Study: Mosquitoes love beer drinkers
Mosquitoes, like Braves fans, love beer, according to a new study from University of Florida scientists.
But that doesn’t mean you have to confront nature sober.
Dad went outside to mow the yard and was never seen again.
As summer begins, here’s a few tips to help keep you from becoming a mosquito magnet:
* Stay indoors at all times. If this is not possible, continue reading.
* Mosquitoes are not color blind, and seem to like dark colors. Wear white clothing instead of black, navy blue or red. Wear long sleeves and pants to expose less skin.
* Mosquitoes home in on carbon dioxide, which living creatures exhale. Certain people emit more carbon dioxide than others, including those who are overweight, pregnant or have a high metabolic rate.
* Higher body temperatures attract the airborne vampires, which may explain why those who drink alcohol get bitten more often. Try to stay cool.
* Some species of bugs like to bite your feet because of stinky bacteria there. Consider bathing, but avoid strongly-scented soaps, they can attract mosquitoes too.
* Don’t bother eating bananas or taking vitamin B-12 pills. That preventative is just an old wives tale, researchers say.
If none of that works, consider an overnight soaking in DEET, the U.S. military’s second finest invention after the Internet.
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49 comments Add your comment
Ronin
June 2nd, 2011
1:50 pm
I’ll drink to that.
cathy lee
June 2nd, 2011
2:01 pm
Keep a spray bottle outside filled with listerine, works every time.
Derek
June 2nd, 2011
2:18 pm
I bought a Mosquito mister at Four Seasons Pottery and over Memorial Day weekend and had a huge party at my house, with a keg, and a bunch of stinky people wearing red, white and blue and none of us were bit by mosquitos
American Mother
June 2nd, 2011
2:24 pm
STP Oil Treatment “poured” (? very sticky) over a yellow solo cup and then put on a stick (in the ground or dirt ) not only gets mosquitoes but all sorts of other bugs, mites, mothes, flies, etc. they are attraced to the yellow and they get stuck in the STP – it really works, looks sort of odd, but it really works, and it must because every summer I have a hard time finding the YELLOW solo cups. Peace AM
needle
June 2nd, 2011
2:36 pm
If people would try to understand the mosquito, then none of this would happen.
Madison
June 2nd, 2011
2:36 pm
George you really need to do a little research. Alcohol lowers body temperature not raises it.
Diana
June 2nd, 2011
2:37 pm
Well I’m screwed, because I’m not giving up my beer OR my gardening!!
Tuxedo
June 2nd, 2011
2:57 pm
Call Tuxedo Mosquito Control. They have a non-toxic misting system that is guaranteed to get rid of them!!
Al Gore
June 2nd, 2011
3:02 pm
Hey, wait a minute…I invented the internet!
TJ Hark
June 2nd, 2011
3:30 pm
To the uneducated. Alcohol lowers your body’s core temp however raises your skin temp thus making those who drink “feel warmer”. Alcohol is a vasodilator which opens the blood vessels making you feel warmer, but lowers the body’s core temp while raising the skin temperature. Please do not insult the author of the article before you get your facts straight.
BeerMan
June 2nd, 2011
3:31 pm
Give up my nice icey cold beer or become a target for blood suckers….BOTTOMS UP!
BeerMan
June 2nd, 2011
3:34 pm
TJ you are absoulutly correct….I have graced a few stages with my presence and was handed a few sheepskins
YellowJacket
June 2nd, 2011
3:56 pm
My husband is a beer drinker and NEVER gets bit by mosquitoes. I on the other hand rarely drink beer and am a mosquito magnet.
Does this bug you?
June 2nd, 2011
4:01 pm
I thing that it’s interesting that the study came form the University of Florida and one of the recommendations is to stop wearing Red and Black. What a bunch of garbage. Go Dawgs!
thebob.bob
June 2nd, 2011
4:20 pm
“George you really need to do a little research. Alcohol lowers body temperature not raises it.”
No! Alcohol expands you peripheral blood vessels, causing more heat release form the body. If you drink in cold weather, alcohol increases heat loss and you’ll become hypothermic faster. In warm weather, it just makes a person “burn” more brightly.
bigdawg
June 2nd, 2011
4:23 pm
By the time the mosquitos get through with me, they’re so friggin drunk they die on the spot!
Pest Management Professional
June 2nd, 2011
4:28 pm
Consider hiring a pest control specialist to help reduce the mosquito population around your home and yard. Trust me, it works very well.
/
June 2nd, 2011
4:38 pm
all i know is those crappy little citronella candles dont do sh!t
Elder Flower Child
June 2nd, 2011
4:42 pm
My daughter says I never get bitten by mosquitos because I drink beer, lol. I think it is because I also smoke, and eat a lot of onions, garlic, and hot peppers. Whatever the reason, I am seldom bothered by them.
adrian
June 2nd, 2011
4:46 pm
Enter your comments here
Urk
June 2nd, 2011
5:21 pm
Consider bathing huh? I’ll think about it.
