I might have to change my name to Dinner.
At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what the mosquitoes call me and they should know since they’ve nibbled me enough. Yeah, I know we’ve got serious bug-borne illnesses out there and getting bit by skeeters is not something one should boast about. But it’s not boasting, really. Think of it rather as “making a resigned statement about my apparent tastiness while outdoors under certain conditions”—meaning, in the summer, outdoors at all.
What? You can’t protect yourself a little bit better, Ms. Handygal? Awww, maybe. Sure, a little better. But when it’s oven-hot and ferociously sticky and I’m in and out all day long, mending fences, tending poultry, taking out the recycling, unpacking meticulously-selected organic groceries,* hauling my kid to/from day camp/playdates/what have you, it’s a total chore to also have to 1) apply bug repellent, 2) change into long shirt ‘n’ pants, 3) pull on socks (socks? in July???), 4) lace up the Doc Martens and 5) find a wide-brimmed straw hat every time I hafta enter the Lawn Zone.** Maybe it’s me but I tend not to wanna put on the full Hazmat suit every time I go to the mailbox. (Or even every other time.)
And then there’s that bit of official anti-mosquito advice about strictly avoiding the outdoors at dawn and dusk. Great advice except, as a duck owner, dawn and dusk are the busiest times of my day!!! Man, those mosquitoes don’t even have to sneak into our house—here I come, served up on a platter, breakfast and supper!
Look, of course I know I should fiercely guard my skin whenever I leave the house (and please please please don’t follow my example consult your medical practitioner for personal Bug Deterrent Strategies) but I hereby confess there are moments (okay, lots of moments) when I simply, stupidly just don’t. And then a little bell rings.
Dinner!
*Please laugh.
**And, yup, I look like a total dork.
Note: The so-called “mosquito eater” above is actually a crane fly. Bad news, it doesn’t actually eat mosquitoes. Good news, it doesn’t eat you!
Further eating, I mean, reading:
http://ryerecord.com/great-outdoors/green-space-scat-skeeters.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/16/science/a-low-tech-mosquito-deterrent.html
Copyright 2013, Lori Fontanes
What the Ducks! 
I feel your pain, and just reading this has started me itching again. I hate insect repellent, and the hotter it is outside, the more that I hate it. Unfortunately, the hotter it is, the more active the bugs are.
If only the ducks could eat skeeters! *sigh*
Gotta love it…the wonderful outdoors!
That’s right!
lol..I can relate, we are having a get together “outside’ this weekend, and we just light our tiki bug torches and hang out.I I do hate those things buzzing in my ear when I am weeding!!!!…When I started reading your post,I was wondering if that mosquito was on steroids! …is a crane fly same as a may fly?..
Skeeters on chemical enhancers–say it ain’t so!!! (Not that they need any help…) 😉 Re: the crane fly. A quick web search reveals a different bug from the famously short-lived mayfly. So many bugs, so many ways to interact with nature….oooh, starting to itch just thinking about it.
Avon’s “Skin So Soft” is a good alternative to the repellent. It also works for ticks, chiggers, and fleas. Plus, you’ll smell nice. “Skin So Soft” is big with soldiers. But, you’ll still need the long pants and long sleeved shirts.
Hey, we never had these issues in L.A.!!! 😉 My peeps back East swore by that Avon product, too, but I paid little attention in the years before I had to face the critters in the field, er, lawn. PS, one of the stories I read claimed that it’s not the sweetness of one’s blood that attracts the female mosquito but the smell of one’s, er, perspiration. So not sweet…sweat! *sigh* Thx for the input!
My roommate always gets eaten alive by bugs too. The other day she got bitten by a spider and had to go to the doctor for blood poisoning. And right now her legs are covered in mosquito bites!
Summer’s almost over!
Sorry to hear about your roomie’s travails! I feel her pain!!! And, yup, autumn’s coming…yipeeeeeee!