Biting Commentary

I can't tell you how much I hate mosquitoes.

Ten minutes outside, that's all, and I have three itchy, annoying lumps on my skin and I know more will make themselves known soon. I will have to take an antihistamine tonight before bed to get them under control.

My body's reaction to mosquitoes varies according to where I was bitten, as in, where on the geographic map. In California, my bites swelled to the size of half-grapes and were annoying and itchy. In South Dakota, my bites swelled to the size of maybe pencil erasers, and were only mildly itchy. In Arizona, bite areas went straight to burning after swelling into a frightening size, as in the size of half baseballs. At that time, I was living near the ruins of a historic fort that had been moved in the 1860s because of the malaria-bearing mosquitoes. Subsequent land developers didn't bother to read up on their history before siting neighborhoods.

Here in the Wild Wild West we have huge, black, languid mosquitoes. My bites are swelling to California proportions, and seem to be itching at the California rate.

I once asked a naturalist if mosquitoes' diet or the water they inhabit had anything to do with the ferocity of bite aftermaths. He said he thought so, right before launching into a lecture on other blood-sucking insects. He also helped me remember that, much as I love nature, I got a PhD in history for a reason.

I love to go camping, but I hate mosquitoes enough to not go.

One of the few things I appreciated about Fresno (besides the abundance of beautiful fresh vegetables) is that the county's mosquito abatement program was so effective that I wasn't bitten once in the almost two years I lived there. Miles of canals, a job that frequently took me out of doors, and not one bite. With the danger of West Nile Virus here in the West, I wonder why they don't institute a similar program.

I'm not afraid of catching West Nile. My immune system is strong. The Emperor could be a victim, though, so I watch him like a hawk.

Yep, there's another bite.

Did I mention that I hate mosquitoes?