Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Not your typical hobby

HOBBY, n., pl., -bies.
An activity or interest pursued outside one's regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.

Yep, that's it.
I guess I have a new hobby.
Kind of a strange one maybe, but it's deeply satisfying just the same.

See this thing?


Mosquito's... mozzie's... skeeter's... whatever it is that you may call them, I hate them.
With a passion.

I always thought that they died off during the winter, but it's winter here now and every morning when I go outside, the walls and windows of my little enclosed porch are covered with the nasty little blood-suckers. It's cold out there, and they just sort of sit there doing nothing, until it warms up, but it bugs me that they're even there in the first place.
My senses are affronted.

So I went checking for info on mosquito's, and found out that they never really do die off during winter or during cold snaps.
If they did, there wouldn't be any new skeeters come summer time.
They just sort of hibernate.
Even if the eggs or larvae are frozen in water, as soon as it gets warm enough for the ice to melt they just start doing their thing again.

I've checked my yard for standing water constantly... and I empty out any I find... but when I poked my head over the neighbors fence, I found that it's a veritable mozzie heaven over there.
Old hubcaps, ancient laundry troughs, tin cans and buckets, a couple of old wheelbarrows, puddles in the dirt... you name it, if it holds water, they've got it.


THAT'S where they're breeding.
The skeeter's, that is.
Not the neighbors.
As far as I know anyway.
I'm just not that curious.

So what about my new hobby, I hear you asking?

Well... I first tried spraying the little buggers with hairspray... and that does work.
It works real well.
But it leaves an icky film on stuff, you know? And since I do smoke out there, I would kind of prefer not going up in puff of smoke myself, or to breathe in hairspray constantly.
And I would prefer not to look at the lacquer covered nasties stuck to my wall, which also means that I have to go out there with a bucket and scrub the walls down, because they're looking like the spots on 101 Dalmatians.

So I now just "Flick my Bic".

I light my lighter, put it under the cold-benumbed little bastards, and wait for the satisfying ssffffftt!
Instant crispy critters.
My record, during just one cup of coffee is 17 of the little blighters.

My new hobby is fun, entertaining, I can pick it up and put it down as I please, and it's also immensely satisfying.

It's also probably deeply disturbing.
But hey... I can live with that.

9 comments:

Sherri said...

Why don't you try a bug zapper, maybe them buggers will go for the light thinking they'll warm up and then ZAP!

Homestay Mama said...

Oooh, I can see why that would be a satisfying hobby. Kinda like popping each bubble on a sheet of bubble-wrap.

Joolz said...

We use Coopex by Bayer to keep millipedes and spiders at bay outside. It is a powder that you mix up then spray around the perimeter of your house (about one foot out from and up your walls) and around door ways.

http://www.bayeranimal.com.au/default.aspx?Page=50&ItemId=47

Perhaps give this a go,

cheers - Joolz

centaurstar said...

Ohhh Katie i thought you were a nice person and loved all creatures great and small lol

Anonymous said...

lmaooo love it! I might have to try that myself lol. We don't have mozzies here, but we have sandflies instead. They're awful! too small to see coming but they make ya itch like hell!

Becky said...

I hate those dang skeeters too! I have to admit I have never heard anyone say they like them. I just don't know why they were created.

Bz said...

Holy Flying Blood Suckers - can't stand the things. The last # of years, we've had some ?? tiger breed of mosquito. They're HUGE. Little blood sucking bats they are. You'd need a blow torch... can't imagine the noise for that.
You crack me up. And that's a good thing. I need cracking every now and then.

Michaela Dunn Leeper said...

ROFL!!!!

Libby's Library said...

Tater Toasting - LOL


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