So just HOW bad are the mosquitoes

[Maccabee 2A]

Originally Posted by ProtoStrata

I've heard the joke that the mosquito is the Alaskan state bird. My uncle claims that when he visited his brother who lived in Anchorage at the time, that he heard a low hum that he thought was a lawn mower but actually mosquitoes.

So do Alaskans stumble through swarms of bloodsuckers every summer or is it exaggerated? I understand why there would be mosquitoes in boggy areas, like where the permafrost partially melts during summer. I assume the worst areas for mosquitoes are areas where there is partial permafrost, and that they aren't as bad in the southeast or anywhere without permafrost.

The average man is at risk of being flown off by these things.

[RayinAK]

I was talking with a friend about the mosquitos this summer, and we agreed that there are hardly any mosquitos around Fairbanks and North Pole. Maybe because it has been a relatively cool summer, but I have no idea other that I didn't even have to set the Mosquito Magnet on my yard this year. Also, I haven't noticed any wasps nor any other bugs around. Bug spray at the local stores aren't selling very much.

But there are bunnies all over my backyard this year, and it's driving Nikki crazy

[SportyandMisty]

Originally Posted by AlaskaErik

Anything smaller than a St Bernard is at risk for being flown off to be sucked dry.

That's an exaggeration, of course.

But the following isn't.

I was camping, and the mosquitos were so thick I just stayed in my lightweight tent. The mosquitos kept sticking their beaks through the thin nylon, so I took my claw hammer & bent their beaks over. At some point there were so many that they just flew away with the tent.

[cjs123]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

That's an exaggeration, of course.

But the following isn't.

I was camping, and the mosquitos were so thick I just stayed in my lightweight tent. The mosquitos kept sticking their beaks through the thin nylon, so I took my claw hammer & bent their beaks over. At some point there were so many that they just flew away with the tent.

Hopefully you weren't in it!




Sign outside of Chatanika Lodge Restaurant

[Unsettomati]

Originally Posted by ProtoStrata

I've heard the joke that the mosquito is the Alaskan state bird. My uncle claims that when he visited his brother who lived in Anchorage at the time, that he heard a low hum that he thought was a lawn mower but actually mosquitoes.

So do Alaskans stumble through swarms of bloodsuckers every summer or is it exaggerated? I understand why there would be mosquitoes in boggy areas, like where the permafrost partially melts during summer. I assume the worst areas for mosquitoes are areas where there is partial permafrost, and that they aren't as bad in the southeast or anywhere without permafrost.

What states don't facetiously call the mosquito their state 'bird'?

[itdincor]

Waaall, aback in '88 I was sitting in the Glass Door in Yakutat, when a man runs in and screams that the mosquitoes were trying to fly off with a school bus. One of the short ones.

Waaall, in Yakutat they hunt mosquitoes with rifles. Alas, no guns in the bar.

Big as eagles they were.

Too bad about those kids ....