Little Helpers

  With our lack of winter, the critters are already out and about.  Critters of the insect type have decided that it is time to wreak havoc on the gardens and on us.  Those dratted mosquitoes and gnats are out in droves and they have no qualms about eating a person alive. Battling these critters is a long term endeavor and not something that can be done with a simple shot of spray and since I abhor sprays, for the most part, I am searching for more natural ways of ridding the place of them. This means emptying things like the birdbath on a daily basis and planting "smelly" plants (as Son calls them) near the house.  Plants such as marigolds, lemongrass, lemon balm, rosemary and even basil help to keep mosquitoes at bay.  Since the Frog Pond seems to be a likely spot for the mosquitoes to lay eggs, I encourage dragonflies to also use the pond as their nursery.  Dragonfly nymphs love to much on mosquito nymphs!  These thing all help but, hey, I live on a bayou and near a creek.  What about those likely breeding spots?

  With the warm weather, the mosquitoes have been busy but Mother Nature has, too.  I noticed thousands of "mosquito fish" (or pot-belly minnows) swirling about the shallows in the marsh.  It seems that the overload of mosquito nymphs is a boon to these little fishies! They are happy campers at the moment.  Their bright blue scales can be seen flashing in the sunlight as they happily chase the nymphs about the brackish water.  While watching them, I had the notion to catch a few to see if I can acclimate them to the fresh water of the Frog Pond.  It would be nice to have a family or two of the mosquito fish living there to help the dragonflies.  Ponder, ponder.

  As an added note, all is well here on the Bayou for any who are interested.  After another round of severe storms thrashed about the place, things have settle down for the night.  There were sightings of at least six tornadoes in the close proximity of the Little Bayou House and at least two known waterspouts in the Bay near the pier.  The sirens sounded for a good hour but we were blessed with no damage.  The Little Bayou House held strong once again.