We have had great summer weather this year, with only a few days of I’m-dying-it’s-hot but it has been wet. That means bugs, mosquitoes and flies.
I’ve had to wear bug repellent to garden and even to go for a walk. This week it’s been very hot, high 80s and into the 90s, and I have walked early in the morning and down the south end of our street where it gets early morning shade.
The mosquitoes don’t bother me as much in early morning, especially when it’s breezy. Today the wind died on my way back and once more it was dodge time through the bugs.
Last week our granddaughter spent hours outside under the birch trees and around the side of the house, places where I get attacked by dive bombing bugs. She didn’t get a single bite. Me? My legs are covered with scabs and some of them still itch, weeks later, from weeding in that area.
According to an article in Smithsonian and another on WebMD, mosquitoes prefer people who have higher body temps, type O blood, smell more, give off more CO2 and have more bacteria. I tried walking before and after a shower, wearing or not wearing any fragrance. I haven’t tried holding my breath, guess that’s next.
I’m not sure I believe the blood type either. Neither Dave nor I is an O and he gets bitten even more than I. Our daughter is AB- and they chew on her too.
We tried the OFF little fan things, and they do help if you are stationary. They don’t do much good walking. So far good old Cutter’s seems the best choice, that or staying inside my nice screened-in porch.
How about you? Are you a mosquito magnet too?
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