Mosquito Heaven
I failed to pass on this valuable piece of advice I learned this summer. I posted it on my personal blog but hadn’t yet here at Nature For Kids.
Overall I learned that a tent next to the river, with a small opening in the door equals mosquito heaven. Unfortunately my son Corbin was the topic of conversation at the mosquito dinner table the night we slept by the Colorado River in mid June.
He and his friends slept in their own tent and after several potty breaks didn’t close their tent completely. The result was a thanksgiving feast for any mosquito that made it in. Corbin woke up looking like he was in junior high school going through puberty at the ripe age of 5.
Although it was somewhat humorous it also brought to my attention how easily he could have gotten very sick, specifically speaking of the Westnile Virus.
Luckily the bites quickly turned into small scabs and he didn’t show any signs of the virus.
- Back pain
- Abdominal Pain
- Diarrhea
- Fever
- Headache
- Lack of appetite
- Muscle aches
- Nausea
- Sore throat
- Vomiting
Although the West Nile virus is somewhat rare it still occurs. Here are the statistical results for the West Nile virus thus far in 2009. These results were posted September 1st for the United States.
Overall, I would hope that you learn from my mistake. I would hate to hear of any small child getting severely sick from accidently creating a mosquito heaven by leaving the tent door open during the night.
nature for kids, mosquitoes, West Nile virus, West Nile, camping
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Filed under Camping, Education |4 Responses to “Mosquito Heaven”
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Wow, Idaho has lots of cases, but I didn’t see any for Utah! Bring out the spray!
Ah mosquitoes, often the bane of a wilderness experience. Corbin doesn’t look too upset by the bites, though! =) One person we knew used to say that mosquitoes were the ‘guardians’ of wild places, in that they kept some people from venturing outside. Back in the day when we wanted the wild places to ourselves, that made sense, but today, when our mission is to get as many people outdoors as possible, we sometimes wish the mosquitoes were a little less annoying. Also in defense of the little vampires, we’ve often noted that mosquitoes don’t kill in order to eat — unlike humans who take the lives of plants or animals during almost every meal. Still, you’ve pointed out that it’s wise to be wary of the diseases they can carry — thanks for the symptom list!
Onward ho to new adventures, and we hope Corbin’s bites didn’t last too long =)
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Rubic
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Rubic
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