On Friday, August 5th, we headed out to the Badlands for monthly weekend training, something we enjoy doing as a family. The five of us arrived in good spirits, got camp set up, and began our Friday evening ritual of gathering wood for a dinner fire, eating s'mores, and checking gear.

It was truly a beautiful evening until the mosquitoes decided to eat us for dinner. Due to the heavy rains we've had, the mosquitoes had taken this opportunity to bread heavily. More breeding means more blood, and they seem to think we are the mosquito blood bank. So immediately upon vacating the vehicle, everyone gets a massive spray-down of mosquito repellant. The stuff only works for a short while, however, and you really have to stay on top of things, or the bloodsuckers will find a weakness in your defenses and take advantage of them - which they did.

Our 2-year-old daughter got bit on her eyelid (gee, I didn't spray her eyeballs...) which caused her quite some discomfort. Now, if any of you have a 2-year-old, or know one, discomfort for them means unrelenting pandemonium for you. We put an over the counter 1% hydrocortisone cream on it, then attempted to apply an ice pack on it to bring down the swelling. But, little people don't like ice packs, especially on their face, so that was not very effective. We then undertook getting everyone somewhat settled for the night, however, needless to say, none of us slept a wink. Come Saturday morning around 5 am, when the parents could take no more, we checked her eye again, and with much dismay, found it swollen completely shut.

We decided at that point to do an evac because we did not have the necessary medicine in our field gear for such a situation (lesson learned - now we do). Upon arriving at base camp, a 2% hydrocortisone cream was applied, ice packs were again attempted, an oral antihistamine was given, and she finally slept. Whew!

It stayed swollen through Sunday, but with the availability of the other medicines, she was more comfortable and not nearly as irritable. As the swelling went down, a lemon balm herbal ointment was applied which helped it heal quickly as well as alleviating the itching. She is back to her normal outgoing chatty self now, and we're all glad to see that.

There are 56 different types of mosquitoes in Michigan alone. Only the female mosquito bites, she needs the proteins in blood so that her eggs develop. Male mosquitoes do not bite, they feed on nectar from flowers.

Repellants: From personal experience, the store brand "OFF" is not very effective, "Cutter" brands work for a few hours. The best stuff to use is the military type of bug juice that contains DEET. As I understand, it is very effective. Several mosquito web sites recommend using repellants containing10-50% DEET (N,Ndiethyl-meta-toluamide), although use with caution when applying on children. Repellents confuse mosquitoes by blocking the pores in your skin that allow mosquitoes to sense warmth and moisture in a person’s body.

The wearing of long, loose clothing (long dresses or long sleeved shirts buttoned at the wrist and long trousers) at and after dusk, and light colored clothing is preferable as dark clothing is said to attract mosquitoes. Perfume, cologne and after-shave lotions are also said to attract mosquitoes.

Aside from skin chemicals, mosquitoes have other ways of finding you: they can detect both carbon dioxide and lactic acid (produced by metabolism in your muscles) in your breath from as far as 35 ft away. They can also can detect infra-red light your body produces. It is said that mosquitoes are attracted to you if you have been eating bananas; they are attracted to the scent.

The most recommended mosquito-fighting item: bats. They apparently eat thousands in one feeding, so invite bats to the next training.

- Kristin