There is absolutely nothing more likely to get me out of bed and upright in einen augenblick (just to demonstrate that I haven't forgotten all my Deutsch) than the sound of a mozzie in my ear. We are fortunate in Hawkes Bay in not having a lot of mozzies and that most of those we do have are not interested in humans (I read that and, on this particular subject the mosquitoes appear to have read the same book) but feed on the blood of other animals and, in fact, tend to be animal specific.
Be that as it may I will not go to sleep with a mozzie keeping me company. So last night after having had my head on the pillow for less than a minute when a mozzie homed in I was up with the light on and a can of insecticide in my hand faster than, well, very fast. A spray around and a turn on of the automatic sprayer and I was sound asleep within another 120 seconds: perhaps less, I stopped counting.
I always think of the time in Italy in 2012 when I shared a huge hotel bedroom with full screening which had, unfortunately, trapped a very persistent mozzie inside (and I wasn't opening them to let more in) and I was without insect repellant or killer and in the morning my face was a mass of bites and I had very little sleep. Blood sucking little buggers they are.
On the whole, though, we are exceptionally fortunate in New Zealand in having few poisonous insects or other creatures which incommode humans unlike our friends across the Tasman who have everything from funnel-web spiders (extremely poisonous) to the venomous duck-billed platypus (which is not the cuddly creature many think it is). We have three poisonous spiders capable of biting humans (but bites from the two venomous ones are extremely rare and there is an antidote and the white-tailed spider's reputation is much worse than the effect of its bite usually is) and no indigenous land mammals poisonous or otherwise (we have some bats and whales and sea lions and that's about it).
So today I am thankful to a friend for reminding me that I was neglecting my Thankful Thursday posts and thankful that I live in a country where I don't risk death from a mozzie bite and where I can sleep soundly at night without fear (and I'm not just referring to insects!).
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I wrote a poem about an mosquito once. Very annoying blighters I agree!!!
ReplyDeleteThought I might share it with you
Deletehttp://treacytravels.blogspot.co.nz/2010/03/itchy-inspiration.html
:-)
enjoyed that Jaz- until the last bit of course!
DeleteI had to spend the night before my wedding with a persistent mozzie and no spray etc - I had to sleep under a sheet in a humid Auckland Feb night to make sure I didn't wake up splotchy with an eye half closed...
and then there was the one that got me at the airport in Fiji as we left the island - and laid me up for the following three weeks :(
And in Whangarei we always had to sleep with a mozzie coil or electronic repellants... I don't miss that at all!
Thanks Jaz. I enjoyed your poem and it sent me off to learn a bit more about mozzie noises.
DeleteFiona you were lucky because a mozzie can, as I know to my cost, suck one's blood through a sheet as if it wasn't there: Italian ones can anyway! I am used to midges in the UK which plague some people but simply annoy me as I hardly react to their bites. However the longer I'm in NZ the more I react to sandfly bites which is a bit puzzling.
I don't like mozzies in a room or tent ,but I never notice them outside.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you there Red.
DeleteGraham, in Australia, there is a theory that if you eat enough Vegemite the mosquitos won't bite because of the Vitamin B in it. Of course, up here we have to be very careful because they carry dengue fever and Ross River fever. I must say though, in all my years, I have never gone to bed worrying about venomous duck-billed platypus ~ so for that I am very thankful.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry GB ~ I had to delete the previous comment because after I posted it, I noticed that pre-emptive text had infiltrated my comment.
I had heard that about Vegemite and Marmite Carol. When I was in Australia I went on a 10-day safari up the west coast and slept on the ground in a canvas swag and never once worried about snakes or scorpions or spiders. Looking back I have no idea why it didn't concern me. I don't think I'd do it again though.
