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Mosquito-busting the Natural Way
I love almost everything about summer - except mosquitos. And unfortunately the little varmints seem to particularly enjoy feeding on me - I always seemed to get more bites than my husband or any of my friends. But notice the past tense in that sentence - I don't get bitten nearly as much since learning these natural mosquito-busting strategies: 1. Wear light colored clothing. Being naturally goth-ish, I balked at this at first but it does seem to work. Many mosquitoes use vision to locate hosts from a distance and dark clothing can be an attractant. 2. Don't wear perfume or floral scented sunscreen, cosmetics or hair products and avoid fragranced fabric softeners. 3. Try not to be outdoors after an intense workout. Vigorous exercise can result in significant lactic acid build-up in your muscles, and lactic acid attracts mosquitoes. 4. Go easy on the salt. Eating salty foods can also cause you to produce higher-than-normal amounts of lactic acid. 5. On the positive side, some essential oils are natural mosquito repellents. CATNIP OIL contains nepatalone which, according to a recent study at the University of Iowa, is 10 time more effective at repelling mosquitoes than DEET. You don't need to use a lot; if the neighborhood cats start following you around like you're the pied piper, you're wearing too much. Other oils you might try are CITRONELLA (if you can tolerate the smell - I can't), LEMON EUCALYPTIS OIL and ROSEMARY OIL. You can make your own insect repellent sprays by combining rubbing alcohol, witch hazel or olive oil with one of these essential oils (in a ratio that's about 10-to-1, alcohol-to-oil). Shake well before each use. Or try adding a few drops of insect-repelling essential oil to an unscented moisturizer. 6. You can discourage mosquitoes from congregating in your garden by planting catnip, rosemary, marigolds and citronella grass. And since they breed in standing water, get rid of it wherever you can. Empty accumulated water from trash cans, wheel barrows, pet dishes and flower pot bottoms. Clean debris from rain gutters and unclog obstructed downspouts. Repair leaking faucets and air conditioners that can produce puddles. Change water in bird baths and wading pools at least once a week. And if you have an ornamental pond aerate it to get that water moving; mosquitoes prefer quiet, non-flowing water for egg-laying and development. Don't indulge them. 7. Try to stay indoors or ramp up your bug-busting agenda when mosquitoes are most active: at dawn, dusk and early in the evening. Weather conditions such as temperature, rainfall patterns, wind, and humidity have an effect on the level of mosquito activity too so check out The Weather Channel's MOSQUITO FORECAST before venturing outdoors. On their website, input your zip code, click healthy living, then mosquito forecast. If heavy mosquito activity is predicted and you really, really want to go out, you'll just have to ask yourself... am I feeling lucky? Author ~ Catresea Ann Canivan |
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 | | adac recommended this intel. Feb 12, 2011 |
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I'll have to try some of that. My Family uses Avons "skin so soft" which works as a good alternative to commercial insect repellents, but that can sometimes be a little hard to get. Besides as a guy, anything with the words "skin so soft" on it is a little repellent to me. :)
 | | adac Dec 8, 2009 13:58 | |
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This intel was contributed by catanna
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May, 2012
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