This summer for some reason I'm a mosquito magnet! If I go outside to pick a few tomatoes--I have a bite. Five minutes deadheading flowers--four bites. Although the itch subsides quickly when I use After Bite treatment on the welts, it's annoying to have to go through the process again and again.I keep a bottle of repellent in the pantry so that when we want to eat dinner outside I can spray myself before I go out on the deck, but it makes me feel sticky, and I don't want to use it if I'm just spending a couple of minutes in the garden.
Other than bug spray, I've heard of a lot of alternate ideas for keeping yourself bite-free. A friend swears by fabric softener sheets. She ties one to the belt loop of her shorts and says that keeps the mosquitoes away. Even though Snopes pooh-poohs the idea, today I used a dryer sheet to try to keep mosquitoes away.
My project was a perennial bed in the back yard. It's been neglected for the last month and there was quite a bit of misplaced grass, dandelions, and other weeds to remove. I grabbed my trowel and bucket, accessorized my outfit with a Bounce sheet, and walked out to the offending area.
I was outside for about 20 minutes, and was pleased to find out the dryer sheet worked pretty well. Based on my recent track record, I should have been covered in bites, but I only had one on my leg. I suspect this technique wouldn't work for an extended period of time, but I'm certainly using it again tomorrow when I tackle the bird seed that's sprouted under the deck.
My husband is a mosquito magnet too...I have to believe that you guys are just sweeter than the rest of us...smiles.
ReplyDeleteMosquitoes love me. I am like candy to them. While trying to catch a glimpse of the Perseid Meteors I got no less than one dozen bites in about 15 minutes. It has been scientifically proven that some people give off some kinda pheromone that attracts them.
ReplyDeleteMy bites also get huge and painful.
I don't usually get a lot of mosquito bites, to the point where I don't use mosquito repellent because it doesn't seem to make a difference for me (unless they are really, really bad).
ReplyDeleteI have heard that eating citrus fruit makes you less attractive to mosquitoes, and eating bananas makes you more attractive to them. I don't know if that's true.