Moats and mosquities

If the old castles had moats, how did they handle the mosquito menace?

fall down seven times, get up eight times

How is that even possible !

Maneesh Godbole wrote:If the old castles had moats, how did they handle the mosquito menace?

Building them in cold countries was one way.

Maneesh Godbole wrote:If the old castles had moats, how did they handle the mosquito menace?

I assume the moats kept them at bay. After all who would open the castle door for mosquitoes ?

Maneesh Godbole wrote:If the old castles had moats, how did they handle the mosquito menace?

Are mosquitoes a problem in Europe? Or is the climate too cold for them?

Frank Silbermann wrote:

Maneesh Godbole wrote:If the old castles had moats, how did they handle the mosquito menace?

Are mosquitoes a problem in Europe? Or is the climate too cold for them?

They were a serious problem, at least in southern Europe. Large parts of Italy were basically no-go areas because of the chances of getting malaria, and even low-lying areas around London were like that.

Sure, building a moat around a castle provides standing water for mosquitoes to breed in, but chances are that there would have been nearby wetlands which provided much more of it. So the environmental impact statement for the moat says: Very minor increase in malaria risk.

couldn't you have fish in the moat that would eat the larvae? That is, assuming you knew enough about mosquitoes life cycle to realize the moat was a breeding ground...

fred rosenberger wrote:couldn't you have fish in the moat that would eat the larvae? That is, assuming you knew enough about mosquitoes life cycle to realize the moat was a breeding ground...

Or you could put a layer of oil on the surface, that's the other tactic they use against mosquitoes. They would have had oil on hand anyway, so they could boil it and dump it onto attackers.

Paul Clapham wrote:

fred rosenberger wrote:couldn't you have fish in the moat that would eat the larvae? That is, assuming you knew enough about mosquitoes life cycle to realize the moat was a breeding ground...

Or you could put a layer of oil on the surface, that's the other tactic they use against mosquitoes. They would have had oil on hand anyway, so they could boil it and dump it onto attackers.

Of course, that would keep prevent the water from re-oxygenating, so the meat-eating piranha would suffocate.

Deepak Bala wrote:

fall down seven times, get up eight times

How is that even possible !

After a few beers, anything is possible

Since this is MD, I was expecting someone to say, they kept the doors and windows closed.

Or perhaps they dressed in clothing from http://www.bugshirt.com/?

Paul Clapham wrote:Or perhaps they dressed in clothing from http://www.bugshirt.com/?

Well that web site sure looks old enough.

In India, in villages, old people suggest to burn the Neem tree leaves inside house (in controller environment,of course!) to disinfect it. I am not sure if it is the smoke that kills the mosquitos by suffocating them or the smoke is special that kills them.

Saurabh Pillai wrote:In India, in villages, old people suggest to burn the Neem tree leaves inside house (in controller environment,of course!) to disinfect it. I am not sure if it is the smoke that kills the mosquitos by suffocating them or the smoke is special that kills them.

Its a placebo actually. You suffocate from the smoke so much that you become oblivious to the mosquitos sucking your blood.

Deepak Bala wrote:Its a placebo actually. You suffocate from the smoke so much that you become oblivious to the mosquitos sucking your blood.

You're funny. But I mean it what I said.

Tobacco or weed would work just as well in case neem is not available!

Paul Clapham wrote:Or perhaps they dressed in clothing from http://www.bugshirt.com/?

They could have used this in "Men in Black" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90rp5-58YGI&feature)