Mosquitoes | Carp Catchers Blog

Mosquitoes
August 21st, 2009

As most of you know mosquito bites can swell up and become irritating and itchy. There are all manner of methods out there available to try and deter mosquitoes from the vacinity and help prevent bites. You can buy a range of natural and synthetic spray on repellents, coils, candles and electronic devices from most camping stores and pharmacists. Most of which are very effective under the right circumstances.

I recently read an interesting newspaper article on mosquitoes which stated why mosquitoes bite us, why some bites come up worse than others and why some people are more susceptable to bites than others.

I knew a few of the facts but it turns out that its only the female mosquitoes that bite as they require the proteins in our blood for their eggs to mature. Mosquitoes don’t actually feed on our blood, they survive on nectar and fruit juices from plants. The reason some people get bitten by mosquitoes more frequently than others is because they appear to be attracted by certain volatile (gas-emitting) compounds on the skin. Which some people emit more of than others.

The reason bites become itchy and swell up is due to your immune system trying to get rid of the anti blood clotting agents which the mosquitoes inject upon biting. Over time your immune system becomes more tolerant and the bites become less irritating. Everyones immune response to mosquito it different and some people react more than others.

I always carry a little bottle of mosquito repellent in my tackle bag in case I come across any mosquitoes while I’m on the bank, there’s nothing worse than lying on the bedchair trying to catch some sleep when all you can hear is the buzz of mosquitoes flying around you.

Tight Lines

Dave