In all the wrong places...
June 2nd, 2011
5:34 pm
Keep a spray bottle filled with listerine? Sounds great, but am I missing something here? Do you have to *spray* at the mosquitos with the listerine, or do you just set the bottle on the ground? If all you’re gonna do is set it on the ground, why not *any* container?
mcbeerdrinker
June 2nd, 2011
6:21 pm
I THINK that beerdrinkers just find themselves in more mosquito ridden situations.
Tom
June 2nd, 2011
6:25 pm
So drunk, dirty and stinky, fat, and tacky dressed people are more likely to be bit. Good to know!
Tom
June 2nd, 2011
6:32 pm
The other thing is if you are drunk you are more likely not to notice that you are being bit until the mosquitoe is so full of your blood that it can no longer fly away. Then you kill it and smash all of your blood on your arm. That really ticks me off!
Madison
June 2nd, 2011
9:06 pm
TJ Hark and the rest of the “educated”, alcohol makes you FEEL warmer it does NOT actual raise the skin temperature!
Florida Mom
June 3rd, 2011
10:33 am
I think my son was part of this research project when he attended the University of Florida.
Lisa
June 3rd, 2011
10:37 am
Consider bathing? LOL!
shaggy
June 3rd, 2011
12:29 pm
“Do you have to *spray* at the mosquitos with the listerine, or do you just set the bottle on the ground?”
The mosquitos know that they have bad breath from all of the blood they suck out of you, so they take every opportunity to freshen up after a meal.
You still get bitten, but the next target doesn’t have to worry about “mosquito breath”.
nora
June 3rd, 2011
1:46 pm
All I know from my own experience is that mosquitoes seem to prefer fair skinned people. I know this flies in the face of all the facts in the article (about them like dark colors and “cooler” people) but I am olive skinned with a high metabolic rate and the mosquitoes usually pass me up for the blondes in the group. I might slap 2 or 3 mosquitoes while the blue eyed blondes next to me are getting eaten up. Just sayin…
tina
June 3rd, 2011
5:04 pm
I put garlic on everything i cook…..except pancakes and waffles. the bloodsuckers by pass us and head straight to the neighbors. Also Listerine does work and does Skin So Soft by Avon.
If You Drink Beer, Mosquitoes Will Drink You
June 3rd, 2011
6:12 pm
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Rufus
June 3rd, 2011
7:56 pm
One of my favorite pastimes is sitting on back porch with a six pack of Bud and shooting mosquitoes out of the sky with my BB gun.
Laurie
June 3rd, 2011
10:45 pm
Try Avon’s Skin So Soft keeps mosquitoes away
biljopal
June 4th, 2011
1:51 am
You, George Mathis, say,”If none of that works, consider an overnight soaking in DEET”. I quote from Wikipedia,”As a precaution, manufacturers advise that DEET products should not be used under clothing or on damaged skin, and that preparations be washed off after they are no longer needed or between applications.[13] DEET can act as an irritant;[4] in rare cases, it may cause skin reactions.[13]“.
I would NOT recommend an “overnight soaking” in any insecticide and consider your advice ill advised, if not bordering on criminal.
David Hasselhoff
June 5th, 2011
11:13 am
You should see me eat a hamburger
David Hasselhoff
June 5th, 2011
11:13 am
You should see me eat a hamburger
Bassmaster84
June 5th, 2011
12:02 pm
For patio/deck gatherings, buy a ThermaCell unit. It is a small device powered by a butane cartridge. Costs about $20, covers about 15′ x 15″ area, and available at Home Depot. Only drawback is not strong enough in windy conditions.
richmondDawg
June 5th, 2011
1:27 pm
I spent most of my childhood in Savannah reeking of skin so soft. That stuff still turns my stomach thirty years later.
Miriam MacAllister
June 5th, 2011
1:35 pm
Many people have severe allergic reactions to Deet.
Garry Owen
June 5th, 2011
2:22 pm
I thought Al Gore invented DEET!
BlueLotus7
June 5th, 2011
4:05 pm
Not true! My ex-husband worked outside for all his life…construction, farming and lumber…he drank at least a 6-pk a day, was thin as a rail and never did those pests go after him! I was the non-drinker and the mosquito pincushion! O.o
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June 8th, 2011
6:50 am
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Know it all
June 8th, 2011
11:59 pm
Alcohol does increase skin temperature and does lower core temperature. Alcohol brings blood to the skin and increases temp. Skin temp measured via infrared thermometer increased with alcohol consumption. I know it all.
Know it all
June 8th, 2011
11:59 pm
And I am drunk
Know it all
June 9th, 2011
12:00 am
And warm
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Bishop Eddie Longs Red Panties
June 15th, 2011
1:32 pm
Deep woods Off works great and will also melt plastic
david
June 15th, 2011
5:54 pm
hahaha this is soooo not true. I am a fan of da beer and I can tell you the lil vampires rarely bother me..i am in my garden every day of the year with a beer…at some point..all the while any friends that are over eventually whine to go back inside