Spanish moss hangs from nearly every tree where I live. In researching various primitive technologies, it cured to me that Spanish moss must have a bunch of uses. It does. I knew about its use as furniture stuffing, but just how good a stuffing it is really surprised me.

I found this nifty article: The Story of Spanish Moss, which told me many of the things I wanted to know. One sentence in particular got me very excited: “No known insect will attack moss fiber, eat, destroy or live within it. Moss ranks next to curled hair in resiliency. That is why it is desirable for use in upholstery.” Wow. Concerning sleeping outdoors, would a bed of Spanish moss on the ground keep ground insects away? Would a screen of moss over a hut entrance keep out mosquitoes? The possibilities are very intriguing.

I also read about Natives in Florida who wore clothes made out of the moss’ fibers. Would that also work in keeping the bugs off? If you haven’t guessed, finding natural, primitive ways of keeping the mosquitoes at bay is something of a concern to me. If you lived in South Louisiana, you’d surely understand why. It seems that if the Native Americans who lived here before we came had a solution, then we should be able to figure it out.