Sometimes I wonder how I survived all the little critters outdoors.  Until recently, mosquitoes were a nuisance outside but never really bothered me. A red bump would rise where they bit but be gone in a few hours. No longer!

Two weeks ago this past Wednesday I went to my place at Raysville Boat Club. When I arrived at about 4:00 PM I stopped and talked to my new neighbor before unloading.  It was shady in the yard and I did not notice anything flying around.

By the time I got unloaded I had two big red whelps on my right thigh and six or eight more on other parts of my body.  And they itched. I tried to avoid scratching them.  I had some itch cream and it gave me relief for a few hours.

That night I awoke clawing at the bites. I guess I got warm in bed and the heat made them itch. The next morning I had a red bruised looking area about the size of a silver dollar with a black, hard knot in the center of the two on my thigh.

It seemed every time I went outside while at the lake I got another bite, and that made the old ones start itching again.  I had more than 15 red whelps on my body by Monday when I left.

Two weeks later after many itchy nights those thigh bites are still red but haven’t itched in a few days.

I got home from Clarks Hill on Monday and left to camp for six nights at Lake Weiss on Tuesday.  For whatever reason, the campground at Bay Springs did not seem to have any mosquitoes to bite and reenact my old bites. They slowly got better until my last night.

Last Sunday night when I went into the bathroom to shower, a mosquito bit me on my left ankle.  It started itching immediately and made the others itch, too. I scratched most of the night!

When I got home from Clarks Hill I ordered a yard fogger and insecticide for it from Home Depot. It was here when I got home from Weiss and will try it in my yard since I get bit every time I got out to cut grass or pick tomatoes.

A few years ago my garage seemed to be full of the little horrors to the point I could not sit in my boat and tie baits on. I bug bombed it and took them out and so far they have not decided to homestead in there again.

I guess getting older has made me more sensitive to the bites, like it has caused to many other problems.  I think the warranty on this old body expired a long time ago and it was not made to last this long, but I am going to keep patching it up and fishing as long as I can!