The Mind Vs. Mosquitoes

Being outside so much for work and for play I have a lot of mosquitoes trying to sip my blood.  Those thirsty female mosquitoes seem to not be able to get enough of my blood.  I can't blame them though, they're just trying to gain access to a source of protein so they can reproduce.  After all, they're just taking some and leaving the rest of me intact right?  As a man I feel entitled to my own blood and nobody else should have it without my permission.  Mind you, deet is not an option for me.

On a jaunt out into the woods in search of pygmy rattlesnakes I spent a couple hours in mosquito infested woods that bordered a floodplain.  Having spent so much time around mosquitoes I don't really freak out when I get bit... at all.  Rather I swat the offender and move on.  That's the thing.  When walking through the woods I get mosquitoes biting pretty much one at a time but when I stop they swarm to the areas of my body that are most exposed.  Ankles, shoulders, neck and lower back seem to be their favorites places if they can get there.  Now, I can get a hundred mosquito bites and survive and it's not a big deal.  The downfall of that is the pain and the dreadfully annoying buzz they make.  When a mosquito "bites" it injects an anticoagulant to thin your blood and cause it not to clot so they can sip it like a cold margarita.  This is what forms the bump that itches later on.

Getting bit by mosquitoes is a fact of life in the wilderness and we should accept it to some degree but if you train your mind against them, you can be a lot more comfortable among the mosquitoes.  I think the most helpful thing for me is to be focusing on something else.  If I'm not focusing I'll be much more alert to those tiny vampires and  the annoyance will only build until panic sets in.  This is not an option for me because I'm usually holding a very expensive camera and I'm barefoot.  Rushing like that through the woods would be very bad on many levels.  So, I focus on filming and swat at the mosquitoes when I can.  Usually I'll let several land then brush them all off in one shot.

There are a few plants that are said to have insect repellent properties but that is a bit low on the "to experiment with list."  Two that I know of are beauty berry and dog fennel, both of which, I have ample access to.  So next time your in the woods getting harassed by mosquitoes try to focus