I Love Rhode Island Mosquitoes!

I am so glad to be home. And it is all due to the fact that I stepped outside of my house without any immediate fear of being attacked by a nose diving, bullying mosquito. Like a strong magnet attaching itself to your fridge, the mosquitoes I encountered while on vacation were attacking and feasting as fast as they could. Even in the middle of a warm sunny day. Even if you went jogging and stopped for a minute to look at the scenery. Even when you were sitting on the beach watching your kids swim! This experience with mosquitoes was different for three main reasons.

First, our beach house was adjacent to a salt marsh. I have a truism of life when it comes to fighting. (Besides don't fight). I never want to fight a hockey player, a wrestler or a rugby player. These sports lend themselves to physical brutality and I believe these athletes have a natural edge. In the case of mosquitoes; never live near salt marsh mosquitoes. They aggressively attack like a grizzly defending her cubs. So our choice of habitat was like choosing to sleep in the middle of the savanna with fresh meat strapped to your body. I have to agree with a New Jersey official when he stated that it was "not a mosquito problem, but a people problem." The problem is that towns let developers build houses that are surrounded by swamp land or salt marshes and after people move into these developments, they complain about mosquitoes. The insects were there first and no matter what, they will not be wiped out.

Speaking of eradication, I hate the fungi kingdom. Allegedly, it was a fungus that had killed ALL bats in New Jersey. Considering that one bat can eat 3000 mosquitoes an hour, a vital element of depressing the mosquito population was lost due to this fungus. As far as I can observe and  research, we still have bats in Rhode Island. Whew! So when you get a bat flying around your house, don't kill it unless you want me to curse you by having 3000 mosquitoes bite you all at once. Catch it with a net and let it go. Preferably near my house.

Lastly, the species of mosquitoes the live in salt marshes are a bit different from the ho hum mosquitoes that fly around at dusk while you are finishing your barbecue. The Asian tiger mosquito was seen along with some other ones down in Jersey and those invasive blood suckers have no manners at all. Flying fast and biting quick, these mosquitoes landed over 20 bites on my daughter's face after she went outside at night to have a chat with her cousin. Little did these kids know that when you drive hundreds of miles away for vacation, your habitat changes and you have to adapt!

Seriously, the mosquitoes were so bad, that you could not even swim in the outdoor pool in the middle of the day. So do I love Rhode Island mosquitoes? No, but they are more polite and docile than their brutal friends down in New Jersey!