Now We Know Why!

While I was working on my photo books this week I noticed a comment made about our 2005 trip to the Anderson family cabin at Silvergate, Montana. It was observed that the mosquitoes liked Meagan and Sarah the best and left me entirely alone. I just read this article and now we know why they left me alone. I had too much stress in my life!

FINDING SMELLS THAT REPEL

By SHIRLEY S. WANG

If you're one of those people whom mosquitoes tend to favor, maybe it's because you aren't sufficiently stressed-out.

(Picture by Michael C Witte)

Insects have very keen powers of smell that direct them to their targets. But for researchers trying to figure out what attracts or repels the pests, sorting through the 300 to 400 distinct chemical odors that the human body produces has proved daunting.

Now scientists at Rothamsted Research in the U.K. have been making headway at understanding why some people can end up with dozens of bites after a backyard barbecue, while others remain unscathed. The researchers have identified a handful of the body's chemical odors—some of which may be related to stress—that are present in significantly larger concentrations in people that the bugs are happier to leave alone. If efforts to synthesize these particular chemicals are successful, the result could be an all-natural mosquito repellent that is more effective and safer than products currently available.

Who knew? Go stress yourself out before a trip to the mountain streams and be mosquitoe free!