hello there,

Recently I have suffered very bad mosquito bites, extra swelling after a bite on my foot so much so I can hardly almost walk. I wondered if anyone else was having any problems with swiss mosquitos? or alternatively any good tips

Much obliged

M

Oh yes, and they are awful. I live in the woods and have all kinds of critters that fly and bite. There is one called a Bremer, which wield an incredibly painful burning bite. There are also horseflies and deerflies that chase you even if you are running full speed. These have scissor-like jaws that are very painful. The mosquito bites I get turn into scabs that last for 2-3 months. Beware, some of these carry very bad diseases like encephalitis and other diseases that can land you in the hospital.

These bugs managed to altered my exercise routine. I missed out on the Halwil 1/2 Marathon simply because I have not been running since spring.

yeah we are buy the lake and currently its bad, it feels rather humiliating to be almost disabled in this way but my body is having rather severe reactions.. Never had this problemin Asia that is the strange part. Sadly I am just hoping for a cold snap to send them all to sleep..

That could be serious. The only effective measure I've found is to get an Ikea bed net for every member of the family. These are not expensive. Get lots of Insekt repellant, preferably Dimethyl based. And burn Citronella. I've had a few of those painful mosquito bites, and I classified them as injuries.

well at least here its only mosquitoes causing trouble. It is their accuracy I assume inherited from Switzerland that gets me. They know how to hit every joint every vein in exactly the right place. Oh well the spiders are also coming in so hopefully they can do their part.

Pet lizards, iguanas and frogs may also be able to help.

Hi Mosquito, have you visited a doc about your allergic reaction? we use plug-ins which work really effectively in the house you can get them in Migros. The spray also works for outside.
Hope things improve soon Autumn is in the air

Being diabetic I seem to be more prone to the attention of the damned mozzie than most people I know, sweet stuff you see... Last year I went through hell, covering myself in repellent and still getting bitten, buying the mozzie nets in ikea, using plug ins etc, it was like living under seige.....

This year, I have been taking odorless garlic tablets, and although I still get bitten, I do not have the same reaction as last year to the bites, no real nasty swelling and a lot less itchiness. I also found some screens that you can put at your windows, these attach with velcro and are designed so you can have your windows open day and night and nothing can get in. It cost me around 8.95 chf from Carrefour, per window but I also know that other places sell these things like the co-op hardware and obi. I still use the plug ins and have been bitten a few times but this is generally if I am out in the woods and have forgotten protection.

Finally I bought some door screens that hang in strips, these are a little more expensive at around 30 to 65 chf per door, but are great for stopping flies coming in and also the mozzie, but allows you, kids and animals access to the out doors, without being inundated with bugs..........

Good point to mention screens and where to get them! I don't think there's anything special about "Swiss" mosquitos, they are just as annoying as their counterparts in other countries (certainly in my experience). In Australia pretty much all homes I ever saw had insect screens on all windows and doors. If this is considered when the window is designed the cost is almost minimal. Mind you, there are plenty more flies down there than there are here...

Giving some thought to where the mozzies come from can also be of great help, because most people don't consider this at all. Living next to a lake won't necessarily mean more mozzies. That's because they need stagnant water to breed, so the surface of the lake won't be suitable at all. If there are puddles around where the water can stagnate, this is another story.

Around my flat I managed to eliminate a few breeding sites - I simply checked for plant pots which had trapped rainwater and turned them upside down, also the same for the metal tray at the bottom of my BBQ. Remember that mozzies don't tend to stray far from their birth site, so if you can get rid of the places where they lay their eggs you'll solve a big part of the problem.

I also looked around for further sources - drains. Check for tell-tale signs like spider webs around the top of the drain covers - the spiders are waiting to trap them as they fly in and out. What can you do about this? If you find a source of water that you can't empty, you can put a thin layer of something like kerosine (I used lighter fuel from migros) over the surface of the water. You don't need much, but it will form a thin layer over the surface, blocking the oxygen supply to the water below. The larvae will never hatch.

If you live near a farm then you'll be in trouble - mozzies also like shade so long grass gives them somewhere to hang out during the day, and stagnant pools are also easier for them to find. But if you don't live near a farm the techniques described above may help you to reduce your mozzie problem to a level that doesn't drive you insane.

Singapore had an interesting approach - they made puddles illegal, with no puddles, there was no mozzie problem. That's just what I've heard, I'm sure someone from Singapore is going to jump in and correct me here...

You can also get a special sense of satisfaction if you kill one - it's only the females that bite, and each bite gives each female enough blood to lay 200 eggs...

I must have a male one living in my bedroom right now then - his method of "attack" is to fly by my ear and wake me up.

We did have a friend to stay recently and she did get bitten; she claims to have "sweet" blood and I can testify that, by the amount of chocolate she ate whilst she was with us, it could be true.

by the way, Mosquito - what will be your name during the winter when your fat friends have croaked-it?

Hopefully not Frost.

hi
I havent had trouble with mosquitos here...but i think there is a vitamin supplement that you can take which is supposed to put them off the smell of you i think it was vitamin D. I use dto have trouble with them in SPain.

I have trouble with static electricity shocks everytime i touch the car door in the winter months...i dont think there is a solution for that though

Some people seem to attract them, but I think it is also a case that some people don't react when bitten, so they appear to have been "left alone", but maybe not...

Another bit of trivia - mosquitos are attracted by the carbon dioxide we breath - this leads them to us. Once they are close they can sense the pulsing of the blood near the surface, which is why they often bite around bones, elbows, ankles etc where they can get straight to a nice juicy vein.

Some people believe lighting a campfire will repel the mozzies, but since fire is a huge emitter of CO2, it will call them from miles around

A yellow, or non-white, lightbulb keeps them away, as does ciggy smoke Ps, Bats eat around 2000 mozzies an hour. But they make lousy house pets.

I'm always happy to see spiders in my bedroom during the summer, I know they'll eat the mozzies!

I saw this story on the BBC website:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5370110.stm

about mosquitoes having a sweet tooth... maybe you could rig something up at home that they would like the taste of better than you!

I have trouble with static electricity shocks everytime i touch the car door in the winter months...i dont think there is a solution for that though[/quote]

Hmm, same here, but with also with lifts, people and God knows what else! A cure would be nice though. My friends don´t want to go near me once winter looms...

My eldest son (the fisherman) is a mossies dream. He really reacts with the big red welts and I buy him hydrocortisone and antihystamine, this stops them getting all red and angry. I know this isnt a prevention but it helps if the horrid little critters have feasted already.

it might have to do with clothes you wear in winter - some fabrics produce static electricity while rubbing at each other. although some people believe it's cosmis rays. dunno which theory is true, but I like the latter