Forget werewolves; watch for full moon’s mosquitoes

From May 25, 2005:

I just read that if you have had a pillow for more than six years at least 10 percent of its weight is made up of dust mites, bed bugs, flakes of dead skin and stuff like that.

How disgusting is that?

This means we are going to dash through today’s question so I can go out and buy new pillows. I should probably burn the old ones.

I have a home in Rocky Point, and there seems to always be a concern regarding mosquitoes after a full moon. Are the high tides, full moon and mosquitoes related in some way?

Did you know that the Okanagon Indians who lived along the Columbia River called the July full moon the Blood Moon? It wasn’t because it was their season for war or anything like that. It was because the mosquitoes were so bad then.

Anyway, there does seem to be a connection between a full moon and mosquito activity. In coastal areas, the full moon brings higher tides which means more wet spots for mosquitoes to lay eggs, and the females are going to be out looking for their blood meals and mates.

I found a study that was done in 1989 in coastal marshlands in Chambers County, Texas. It found the number of mosquitoes trapped went down during a lunar eclipse and up during the full moon. Another study said mosquitoes increase their biting by 500 percent during a full moon, but I didn’t find the study itself, so I don’t know if it was done in a coastal area.

What isn’t clear, or at least isn’t clear to me, is whether this full-moon thing applies to inland mosquitoes or if it’s just a coastal thing.

I suppose it would make sense for mosquitoes to be more active under a full moon anywhere. There is more mosquito prey, including you, out and about on a nice moonlit night, and the mosquitoes are out and about to take advantage of the bounty.

Now I have to run. I think one of my pillows is trying to make a break for it.