DeleteYou sound just like me with posts and comments: I always notice the odd mistake or two when I've actually posted it. On this post for example I wrote 1/16" when it should have been 1/64"
Ah yes indeed things to be thankful for, although I have to say that when sleeping in a tent up near Cape Reinga one night many years ago I took a nightly visit to the facilities, careful to not use a torch in the tent, came back went back to sleep, with my arms out of the sleeping bag, work in the morning absolutely COVERED in mozzie bites - they result was not pretty and very uncomfortable - so be warned, make sure you have that can with you should you ever do the same! ;-) They never made a sound just spent the night biting and sucking!
ReplyDeleteI think that my tent may be permanently consigned to it's bag Serenata although who knows...... I've never camped up in Northland though I do go up there 'on safari' with a friend every year. I've never been bothered by a mozzie so far but perhaps just saying that is tempting The Fates.
Deleteit's a bit of a fallacy that Australia is full of creatures that can kill you. Of course they are here but you'd have to be extremely unlucky to come across one, if you're aware that they can be here. I have lived here 47 years and I have never seen a poisonous spider or snake in the wild. As for platypus, you have to be extremely lucky to catch a glimpse of one let alone come across one in the water, they are much too scared of humans. I too have slept on the ground many times (in my youth) without a second thought. All these creatures avoid human contact as much as we avoid them.
ReplyDeleteOf course you are right Bill and I was talking largely for effect although you do have some of the most venomous things in the world. It's a long time ago but I have seen what I think from memory was a whip snake and, of course, many red backed spiders (we used to spray the shutters every night) but nothing more serious than that. I've seen far more whip snakes in Italy and nearly trod on an adder at a friend's house in France (when I was wearing jandals too!). I can't recall being bitten seriously by winged things in Australia either although the flies in some places were exceedingly annoying but then we have midges in Scotland and they are equally annoying for the two months they are around when it's not windy (but it usually is windy!). The difference between insects and most other creatures is that they positively seek us out for food.
DeleteOne advantage of (Swedish) winter: Whether snowy or rainy - no midges or mozzies.
ReplyDeleteNo midges in winter in Scotland either Monica. They are bad for a couple of months on the rare days when the wind drops below 12mph.
DeleteI can send you some of our mozzies since you only have one to worry about....what's your address again???
ReplyDeleteYou are too knid Virginia but I hope you won't be offended if I don't take you up on the offer.
DeleteI haven't got many illusions left in life and you've just gone and ruined one of those last ones. Venomous duck-billed platypi ? I thought they might suck you till you giggled but that was about it....
ReplyDeleteCJ, I, too, was quite surprised when I discovered that the platypus was both fairly small (about 50cm) and venomous (the male only as it happens) but as I've never seen one in the wild (they only inhabit the east of Australia and I've only been to the west) I really only had stories to go on.
DeleteI'm with you on not being able to sleep with a mozzie in the room. Just the sound of one turns me into a ravenous hunter. I leap out of bed, turn the lights on, examine all the walls minutely till i find the horrible thing sitting there. If I can't see it, I prowl around till I do. Climb on the furniture, everything. Actually, I'm not mad. So often I have woken up to find I've been bitten on the eyelids and my eyes are so puffed up I look like one of those lizards.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the mozzies like in the Hebrides? I do find them a bit much in the Highlands!
I wasn't even aware that we had mozzies in Scotland Jenny. I've certainly never been aware of them on Lewis. One of the peculiar things about midges (and we have plentiful supplies if them) is that I've never had them in the house (they do come into the conservatory if its hot an sunny with the doors and windows open) and only appear when the weather conditions are just right. You sent me off to read up about mozzies in Scotland. I've learned a lot but I still don't think we get them on Lewis.
DeleteThe sound of a mozzie near my ear when I am just about to drift into the arms of my dear old friend Sleep is one of the most hated ones I can imagine! After such a spraying as you describe, I doubt I could have slept in the same room. I would be worried about the effects the spray has on me.
ReplyDeleteFrankly Meike the insecticide I can live with, the mozzies I can't. We live in a world of horrible protective potions etc and I prefer deet to insect bites, sunscreen to melanomas and so on. Of course what the long term effect of the various 'protections' is is anybodies guess.
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