It has been an unusually wet spring here in Middle Tennessee. Everything is flourishing including the mosquitoes and ticks. I want to pass on to you some suggestions for deterring these pesky little critters and something I found years ago to help with tick and spider bites as well.
Let’s start with mosquitoes; my son told me about this little trick last week, he said it worked for him. He has a small yard, lots of shade and it is low so in tends to stay damp – perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. He could hardly stay on his back deck without getting bitten. Last week he bought a bottle of Listerine, added it to a gallon hand sprayer, topped it off with water and sprayed his yard. He said he had no mosquitoes until a hard rain washed it off. He also said, “I have no bugs and my yard smells minty fresh”. Ha!
I found a wonderful gadget at my local Dollar General Store. It is called a “Halo” and is made by Black & Decker. It comes with a container of Citronella oil and four batteries. You install the batteries, add the container of oil and when you turn it on, a little fan inside comes on and disperses the fragrance, a red light on the top glows softly to let you know it’s on and the device emits a high pitched sound that drives away the mosquitoes but is inaudible to humans. It will cover a 100 square foot area. We sat out on our porch in the dark with no bites! I bought two of them and they were well worth the $10 each that I paid.
Other than spraying a DEET based repellent on my shoes and clothes or using one of the granulated flea and tick repellents that are available commercially for your yard, I don’t have too many ideas for getting rid of ticks. I did read somewhere that garlic will keep them out of the grass but I honestly haven’t tried that one. I can tell you what to do if you get a bite that looks like it might be Lyme disease or a spider bite. Years ago, I got a spider bite while camping in the fall. Our camp site was surrounded by deep fallen leaves, a perfect habitat for Brown Recluse Spiders. A day after we got home, I noticed a nasty looking bite on my ankle. I went to our family doctor and he said it did indeed look like a spider bite. He was the type of doctor who would try a natural cure before using a dangerous steroid or antibiotic – here’s what he told me to do first. He said get some activated charcoal powder, add a little water to it to m
ake a thick paste and apply that to my bite. He also said to cover all that with plastic wrap (like you cover a dish in the refrig) to keep the paste moist and also to keep the messy - I do mean MESSY black powder off your clothes and everything else you come near. He said to change it a couple of times a day. If the bite didn’t look better in 48 hours, to come back and we would do antibiotics. Within 24 hours the redness was almost gone!
Recently, I had a tick bite that after a day started to look like a bull’s eye ring and was stinging and itchy. I did my charcoal paste. By the way, I mix this up
on a piece of aluminum foil so I can fold it up and dispose of the leftovers without making a mess. I tape the plastic wrap over the bite with adhesive tape to keep it in place. The next day, the ring was gone and only a small red place was left. By the third day no spot remained. Charcoal powder comes in capsules too and will absorb lots of kinds of poison. They are a good addition to your medicine cabinet. Give them orally if you think someone has ingested poison and then call your local poison control center or get to an emergency room.
Let’s start with mosquitoes; my son told me about this little trick last week, he said it worked for him. He has a small yard, lots of shade and it is low so in tends to stay damp – perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. He could hardly stay on his back deck without getting bitten. Last week he bought a bottle of Listerine, added it to a gallon hand sprayer, topped it off with water and sprayed his yard. He said he had no mosquitoes until a hard rain washed it off. He also said, “I have no bugs and my yard smells minty fresh”. Ha!
I found a wonderful gadget at my local Dollar General Store. It is called a “Halo” and is made by Black & Decker. It comes with a container of Citronella oil and four batteries. You install the batteries, add the container of oil and when you turn it on, a little fan inside comes on and disperses the fragrance, a red light on the top glows softly to let you know it’s on and the device emits a high pitched sound that drives away the mosquitoes but is inaudible to humans. It will cover a 100 square foot area. We sat out on our porch in the dark with no bites! I bought two of them and they were well worth the $10 each that I paid.
Other than spraying a DEET based repellent on my shoes and clothes or using one of the granulated flea and tick repellents that are available commercially for your yard, I don’t have too many ideas for getting rid of ticks. I did read somewhere that garlic will keep them out of the grass but I honestly haven’t tried that one. I can tell you what to do if you get a bite that looks like it might be Lyme disease or a spider bite. Years ago, I got a spider bite while camping in the fall. Our camp site was surrounded by deep fallen leaves, a perfect habitat for Brown Recluse Spiders. A day after we got home, I noticed a nasty looking bite on my ankle. I went to our family doctor and he said it did indeed look like a spider bite. He was the type of doctor who would try a natural cure before using a dangerous steroid or antibiotic – here’s what he told me to do first. He said get some activated charcoal powder, add a little water to it to m
ake a thick paste and apply that to my bite. He also said to cover all that with plastic wrap (like you cover a dish in the refrig) to keep the paste moist and also to keep the messy - I do mean MESSY black powder off your clothes and everything else you come near. He said to change it a couple of times a day. If the bite didn’t look better in 48 hours, to come back and we would do antibiotics. Within 24 hours the redness was almost gone!Recently, I had a tick bite that after a day started to look like a bull’s eye ring and was stinging and itchy. I did my charcoal paste. By the way, I mix this up
on a piece of aluminum foil so I can fold it up and dispose of the leftovers without making a mess. I tape the plastic wrap over the bite with adhesive tape to keep it in place. The next day, the ring was gone and only a small red place was left. By the third day no spot remained. Charcoal powder comes in capsules too and will absorb lots of kinds of poison. They are a good addition to your medicine cabinet. Give them orally if you think someone has ingested poison and then call your local poison control center or get to an emergency room.
In order to keep the mosquito population down, don’t allow water to collect in containers in your yard. Goldfish will eat mosquito larvae in your ponds and moving water is not as attractive to adult mosquitoes as still water is. I have a stream of water circulating in my little water feature along with koi and goldfish. There are safe additives called “Mosquito Dunks” that you can add to bird baths and ponds that kill the larvae too. Don’t forget to give your pets a flea and tick repellent and be sure they have their heartworm meds on time.
If you have any good tips for ridding our yards of fleas, ticks, or mosquitoes add them to my blog comment section.
If you have any good tips for ridding our yards of fleas, ticks, or mosquitoes add them to my blog comment section.
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