Change in perspective might make those mosquito bites itch a bit less

SHARON WOOTTON

Originally published August 28, 2001

I haven't been doing myself any favors the past few minutes, scratching this cursed mosquito bite, a souvenir of a hike at Baker Lake.

I have, in fact, lost all perspective. It no longer matters that I am bitten less than those around me, or that on the scale of physical annoyances, mosquito bites rank far down the list, way below ear wax.

I am annoyed disproportionately, and I don't care. Maybe it's two days struggling with technology (buzz in the dial tone and the related problem of connecting to the Internet) that has lowered my resistance.

Maybe I just need to tweak my perspective, adopt the Zen of Mosquito. Let's see if this works:

- Call me godmother: I feel fortunate to have been chosen to donate my blood to a female mosquito so that she can lay her eggs as part of the Creation Scheme. Without blood, mama would have had to digest her own wing muscles for protein, condemning herself to life on the ground and fewer eggs.

- Moving target: It was good that I wore a blouse that contrasted with the evergreen background and that I was moving, signaling a walking blood source. I also offered the carbon dioxide from my breath and chemical traces of lactic acid that can be sensed up to 100 feet away.

- Technically speaking: I really wasn't bitten. After a little surgical snipping and sawing, she actually siphoned my blood.

- Fair trade: What's one-millionth of a gallon of blood for one mother-to-be? She injected a little saliva to prevent blood clotting. She spits and draws blood, I swell and itch. Where's the WTO when you need it?

- Wings are the thing: I'm also adjusting my attitude to the mosquito that whined around my head a good portion of last night. After all, males are drawn to females by the whine of their wings. Females' wings beat slower and have a lower pitch than males. Different species have different pitches so that the males don't get confused.

- Look to the future: Mosquitoes live about two weeks in the summer, although a few make it to a month. So while I may lose a skirmish to an individual mosquito ...

- Look on the bright side: Male mosquitoes are equipped with short mouth parts and prefer flower nectar to blood, thus contributing to pollination. Mosquitoes also are part of the food chain, both in adult and larva form. But you have to be quick to munch a male. He only lives a few days after mating.

- Chuckle a bit: I will heal with humor by reading the ads for mosquito-repelling gadgets and skin protectors. While DEET (N, N-diethyl-metatoluamide) in repellents does work, it's also a registered pesticide.

Bug zappers and ultrasonic devices are not particularly effective, given that mosquitoes are usually a small portion of the dead bodies found during cleanup.

- Go to the movies: So with my new attitude, I think I'll chill out with a good video, perhaps that memorable flick "Mosquito!" that featured human-sized mosquitoes hunting campers.

Compared to that, what's a little whining?

Sharon Wootton is a free-lance writer from the San Juan Islands. E-mail questions, suggestions or comments about nature, or Nature's Journal, to songandword@rockisland.com.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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