“Chemical Warfare” Cedar Park, 2018
こんばんは。How’s it going?
The weather here in central Texas has gotten warmer which is nice, but the mosquito season seems to have started early. ☹️
But this year, we have a couple new weapons in our arsenal to fight those pesky bugs. We just received a Hoont mosquito trap, which is simply a UV light and fan. The idea is that the flying insects will be attracted to the light, and when they fly up to it, they get sucked down by the fan into a receptacle below. They won’t be able to escape and eventually will dry out and die. I’m not sure how effective it is indoors, but the light looks pretty cool:
“It’s a Trap” Cedar Park, 2018
The fan isn’t too loud, but it is noticeable. It’s something you can definitely get used to though – sort of like white noise.
People say it works great outdoors, and we put it out on our deck for a couple days and I can report that it did catch a bunch of moths, mosquitos, and other critters. The manufacturer says that if you keep it running for a few days, you’ll have a mosquito-free yard. I’m not sure about that, but I’m willing to give it try. The only thing I haven’t figured out is the best way to clean out the trap since the recently-trapped bugs will still be alive. I guess we just keep the thing on all the time? 🤷♂️
Next up is a Japanese toxic mist “おすだけベープ” (photo at the top of this post) that Mariko bought. One pump of this small bottle will fumigate a room. It looks like a mini air freshener bottle and smells like air freshener as well, but it’s deceptively powerful. I was skeptical of its effectiveness at first, but last night I trapped a mosquito in the home office, then sprayed one quick mist of this stuff into the room, and when I came back about 15 minutes later, the mosquito was in a world of hurt. I know this because it was on my desk, on its back, legs twitching! It was awesome! I have no doubt about it’s killing power. However, because it is so effective, I don’t think you should stay near the mist, even though it smells so good.
But because we do get bit occasionally, we have a couple techniques we use to get through the itchiness. The first is the hot spoon technique, which I talked about in a previous post. But last year we bought a Zap-It! device which uses the same principle, but is much more convenient. It’s basically a micro-stun-gun in that you position the Zap-It! over the mosquito bite, then press the button and it creates a little electric charge and shock. Do this several times all around the bite, and you will be itch-free for a few hours.
“Quick Relief” Cedar Park, 2018
It’s not as long-lasting as the spoon technique, but the tiny battery-free Zap-It! device is so convenient that it’s our first choice in itch relief. Plus, it is very inexpensive! Makes a great gift. 😆
I hope today’s post was informative and helpful! It might be difficult to find the おすだけベープ spray here in the States, but definitely order a Zap-It! or two. And it comes with a keyring, so you can keep it with you at all times. 😀
I hope you had a nice day!
またね～
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