Between the hoards of caterpillars crawling on the trees, buildings, and roads lately, and the billions of mosquitoes that are nipping at everyone’s ankles, this year might be one of the worst I remember for putting up with nature’s most annoying pests.
To be honest, the fuzzy caterpillars actually don’t bother me that much, aside from when they decide to move from one treed area to the next, and in the process have to cross our house to do so. But earlier this spring, we had a much more disgusting issue on our home – spiders.
One day, as I had my hands full with grocery bags, I opened the front door to our nice new house, and what felt like a nest of spiders fell down on me. I’m sure it was probably only maybe a handful of them, although my husband says it was likely only about two or three, but it still resulted in giving me the shivers and possibly letting out a faint scream.
Not long after, as I was lying in bed one night, I heard something repeatedly hit the window. As I investigated from afar, I realized it was most likely a bat, eating the spiders that had decided to crawl all over the house as soon as it warmed up. Although bats aren’t in any way my favourite flying creatures, I’ll take them hanging out at night feeding on the spiders that creep me out during the day.
Thankfully, nature has a way of dealing with most of these pests. I’m hoping we are nearly at the end of the cycle for caterpillars, although we have taken to trying out at least one of the tips I’ve seen circulating on social media on how to deal with them.
As they crawled all over our deck and basement windows the other day, my husband asked what he could spray on them. With a dog and kids playing outside, I’m certainly not one to start killing insects with harsh chemicals, so we attempted the dish soap and water recommendation. The bugs certainly didn’t like the mixture, and our house had a nice pleasing scent to it afterwards.
And once the caterpillars cocoon and turn into moths, and the spiders hopefully find a new home, it will be mosquitoes that likely stick around throughout the summer months, biting and sucking.
Thankfully, our mosquitoes aren’t nearly as detrimental as those in warmer climates, where they carry a list of illnesses, but they’re still something I’d rather not have to deal with.
Last week, I clicked on an article that popped up in my newsfeed, talking about why some people are more attractive than others to mosquitoes. One of the first items I cam across was that the bugs like smelly people – especially those with older sweat. Reading the description was enough to make me want to take a shower.
But ensuring proper hygiene isn’t enough to keep the bloodsuckers away. Different blood types are more attractive to mosquitoes, and according to the article I read, Type O blood types are bitten most often.
Then there’s carbon dioxide – simply breathing is enough to attract mosquitoes. And if you’re a heavy breather and emit more CO2, then you might attract even more bugs.
Although there are likely lists of ways to keep the bugs away, I’m sure in about four months, we will already be missing the nasty insects, as the cooler weather begins to creep up on us again.
