Skeeter question

I’m in the habit of barbequeing dinner most nights. Now, we know that in certain environments, such as, say, Houston, mosquitoes abound. If you go hang around outside for a few minutes the little blood suckers will come to inspect and sample you.

OK, so, my steak (just went to check on it) is out there simmering up a top surface of mmm-mmm yummy beef blood. So are the buggies visiting my steak for a snack while I’m not lookin’? I never see them doing so, but I know they are out there on the hunt. Do they not like beef? Or do they just prefer it raw? Perhaps it’s the charcoal smoke…

Beatle, One cannot deny the benefits of smoke in controlling insects.

But think about it…fire=heat. BBQ’s are rather warm(figure at least 200 degrees). Do you really think a skeeter can take much more than the heat in Africa? Nah, They’d surely die.

-Sam

Female mosquitoes (the ones that suck blood…remember that, kiddies)…need a blood meal before laying eggs. They do not want that disgusting muck you bought in the store. They are vampire bugs. They want warm blood, pulsing through veins. But it doesn’t have to be human blood. Leave your horse or cow in the backyard while you are barbequing and the mosquitoes will be almost as happy with them.

Anyway, in Houston, the main problem is that the cockroaches climb up the barbeque and drag the meat away. That’s why most barbeques in Houston are covered. The little roaches don’t have the leverage to open the lids, bless their tiny insect hearts.

Mosquitoes are attracted to the carbon dioxide that a living being gives off during respiration. This is what they are seeking out…not actually the blood itself. I heard of a study done at one time involving a wooden silhouette of a cow surrounded by dry ice. The mosquitoes formed a huge cloud around the “cow” although I can’t remember if they attempted to feed or not.