by Thomas Carroll

Created on: April 22, 2010

Summer brings a lot of cheery things. Now, you can finally bask in the warm, glowing sunlight, refreshed, as you turn around and grasp a cool cup of lemonade. You take a sip, and feel the sweet, but cold liquid running down your throat. You let out a sigh.

Summer.

This image that goes through many people's heads is more or less the positive, more cheerful aspect of summer. What many people don't realize until it's already gotten to them, is that with summer, comes many bugs. These include, but are not limited to: Ticks, wasps, centipedes/millipedes, ants, and the dreaded mosquitoes.

Personally, my least favorite are wasps. The moment I see one, I get extremely alarmed. Over the years, I have developed a better way to cope with these pet peeves, but there are many things to learn, before one can cope with pesky summer insects.

First, you have to know how to kill them. Whether you are plain scared, disgusted, or if you have moral issues against it, having the courage to kill the insect is half the battle. Many people are scared of killing wasps because they may sting, some bugs are hard to just squish, such as stinkbugs or ticks, and other insects refuse to go away, no matter how many you kill, such as ants, and millipedes. If you have moral issues regarding killing another living being, learn the art of putting a cup over the insect, slipping a thin piece of paper under the cup, and bringing it outside. Be careful with putting the paper in; you have to make sure it goes under the bug, not over the bug.

Second, a very important step is prevention. If you are flat out afraid of ticks or mosquitoes, think about wearing insect repellent, staying away from dense/tall grass, or even refusing to go outside during dusk and dawn (when mosquitoes are most active). Proper prevention will save you a lot of trouble, highly reducing the amount of pesky insect encounters you will get.

Finally, one of the most important steps is just to learn how to relax. As easy as it may seem, freaking out when seeing a summer insect will only make them peskier. If you learn to live with having a few mosquito bites every month, or manage to stay calm when seeing an ant, or a tick around the house, you will feel a lot safer, a lot better, and a lot more relaxed.

Summer, believe it or not can be an enjoyable time. Even with pesky insects, many people adore the beauty of summer, so grab that chair, those sunglasses, and that nice cool lemonade, go out in the sun, and if you see an ant, tick, mosquito, or anything of the like, just disregard it. After all, it's just another pesky summer insect.

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