Moskitto (Beeskeeto & variants) - [Fearsome Critter]

Moskitto - [Fearsome Critter] - [Also known as Bumblebeeto, Beeskeeto.] - Similar Critters: Steel billed mosquito, Skeeteroo, Texan Skeeters, Arkansas Snipe, Gallynipper, Galnipper, etc.]

• About this Critter: A cross breed of Giant bumble-bee & Mosquito. In an attempt to rid the Lumber-woods of its 'Vicious giant mosquito' problem, Ol' Paul imported a drove of 'Giant Texan Fightin' bumblebees' to take care of the issue. - Unfortunately; this quickly backfired: The two species made peace and eloped, the result of this crossing made the situation worse than ever before for the loggers, Resulting in an unnatural crossbreed of 'deadly man-hungry' Giant Bee-Mosquito hybrids with  'Ten-Gallon Stomachs'  and Two Stingers "fore-and-aft'"(sometimes two heads) Their craving for 'sugar' (be it from blood or flowers) was insatiable... Fortunately, the breeds sugar obsessed 'bumble-brains' were also their downfall: they went extinct when they tried to drink a boatload of sticky sugary molasses & drown. - One was kept alive to supply the camp with honey for years there after.... 🍯

• [The Texan fighting bees follow Sourdough Sam 'on foot'  "The Marvelous Exploits of Paul Bunyan." 1922.]

• History: Yarns & tall tales about exaggerated "Hawk-sized" (or larger) Mosquito's have never been uncommon in North America & Canada. - The "Moskitto"  or "Beeskeeto" is one such tall tale appearing widely in early paul bunyan novels, folklore dictionaries & various monster encyclopedias though of course there are hundreds of other myths and folkloric exaggerations around the subject spanning across cultures around the world. 

• The above story was later recounted in 'Paul Bunyans Natural History'  [C.E.Brown, 1935] , the PBNH entry goes as follows:

"MOSKITTOS. The naturalist in Paul Bunyan's camp classified these as birds. When Paul was logging in the Chippewa River region the mosquitos were particularly troublesome. They were so big  that they could straddle the stream and pick the passing lumberjacks off  the log drive. Sometimes a logging crew would find one in this position, quickly tie his legs to convenient trees and use him for a  bridge across the river. Paul imported from Texas a drove of fighting  bumblebees to combat the mosquitos. They fought for a while, then made peace and intermarried. The result of this crossing made the situation  worse than ever before for the loggers. The offspring had stingers at  both ends."

["The Marvelous Exploits of Paul Bunyan." [Laugheed, 1922]

[a double-headed mosquito as it appears on a 1935 pictoral map]

• The Giant Mosquitos & Bumblebeetos are also mentioned in Walker D Wyman's Mythical Creatures of the USA and Canada. [1978]

• The Sound Heritage Series: "Tall Tales of BC" [1982] also Features an additional fifteen unique "Giant Mosquito" short stories from across Canada!

[a "new breed of deadly mosquito' with a pronged proboscis and  'pontoon-feet' allowing it to make a perfect "3-point landing" (get it?) - found in the Vancouver BC forestry newsletter archive: 1938-1999!]

[PS: This bio is a wip, mostly unfinished, so check back on my website another time!]

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