Question

The Arctic Prairies: A Canoe Journey by Ernest Thompson Seton Chapter IX Ernest Thomas Seton was a British author and wildlife artist and one of the founding members of the Boy Scouts of America. He later moved to Manitoba in Canada, where he published a number of books about the province and its wildlife. In this excerpt, Seton describes his experience battling mosquitoes at his camp on a lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada. (1) Dr. L. 0. Howard1 tells us that the mosquito rarely goes far from its birthplace. That must refer to the miserable degenerates2 they have in New Jersey, for these of the north offer endless evidence of power to travel, as well as to resist cold and wind. (2) On July 21, 1907, we camped on a small island on a lake. It was about one-quarter mile long, several miles from mainland, at least half a mile from any other island, apparently all rock, and yet it was swarming with mosquitoes. Here, as elsewhere, they were mad for our blood; those we knocked off and maimed, would crawl up with sprained wings and twisted legs to sting as fiercely as ever, as long as the beak would work. (3) We thought the stinging pests of the Buffalo country as bad as possible, but they proved mild and scarce compared with those we yet had to meet on the Arctic Barrens of our ultimate goal. (4) Each day they got worse; soon it became clear that mere adjectives could not convey any idea of their terrors. Therefore I devised a mosquito gauge3. I held up a bare hand for 5 seconds by the watch, then counted the number of borers on the back; there were 5 to 10. Each day added to the number, and when we got out to the Buffalo country, there were 15 to 25 on the one side of the hand and elsewhere in proportion. On the Nyarling, in early July, the number was increased, being now 20 to 40. On a lake, later that month, there were 50 to 60. But when we reached the Barren Grounds, the land of open breezy plains and cold water lakes, the pests were so bad that the hand held up for 5 seconds often showed from 100

Answer 1

The provided texts cover the challenges of dealing with mosquitoes in historical contexts such as the Lewis and Clark expedition and mosquito eradication efforts, including environmental, technological, and social factors that influenced mosquito populations.

Step-by-step explanation:

The excerpts provided from various texts mention interactions with mosquitoes in different historical and geographical contexts. The texts describe the hardships faced by early explorers, the transformative impact of environmental changes on mosquito populations, and personal anecdotes that capture the struggles of dealing with these pests.

In mosquito eradication efforts, changing societal factors such as the drainage of wetlands for agriculture, technological advancements like steam power replacing waterpower, urbanization, the availability of quinine, and government interventions played significant roles.

Meanwhile, historical narratives like the Lewis and Clark Expedition and accounts of the Civil War touch on the challenges of mosquito-infested environments, reinforcing the enduring struggle of humans against these tenacious insects.