Spring is here! The flowers are beginning to bloom! The threat of freezing weather is gone! We’ve been waiting for this for a few months now. Granted, us here in Texas don’t get it nearly as bad as some parts of the U.S. We still cherish the Spring time, because it’s not too hot and still gets cool at night. But, don’t let the nice temperatures fool you. There’s another problem we have to deal with when the weather warms up. Mosquitoes. These pesky insects are a nuisance, and an itchy one at that. West Nile Virus is still around and still making people sick all across the nation. With Spring here, it’s time for them to come out and bite. Don’t let them ruin your family fun next time you’re out on a campsite. There are a few ways to keep them at bay and out of your precious blood.
First things first. As soon as you get to a new campsite, make sure there is no standing water anywhere to be seen. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water and if there’s no water around, then they’ll go somewhere where there is. Use a shovel or a bucket to move that water and spread it out across the site. No puddles! If you’re looking at a few puddles across the site, look into stagnant water tablets. They are dissolvable tablets that you drop into a puddle to kill mosquito eggs. A great idea designed to help keep us from slapping ourselves all night, aiming for those pesky insects.
Citronella candles are scented candles that contain a chemical that repels mosquitoes. They may smell odd, but they work. The only downside to them is, if it’s windy out, they are ineffective, since they depend on still air. Getting a few of these and putting them in your RV wouldn’t be a bad idea. If you’re all sitting around a table, you can set a couple of them up or get tiki torches circle them around your RV to keep them at bay.
Spray-on mosquito repellent remains one of the most effective ways to keep them from biting you. OFF is the most well known and should be included in every RVers “must-have” list. Sure, it may make you stink of chemicals, but it’s worth it to stop the annoyance of being bitten every 5 seconds (I don’t know about you, but I must have blood that they love). Just be sure you shower afterwards, it’ll make everything in your RV smell.
There are also several mosquito traps and bug zappers out on the market and they all work well, but not as a standalone solution to your mosquito problem. A trap would certainly lower their numbers, but what about the ones who don’t fall for the trap? They’ll just head for you and dig in. The best solution is picking and choosing a couple of different methods of repelling them to make sure you don’t get eaten up.
What do you do to keep the mosquitoes away? Share with us on Facebook or Google+.
