Aha! I was watching a TV show this morning and it put together the pieces to the mosquito bite puzzle. CBS stated this morning:(CBS) Health officials in California say the foreclosures crisis may be adding a new wrinkle to the fight against the West Nile virus, as standing water in pools that are being left unattended in backyards of abandoned homes becomes a potent breeding ground for the mosquitoes that carry it.
As you will see in the picture above- our neighbors aren't going to receive the yard of the month award. No- it's not a foreclosure...people actually live there. The tree fell on their fence over 4 months ago...it's still there. Who knew this would cause a suburban neighborhood revolt. At any point an angry mob is going to run down our street with their pitchforks in hand to scalp this guy. We've met more neighbors since the tree fell...people come to our house up in arms at the state of our neighborhood. Everyone is afraid to confront the man. Some neighbors have theorized that he's a former Colombian Drug Cartel in the witness protection program.
What does this have to do with mosquitoes? Our neighbors, fearing that their home values were plummeting, came knocking on our door for answers. We found out that behind that broken fence lies an above ground pool that hasn't run in years-but it's full of green, murky water. Not only does it have a black cloud of mosquitoes lingering and multiplying over it- it's also full of frogs. Not only is the pool and tree a problem- apparently his septic system is spilling out into his yard and has been for a few years. No wonder my garden was so plentiful.
We called the health department and after being transfered 5 or 6 times we finally found someone who said the tree can cause rodent problems. What kind of rodents we asked? Rats, of course. I believe this is where the 11th plague of Egypt is incubating.
There's not enough Agent Orange on the Ho Chi Minh Trail to protect our kids from these mosquitoes. I'm afraid if this continues the little blood suckers are going to carry Isabella off like the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz.
I'll keep you posted on the outcome... I have to go deal with bigger problems... our credit card company just called and someone in Wisconsin is buying tvs at Best Buy with our card.
Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.
