Skeeter Season

Mosquitoes. Skeeters. Mozzies. Ruthless blood sucking bugs that seem to exist everywhere on the east coast. From Bar Harbor to Key West, the miserable bugs are everywhere. They can travel up to 7 1/2 miles in one evening, and in the process they can turn a perfectly wonderful summer evening into a nightmare.

While these relentless little pests in their current evolutionary carnation have been around for over 30 million years, their lifespan is only 1 to 2 weeks long from start to finish. That is if they don't get squashed first.

I think the worst thing about mosquitoes is killing them. This is for two reasons. One, it usually requires smacking yourself, and in my case they seem to have an affinity for my head. The slap in the face is almost as bad as the bite itself. Something to think about next time you get bitten by a skeeter, only the females bite. They use the protein in the blood to make eggs, which leads us to the second reason why I think killing mosquitos is disgusting.

The blood. There is nothing like swatting a mosquito against your arm before it bites you only to have some other person's blood come gushing out of it. This immediately makes me think of disease. Only the granny mosquitoes, the old ladies, the cougars of the swarm spread disease. Dirty bitches.

I thought in honor of skeeter season I would list some all natural remedies for keeping the vampy little bugs at bay. Some of these I have tried myself, others are suggestions I have gathered along the way. If you have any other suggestions to add to the list please do!

1. Eucalyptus oil and lemon balm oil

2. Lavender oil, particularly the Spike Lavender variety

3. Listerine: Don't spray it on you directly, but instead on the area around you. While Snopes says this is a false remedy, I have seen it in action and it works for a little while, but not long.

4. Citronella candles

5. Cactus Juice : This is a brand of repellent that I use. It is made from the Prickly Pear Cactus. It smells good and is kid friendly.