An unwanted visitor

They’re back … the mosquitoes. August is traditionally the worst month here in Belgium when it comes to mosquitoes invading houses, and particularly bedrooms. I haven't had an unwanted visitor yet until last Wednesday night, when at three in the morning I was woken up by the buzzing sound of a mosquito trying to do a Banzai dive over my head. Of course, each time I turned on the light, the little pest was nowhere to be seen. He was probably hiding under the bed or in the folds of the curtains. I said ‘he’, but it’s probably a ‘she’, because as far as I know, only the females have the nasty habit of stinging and sucking people’s blood. Yuk!

Although I don’t have a garden, the intruder probably found its way into my bedroom when my cleaning lady left open the door that leads from my bedroom into the courtyard. On the first night, besides waking me at three in the morning, the mosquito also stung me in the right arm, just below the elbow. When I was small I hardly reacted to these stings. But since 1995 when I was very badly stung by Swedish mosquitoes, which are reputed for their nasty bites, I now easily develop a violent reaction to ordinary Belgian mosquito stings.

On Friday morning I discovered a second bite on my leg. I thought I still had some mosquito killing spray somewhere, but couldn’t find it. So I let it be! This morning, however, the intruder had gone too far. She had stung me in the hand and twice in the face. Enough is enough. So I decided to declare war on the first mosquito that came within shooting range.

The yellow label at the bottom promises:

'Immediate result'

This morning I went to our local supermarket and bought a deadly and hopefully  efficient insect spray. After thoroughly spraying the bedroom I closed the door firmly and let it ‘sink in’ for two hours. I’ve just opened the window - leaving the shutters partly closed to avoid new intruders - to let some fresh air in and to get rid of the smell. I know that there are more nature-friendly ways to deal with offensive insects, but I don’t want to put a lemongrass plant on the night table. And the idea of leaving a scented candle burning overnight just freaks me out. So unless someone knows of another efficient mosquito repellant, I’ll stick to the spray!

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