Against mosquitoes

A few days ago, a neighbor spent the afternoon trimming bushes and even a tree near his building. He wasn’t alone—his wife was with him. She said they were doing it to see if the mosquitoes would calm down a little.

Yes, in my neighborhood there are a lot of mosquitoes. At home we go crazy from all the itching. The solution has been to buy repellent candles, but they only work for a short time. I’ve long been aware that the problem of such infestation has two main causes: a deficient sewage system and the large leaks in the pipes and aqueducts.

My neighbors know this unconsciously. For decades we’ve been bombarded with propaganda about how to avoid mosquito breeding grounds, as well as the biology of the little insect. We know everything about them. So how is it possible to believe that trimming a few plants will stop them from invading us?

Mosquitoes track us because of the CO2 we exhale. There’s no way to escape them except with physical barriers or by working directly on their life cycle. If we eliminate the leaks and get the sewage system working, the mosquito population would probably decrease.

Right now, for example, they just restored the water service after about two weeks. The streets are full of water and keep filling up because of so many leaks. I get the feeling we’re taking the easiest path, which isn’t even the right one.

The worst part is that we’re killing the little flora we have in the neighborhood. We’re contributing a bit more to our own extinction. I need a few frogs as pets to see if they protect me from the mosquitoes. The problem is my wife is afraid of them.

English isn't my native language. Text translated with DeepL