Many people dislike mosquitoes, and I am certainly no exception. However, I do tend to be exceptionally affected by the little critters. Specifically, if I am somewhere with another person, I will always get bitten more – even if I am wearing more bug spray, longer sleeves, and an anti-mosquito bracelet. The other night, mosquitoes bit my hand, directly above the citronella anti-mosquito bracelet I was wearing. Moreover, the bugs like to give me a couple of love bites in the same area, so that the entire region becomes a mountain range instead of a lone hill. For example, the three bites shown here, at right.

And to add insult to itchy injury, my body has an especially strong allergic reaction to the bites, so I swell up in giant red welts. When I was on a dacha as a one-year old, I swelled up so badly that my mother pretty much describes it as my allergic summer. And when I was seventeen, building trails in the Adirondack Mountains as a volunteer, my allergic reaction resulted in the bags under my eyes swelling so much that I actually could not see in front of me. My fellow volunteers had to help guide me along the paths to our work area, where I had to carefully try not to hammer one of my own fingers. Yay allergies!

All of which is to explain why I felt so vindicated when a friend posted the below chart, showing the world’s deadliest animals (courtesy of the WHO and company) – and mosquitoes were at the top. They kill more people than people kill people. So, to those who find ridiculous my debates about whether to go to certain countries based on their mosquito populations, diseases, and viciousness, I show you Exhibit A.