Anybody else notice some mosquitos out there?

By: 
Tom A. Savage, Contributing Writer

I’m not saying there’s a massive mosquito problem in our area, but I was covering a baseball game last week at Legion Park in Valley Springs and I swear a couple of them hauled off the right fielder on the Little League diamond.

Those little suckers are literally everywhere.

And I know they’re a nuisance for everyone in this part of the country right now. In the midst of all the rain we received a couple of weeks ago, everybody knew the day was coming when the mosquito bites/stings...were coming.

Actually, I really don’t know. Do they sting, or bite? I guess it doesn’t matter. All I know is my legs look like a children’s dot-to-dot puzzle book.

I went to dinner the other night in shorts, hesitantly. I was embarrassed at what my legs might look like. But my anxiety was relieved in a hurry when I looked at everyone else’s polka dot arms and legs.

It seems no one could avoid it. Simply walking to your car was – and likely still is – a challenge. No doubt there were a couple of days last week where I looked like I was auditioning for the American Ninja Warrior television show as I bobbed and weaved my way out of the house.

Some relief came, however, when city officials from Brandon and Sioux Falls announced they were spraying to help curb the problem last week. Finally, efforts were being made to slow down the tiny animal that arguably wreaks more angst than any other on planet Earth. They only live two weeks to six months, but they pack a punch in their short time with us.

The chemical used by city officials to kill the tiny nuisance creators is called synthetic pyrethroid, under the brand name Aqua Zenivex. Those all sound scary, but then again, diarrhea sounds like a flower, so what do I know?

I’m not certain the spraying worked. I think it did, but there were times the following day when I swear I saw swarms of them just laughing at the spraying and fogging units trying to take them out.

I took my chocolate lab for a walk the following morning after the spray, and when I looked down at her dark coat, there were at least 50 of them on her. She literally looked up at me and was like, “Seriously, dad, let’s cut this one short.”

Thankfully, mosquito bites don’t last that long. But how about this for gross? When a mosquito bites you, it releases a small amount of their saliva, which releases the itch response.

Saliva? Damn.

Whether it’s saliva or – for this column at least – an insect venom specifically created to wreak havoc and induce wild scratching from human beings, it’s uncontrollably irritating when the scratching begins. It seems the more you scratch, the more they itch.

There’s been more than a couple of times this past week when my dog looked at me with a cocked head as I relentlessly scratched my legs at night. The look on her face was almost a warning, like I shouldn’t be doing it.

As it turns out, she’s right.

Most experts agree that not scratching is the key. Scratching inflames the skin, and the inflammation makes the skin itch more.

But, c’mon.

There are several over-the-counter creams and sprays out there to help quell the itching. The same experts who say “don’t scratch” also had another piece of advice I recently read on the CDC’s website: ‘apply hot water to the bite, but not so hot that you might burn yourself.’

I may look like a crazed madman when my itching fits start at night, but I’m happy that I didn’t need the CDC’s report about not burning myself.

I figured that one out on my own.

So did my dog, who’s cocked-head warnings didn’t include the water temp. 

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The Brandon Valley Journal

 

The Brandon Valley Journal
1404 E. Cedar St.
Brandon, SD 57005
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