Mosquitoes

[roly]

Hello Agri-frends
In the UK we have what we call midgies, which bite but not that bad. I gather as my agri-friend Woolly Bear told me you need a criket bat for the mosquitoes on the Prairies. Can anyone give me any advice firstly to stop the little beggers biting us, is there any old remedies that you use? Also are they that bad that they can effect the cattle?

[cowman]

Many products on the market for keeping mosquitoes away. Most of them contain "DEET" which is short for some chemical compound. It is very effective!
Recently I bought a bottle of a product made from Emu oil and catnip which is very effective! Or if you really want to be "au naturale" hang a few fronds of common tansy around your person...mosquitoes can't stand it...of course a lot of humans can't either!
Mosquitoes can be a problem with cattle as they pester them so much they don't get a lot of grazing done and they tend to "hit the bush" to avoid them! This usually leads to some sore feet as they step on sticks etc.!
A cattle rub with insecticide works, as do the insecticide eartags to a certain extent, or a smoke smudge can be helpful?

[WoolyBear]

Yeah I've heard about the Emu oil and catnip, but I can't stand the smell of tomcats and they scratch too! (LOL)

There are lots of good treatments for cattle, and a good apron oiler or cable oiler for the cattle is a sound and relatively cheap investment.

I didn't mean to scare you Roly.... Its just a standing joke about the size of our mosquitos. DEET is pretty safe and reliable. When we go fencing, we always pack the bottle to refresh our protection as we seem to sweat it off pretty quick. A good breeze too if you can plan your actives is also much better. For the most part aside from a few itchy bites, theres not too much to worry about.

Take care all

[cswilson]

Coat yourself in rum then roll in the sand-they go to bite you-get drunk and start throwing rocks at each other instead.

[coppertop]

oh man cswilson, would hate to be sitting around a bonfire anywhere near you !!!

Roly lighting a smudge around where the cattle bed down at night helps as well, as long as you don't start a prairie fire LOL !!

[roly]

I think cswilson your idea could work

[coppertop]

roly, I have a feeling that you have a great sense of humor which will serve you well as you commence farming in Canada !!

Good luck !!

[WoolyBear]

I'm sorry but that seems like a waste of good rum. Why not pass that bottle around, get you and your friends a little goofy and let the mosquitos bite. Like really how much blood alcohol would it take to get a mosquito hammered?

[coppertop]

as long as roly and crew aren't allergic to mosquito bites !!! They might do better to cover themselves with rum, or cider vinegar which tends to repel the pesky critters.