Countering mosquitoes, 'Dinuway!'

I made a Mosquito Masher, the only one in the world [I claim!] which is very handy but this post is about another method I resorted to counter mosquito menace indoors. 

All pictures here are taken by me. Click on them to get a magnification.

We do not feel the prick of these Aedes mosquitoes [Asian Tiger Mosquito], but the poison it injects will make us scratch the area for a long time, which can drive us crazy esp. if we are doing something that demands high concentration and focus.  I'm getting pricked in the garden by what we call commonly as 'garden mosquito'.  They are active in daytime.

Swat!

But how often can we do that and what is the success rate?  And where is the patience?

They know where to prick, even through my pyjama fabric. Below is a good macro shot I got of a Culex mosquito.  See its bulged belly full of MY blood.  I allowed it to have its fill for this photo.  

Swat again!

The latest swat, an Aedes which causes a rash. 

These are some of the larger mosquitoes in my garden - not as bothersome as the two smaller varieties above. They live more on plant protein.  See this collage of  7 images:

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

In my college days, the mosquitoes waited for my legs to come under the study table, to suck blood.   My exposed feet were vulnerable and the pyjamas covered only up to the ankles. The attacks used to be so disconcerting, why during study, even at other times also and even now, while at the computer desk.

Its favourite areas for attack besides feet are back of the arm, under the sleeve and at the neck which exposes on bending the head to read a book on the desk.  Of course, --clap-- one wafted across the monitor - missed - they look for exposed areas of the face/head too.  

During one of my cricket tours, I asked my senior team-mate [a sort of 'know-all'] Mr.Krishnaprasad, why mosquitoes preferred the feet or back of forearm.  "They like dark and shadow areas" he said.  Indeed, he was right.  Now I can vouch for that as well after observing for a long time since, besides the fact that these blood suckers also like other exposed areas which they feel right to prick.  Sitting at the desk did not end with college days, so the botheration persists.  Now we have computers at home where we spend quite a bit of time, putting the feet under the dark space under the table. How about laptops? 

I have tried mosquito repellent creams, vapours from a medicated mat or smoke from a medicated 'coil'. But I needed to find a cheap and effective way to keep the blood suckers at bay, at least not disturbing my feet and arms.  I used my sports socks to good effect but needed something more comfortable and easy to remove and put on, to cover at least up to the shins.  I also later discovered that my old torn pyjama legs would help.  It did.  I had put velcro at the knees to prevent them from sliding down and closed the bottom to make it like a bag. So my legs were in these 'two bags' while I sat at the desk. 

There was always scope for improvement.  I wanted my track suit upper to be sleeveless.  So I cut off the long sleeves [see me wearing on such shortened thing here].  I made two other suits like this.  Last week, when I cut off a pair of track bottom at the knees to make them shorts [see me wearing it here, cut off], I found the answer for my improvisation.  

I joined this and a pair from another track upper sleeves I had cut off.  

This is what I got now. 

The light blue will be on top and I can pull it up to the knee and even walk around too.  Now I can sit without disturbance at the feet.

What about the arms?  Another cut off pair of sleeves..... You can clip it there............ [if you are not wearing a ready full sleeve shirt!]

The following option was not feasible!  *Smile*

 I also keep these alternatives handy just in case:  Mosquito Repellent Coil or Sprays [seen in picture] or Cream [not in pic]. 

"""""""""""

Let me show you some mosquito larvae in my garden - they find stagnant water somewhere.  I change water in the barrels when it matters.

For mosquito net is the best option for sleeping though. This is a vintage cot, more than 120 years old in my estimate. You see net frames were designed even at that time indicating that the 'skeeters' have been bothering humans all along.

My witty friend Papacchi used to tell he used to sit on his cot and allow the skeeters to come near him.  Once they were there, he would bring down the net and kill them since they could not escape out. 

Another witty colleague used to tell when he bought mosquito repellent creams he did not know that it was to be smeared on our skins.  He thought mosquitoes had to be caught and cream applied to them, so they would repel away! 

Blood donation is an important service that helps save lives.  I sometimes stayed in my relative's house in Bangalore where huge mosquitoes were abound [1980s] in that then new locality [Padmanabhanagar].  In the mornings, my bed would look like some murder had taken place but I was alive.  All the beds in Chandu's house was like that!  What a job it was to wash those blood-stained sheets!  I was fond of saying that 'I donated blood' when I stayed there. I have not seen anything like it any time. 

The word "mosquito" is Spanish for "little fly," and its use dates back to about 1583 in North America (Europeans referred to mosquitoes as "gnats"). Mosquitoes belong to the order Diptera, true flies. Mosquitoes are like flies in that they have two wings, but unlike flies, their wings have scales, their legs are long and the females have a long mouth part (proboscis) for piercing skin. ["HowStuffWorks.com]

Mosquito Masher

[This is a model presently in use]

Mosquitoes are a menace.  They have great fondness to some people and less to some.  I belong to the former, unfortunately.  My colleague Murthy asks 'Does mosquitoes bite?'.  If we say 'yes', he will argue that they have no teeth to bite, but they 'prick'.  He is right.  It does prick, quite nastily too, to keep us busy for the next half hour, scratch, scratch, scratch. It usually pricks without warning. They are considered an uncontrollable menace.

