted for AGES.

This spider business - as you may remember from a post I wrote a while ago, they seem to be on a mission to seek us out ( us = those of us who are really scared of them) when no-one else is around and terrorize us, blocking us from entering rooms in our own house or scaring us out of rooms we are already in . Like you, we live near fields that have just been harvested and I tell you, a girl isn't safe to walk freely around her own home !!

 

[Fantasia Sam]

Annie I sympathise with you greatly. I am highly allergic to mossie bites they come up the size of saucers. I have a plunger that I use to suck out hte poison as soon as I get the inkling I've been bitten. We live near right near the Thames and also a sort of water ditch where we are convinced there is a nest but the developers have never yet found it. I have to have a plug in that I got from Boots (their own brand 3 pin one) and that goes on in the bedroom every night from 7.30pm until 6am the next morning and I never get bitten anymore. Living in a timber framed house with the bedroom in the roof means that it's unbearable in the heat and so in order to have the window open I have to have the plug-in on every night usually until October.

Sometimes they come in the Lounge at this time of year and they've gotten me a couple of times. Again I use citronella candles and joss sticks and light these outside the patio doors to scare the little bleeders off.

Have you seen the spider catcher at Lakeland - very easy to catch the spiders now.

 

[RUSHBURY]

My DD14 is petrified of spiders. For the past 2 years I've had a 'plug' which is suppose to send signals through the house to rid it of all things including spiders. We've had about 10 maximum in the past year compared with past years this is amazing.

 

[ALBA]

I had a nightmare spider in my house this morning and I am terrified of spiders.

It was in the bathroom sink, and it was absolutely enormous, so big I could see the two fang things at the front and the hair on it's legs...eek. I didn't know what to do as hubby wouldn't be home from work for another hour and I was in a panic that the thing would run away and I wouldn't know where it would have gone.

I looked for a glass to put over it but it was too big for even a pint glass! So gingerly reached over and put the hot tap on full...the thing was running across the top of the water, I then turned on the cold tap as well and it eventually went down the plughole but then the two front legs stayed out and were clawing, it was trying to pull itself back up....I started freaking out. Eventually I got some bleach and put it down the sink and the thing died, but was lying in the plughole. Hubby had to dispose of it when he came home.

I'm getting the shivers just typing this...yuk.

Alba

 

[rhysd2]

not to scare you all more but did you know that one of the most poisonus spiders is the non winged daddy long legs? it just doesnt have fangs that can penetrate human skin hehe. its supposedly worse than a black widow bite according to some science article i read. but then like i said it cant get through the skin

as for mosquitos i sympathise. my poor mother and wife get bitten alive by the blighters. we used to get tons in our bedroom as we back out onto fields. we went and bought some tent mosquito netting from a outdoors store. i built a simple wooden frame to fit the window, stapled said netting to frame and voila no more in the room.

as for repelling them well im lucky they never seem to bite me *knocks on wood* but my mother and wife have tried everything and havent had much luck. the boots stuff semi works as does the avon stuff but not 100%. i thought i read somewhere lemon juice or something like that repels them. might be worth looking into

 

[AlanUK]

I think the fact about Daddy long legs being more poisonous than a black widow is in fact an urban myth .

Having 3 cats we are very rarely bothered by spiders, if anything comes into the house that moves there are 3 predators just waiting for it to put a foot wrong and gobble it up. It's quite amusing to watch as the spiders legs seem to tickle their noses as they try and eat eat so they keep having to spit it out and try again

We don't seem to suffer from mozzies too much either. A couple of reasons for that could be that we don't live near any streams, rivers or ponds. Also I love Marmite so if the mozzies don't then my blood would not be top of their lunchtime menu

Alan.

 

[rhysd2]

we also have 3 cats but the spiders seem to like staying on the ceiling. and hrmm supprised about that being a urban myth, i know i read it in some science magazine or another whilst i was a biology student.

 

[T16GEM]

our cat fraggle is great at catching things, I need to teach him about mozzies though! I had 3 bites on my elbow!!!! Bizarre place to get bitten one on my left ankle and one on my thumb, these were over a week ago and then yesterday they have come back up like they were fresh! My thumb is double the size of the other one and there is red inflamed skin around the bites around 3 inches square!!!!!! I went to the chemist and she gave me piriton and HC45 to use.
This morning my arm is better but my thum aches like crazy!!!

 

[Miffy2003]

Originally posted by AlanUK
I Also I love Marmite so if the mozzies don't then my blood would not be top of their lunchtime menu

Alan.

Yet another reason to LOVE Marmite!

 

[gilld]

My way of dealing with spiders is to suck them up with vacuum nozzle.
Trouble is, just occasionally I have seen them moving around in the vacuum cylinder!!!

 

[SidB]

Originally posted by Madjock
I read recently that they can't stand Marmite

You just rub it all over and nothing wants to come near you !

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

Thanks for the other suggestions, everyone.

Hilary - there's no way I could have slept in your bedroom knowing that thing was in there - somewhere

Sam - bought one of the plug-ins - thanks for the tip. I can't believe the blasted mosquitoes are still around. My neighbour popped in the other day for some help (he's blind) and when he went and wandered down our driveway in the sunshine it looked like a cloud was following him - it was mosquitoes . Had to slam the door rather sharpish before they all realised I was standing there, mmm yum yum nice tasty Annie

I've seen the spider catchers like in Lakeland, but they're just not long enough. It would have to be 20ft long before I could even contemplate grabbing them.

DH sucks them up in the Dyson every now and then, but then has to go and empty it for me because if I saw one moving around in there I'd never hoover anywhere ever again (now, actually, that doesn't sound like too bad an idea ).

Marmite - yeeeeeuuuuuuk. But then, if it did stop them I'd consider anything. But the downside it that I'd be chucking up because of the Marmite smell

We too have three cats, but they've got bored by the big bruisers we get here. They just sit and watch them, probably laughing as to why their mistress is freaking out

Thanks everyone - I shall report back once I've started my therapy (probably only a three year wait on the good old NHS!).