uncomfortable
fosteronfilm has been going without me because the mosquitoes don't seem to like him as much, but he also mowed the lawn, and found a couple blackberry bushes we weren't aware of before that were overflowing with ripe berries and wanted my help. He was out for over an hour, mowing and picking. No bites. I was out for five minutes and got half a dozen bites on my arms. (He sent me back inside after I spilled the berry box while slapping away an evil bloodsucker.) I am, apparently, a tasty treat. After putting ice on the largest welts and having a shower, I looked up my bitey nemesis, as they were stripey and scary-looking. We have Asian tiger mosquitoes, a particularly aggressive species that bite during the day, rather than the more usual dusk and nighttime biters. Lucky us. They're not strong fliers, staying within 100 yards of their birthing spot, and I know where they're spawning--in the fetid koi pond the previous owner installed. I want to tear out that larvae-infested morass and fill it in. I liked having the turtle winter there, and I'm fond of the toads that occasionally go *plop* into it when we get too near, but the mosquitoes are horrible. I wish there was a way we could encourage dragonflies, which would eat the damn mosquitoes, but I haven't seen any. I suspect the water is too stagnant for them. We've periodically emptied it, but as soon as it rains, it fills in again. Gah.
Until we get the thing excavated and filled, I'm putting some vegetable oil in the pond. Supposedly it will suffocate the mosquito larvae. And next year, we're investing in some Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis. No point in doing it this year. Berry season is only for a few more weeks, at which point I can't imagine me needing to go near that pond again this year. Might even install that bat house I've longed for. I want more natural mosquito predators.
We hatesss mosquitoessss. *itch*
