It's been rainin' too much...damn deadly skeeters are swarmin'.....

[jus_the_facts]

.....these huge West Nile totin' bastards are horrible I tell ya! *itchin'* :scared:

[Fenris]

1. Hey! Something in common

My hometown is Port Neches on the Neches river in East Texas. Texas by geography only. It's Western Louisiana. Cajun country.

:toast:

Skeeters by the millions.:)

[jus_the_facts]

2. Hey...neighbor....I'm in Nawtheast La....

....:hi: from Monroe...we have had several deaths and many severely infected from the bloodsuckin' buggers over here the last 3 years...ya'll had any over that way? :shrug:

[Fenris]

3. I don't think we've had a death, but we have had a few infections

Lots of elderly folk around here, so we're pretty paranoid about it. Safe so far, though.:hi:

[jus_the_facts]

4. wow...summer before last we had over 50 people get infected......

....and like 5 died...not all were elderly either...the CDC was callin' it St.Louis encephilitis that first year...the last and this summer it's nothin' but West Nile...never understood how it morphed from one strain to another in one year and never talked about the St. Louis strain again...bizarro or disinfo...I dunno...but it's been BAD here...all started goin' to hell after our Parish Police Jury called for a vote for taxes...the insane pukeazoids that live here voted it down...so they privatized out mosquito abatement...bastards weren't sprayin' and when they did it was diluted insecticide...got outta control and killed people. :grr:

Ya'll been lucky so far. :scared:

[Fenris]

6. That's ironic

It's amazing how people will approve any tax measure as long as it has the word "decrease" somewhere in it or kill any tax measure with "increase" somewhere in it. They don't get that those taxes actually pay for community services. Then they get a private control company that's by nature more concerned with its profits, and pretty soon, people start dying.

We've been one of the few Democratic strongholds in Texas for years. It's a factory/union town. Except now, with that bastard Delay's redistricting, we're lumped in with the (literally) Klan stronghold of Vidor. Fucking Dealy!:grr:

[jus_the_facts]

8. Indeed....a parish south o'here are havin' to close down their schools....

....after votin' down the local taxes to help pay for 'em...now AFTER the fact they're throwin' fits that their children will have to be bused to other schools....those idiots are gettin' what they deserve....this mosquito abatement thing has killed people who were most likely innocent...well the kids anyway. Makes me sooo angry! :(

[Fenris]

9. Anti-taxation has become a cross-country mental illness.

People don't understand the formula:

A) Services like education, law enforcement, and pest abatement are provided by the government.

B) Funding for those services comes from taxation.

C) Increases in taxes mean that service costs have gone up. Decreases in taxes should come ONLY when service costs are either lower or a surplus is created.

D) If you do not approve increases in taxes to a system that is rapidly losing money, the service will eventually fail, and private ownership will eventually result.

E) Private ownership of public services is unstable because the concern of private companies is the bottom line. When companies run into financial difficulty, they will cut corners, and the quality of service will drop.

When schools close, when people die because of diluted insecticides, when roads deteriorate, it's because the community voted against increases in funding/taxation. Lower costs or higher/adequate quality is a decision each community must make.

[jus_the_facts]

10. exactly....it's a bandwagon they jump on...then when the repercussions....

...start slappin' 'em upside their empty heads...it's pretty much too little too late. :crazy:

[SW FL Dem]

5. isn't much better here on the other side of the Gulf

But then I don't go outside after dusk.

[jus_the_facts]

7. They've been bad all afternoon here with this relentless rain....

....killed one flyin' 'round inside awhile ago...after it BIT ME a few times first....always been a skeeter magnet m'self...guess it's 'cuz I'm so damn sweet LOL! :evilgrin:

[Eye and Monkey]

11. Swamps, way South a you...4 of 'em jus' tried to carry off my dachshund

Had to beat 'em back with a slingblade. Well, that jus' comes with living in the swamps of South Louisiana. Now, I'm not belittlin' y'all's skeeters - I useta spend summers up in Catahoula, Ouachita & East Carroll. And yeah, I can attest to the fact that there's some awwwwwwwwwwfully sweet ladies up in your neck of the woods.:evilgrin:

[jus_the_facts]

14. uhm hmm....I'm definitely one of 'em.....

....a Ouachita hotchita...me yeah! :o
Some mighty fine Coonasses down yer way as well...you a native or settler o'da swamp? :evilgrin: I have friends in Lafayette and lots o'family in Baton Rouge.

Better keep a leash on dat po' li'l pup...and a daily heartworm pill too...g'damn skeeter bugs! :D

[Eye and Monkey]

17. born, bred, & raised down here, some Nawth LA blood

and settler? yeah, I got some folks in my family tree what go back to La Purchase settlers in 1805. An' I spent 5 years in Baton Rouge one weekend - know what I mean?

and they don't call it Fun-roe for nothing...:toast:

[jus_the_facts]

18. LMAO....yeah sho' nuff do......

....haven't heard *Fun-roe* in a long time...did ya ever go to the afterhours club that was referred to as Funroe's or the Point After?? Ahh the memories!! :o

An' I can say the same thing about NawLenz...good gawd almighty me!!! :evilgrin: :toast:

[SW FL Dem]

12. Been there. When we first moved to Fl I was a magnet

I hear that cutting down on salt helps. I also got rid of any scented lotions. People keep telling me that eventually you will develop an antibody that prevents huge reactions to the bites. I'm still waiting. I just don't go out after dusk during skeeter season.

[jus_the_facts]

15. I'm so allergic to the bites too....always have been.....

....don't even get me near a redbug or wasp. :scared:

[BiggJawn]

13. They're bad here in Indiana, too.

4 of the bastards landed on my shoulders today and were saying something about carrying me to Michigan to meet their King....

DHS agents thought they had discovered secret airbases of the Michigan Militia, but the locals were able to prove that the hardstands and 4500-foot runways were used by the mosquitos, which is really Michigan's State Bird....

[jus_the_facts]

16. LMAO....their skeeter King......

....it's definitely a war with 'em...hate to see how bad it's gonna be in August! :D

[blindpig]

19. after the last drought.....

I'll never incur the wrath of the chacs by bitching about the rain.
Don't mind the skeeters, they're just including you in the ecosystem! If you really want to see mosquito madness try Belize, 30 years of birding in salt marshes and it still nearly drove me insane. The Nile virus threat is overblown, several varieties of mosquito borne encephalitis have and due occur in the South at a greater rate of occurrence. Unless you're an equine, then it's pretty bad news.

[jus_the_facts]

20. We had an outbreak here that infected over 50 people and killed 5...

...in a population of roughly 50,000....it was major and quite scary...lots of losses in the horse population as well from ranchers not givin' 'em the required vacinations. :evilfrown:

[blindpig]

21. damn that's high

Here in SC I think we had 1 fatality last year for the whole state. Don't understand the disparity, maybe they're filling swamps so fast in SC that the mosquitos can't keep up. Personally, I'll take my chances with the mosquitos!