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Keeping Pests Away From Your Picnic

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Remember when you were five years old? Food missing from the picnic table meant that Yogi and Boo Boo Bear were nearby, and ants were a summer fascination. There's a different perspective 20-plus years later, when pests are no longer looked upon so fondly. Choose your location wisely by keeping the picnic table away from standing water, which is a natural attraction for most insects. Cover food with netting to keep out flying insects. Place a bowl of foods that insects love several yards from your picnic table; insects will enjoy their own feast and leave yours alone.

Recycled Plastic Nautical Dining Bench Set

The quickest way to invite insects to your picnic table is by serving melons and sugary, syrupy treats. Colors of nature are their invitation to the party; do not duplicate those colors in clothing, plates, napkins, and tablecloths. You can add color to your picnic table by arranging a bowl of lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit peels into a centerpiece - insects are not fond of citrus scents. Citronella candles ward off insects, so use them, but not so close to the food that their odor offends taste buds.

Health Alerts

Place the wrong foods on the picnic table and you become the main course for hungry flies, mosquitoes, ticks, and ants. There's more to this function than just the tasty treats. There are games to be played, walks to be taken, grass to be rested upon, sand to be sifted through - and humans need to be alert to possible dangers.

Mosquitoes spread the West Nile Virus, ticks carry Lyme Disease and Anaplasmosis, bees cause allergic reactions, fleas spread Typhus, and flies spread Tuberculosis. Cover up with lightweight, light-colored clothing. Spray DEET-free insect repellants around the perimeter of the picnic table and play areas, especially for evening picnics - most of these sprays are safe for humans and pets. Studies have shown that frequent use of sprays with DEET can cause weakness, fatigue, headaches, muscle and joint pain, shortness of breath, tremors, and loss of memory.

Picnics at dusk or dawn, and placing picnic tables near standing water, are invitations to mosquitoes; ticks prefer moist shaded areas. If you park yourself at a picnic table near wooded and overgrown areas, fleas and ticks will find you quite appetizing.