To get respite from this pesky pest, I have made protective bags [from old pajamas] for my two legs that go under the dark area of the desk [at home].  The blooming mosquitoes seem to know the arrival of the legs there and they love the dark areas. These reshaped, ugly pajama stockings [so, no photo] was a peaceful method to protect my poor legs from being 'pricked' so that I could work more peacefully at the desk. This is a somewhat recent idea. They are being actually used at the time of writing this post! One stocking for each leg.

I had 'invented' a cruel method when I was 14 or 15. The usual method of using both palms to kill them within 'clapping range' was having many failures [empty claps]. I thought of having one hand free while still swatting down a 'skeeter' [slang] successfully. They say necessity is the mother of invention. 

I had seen the use of 'finger cymbals' at temples and by some street beggars who sang and asked alms.  I adapted this idea for my cruel smasher.  The idea was also triggered by a school-day incident where I had smashed a mosquito between the pages of the book I was holding with both hands and reading.  It was slowly buzzing between the two pages of the open book and in a flash, I closed the book!  Yuck!  There was that 'chutneyed' mosquito that blotched a couple of words!  I saw blood.  You know what tigers become after they taste human blood?  Man-eaters.  I turned into a 'mosquito masher'!  That's where it started.  "The killer instinct"! 

Let me show you some mosquitoes on me and in my garden before I go further.

The above five pictures are taken in my garden. These are big mosquitoes as you can see in picture 2. Their pricks are painful only for a few moments. They do not seem to inject any poison, so we do not keep scratching the area which we do when those tiny ones prick and go away silently.  See the blood suckers below, on my skin. They can really 'get under my skin'!  They have, often.. and paid the penalty.

 Who says I do not donate blood?  Look how it has pierced my epidermis.

 Sucking from my finger.

 Prick, but no 'ouch', but later 'scratch'.

I just pressed it with the finger tip and pressed it lightly, enough to kill it for what it did. The sucker's siphon  is still in my skin.

Two different kinds of mosquito larvae in my water lily stone trough.

 See the blood it has sucked up.

Another shot of the pest sucking my blood in the garden. That was its last drink. 

Now let me come back to the masher, the subject of this post.  You now know why they deserve to be mashed!

I had old notebooks from the previous class lying around. I already told that it started when I was 14 or 15. The books had cardboard covers. I separated the pages from the hard covers and my 'weapon' was ready in such a jiffy.  My first ever weapon was ready, but it did not have the handle, though light to handle.  I found that a 'hold' a necessity.  I just stapled strips of flat cotton tape at the right places.  Lo and behold! I could now open the weapon's 'mouth' or close it at will, like a Hippo or a Crocodile!

When I had just invented this contraption, I was fond of showing my neighbours, friends and house visitors.  I remember esp. one of them, Dr.Mysore Shivaram.  He had just completed his degree in medicine.  He was wonder struck as I was very young at that time and had this 'invention' to show.  He asked me if I killed male mosquitoes or female ones.  I had no answer at that young age. I was happy if I mashed mosquitoes.  One mashed meant one less to bother.  Long later I learnt that females need some protein present in the human blood for its reproductory activity.

My cruel, merciless, easy to use mosquito masher can be a very useful weapon in some other ways as well.  It can improve our reflexes and hand-eye coordination and the mashing accuracy is more than 75%.  If reflexes and luck are quick and high respectively, it increases to 90%.  If we catch them at the edge, we can at least break a leg or two - of the skeeter. I will decide to patent this [just kidding], once the rate goes as high as 97%.  I must tell that it also tunes up our 'killer instinct'.  Now don't  think of asking me about these figures. It is a wild guess from the experience of using it for close to 40 years, every now and then!

In the last 3 decades, hundreds of these blood suckers have fallen victim to my quick reflexes *boast* that has also helped my skill in cricket. I had mashed down nearly 40 on a summer night 30 years ago. Some record!  I was patient on them for a long time.  Beware the fury of the patient man!

Existing mosquito population in a certain room can be controlled to some extent, provided you have time, energy and will to use the masher!  This is better than using mosquito repellent burning coils or vaporizing liquids that contain chemicals for all the safe advantages it has. In summer, we can use it as a hand fan also.

I cannot show the misses here, but I can show the mashes ['enlargify' it].

I have stuck white paper on both faces so that they can be removed and kept for 'record purposes'.  Once the 'dark red art work' is beautiful enough, fresh paper can be replaced!

You can also DIY [do it yourself] and enjoy mashing. It does not cost you anything!  It is different from the popular 'potato mashing'. Only difference is, potatoes will not be flying!

'Why does a mosquito buzz only near our ears?' asks a friend.  Because our ears can hear it but our legs can't!

I must say that this is one of my very earliest inventions.. or rather creations.