All around the world, people fear either those
creatures large and clawed, those that sneak about in the night, or those small
and toothy monsters that lie hidden all around us. On the African Serengeti, the lion is the
beast most feared. In the lush lowlands
and deltas of East Asia, cobras elicit the greatest fear. Here in Montana we fret about clashing with
grizzly bears, the occasional crazed mountain lion, and perhaps rattlesnakes on
those occasions when we traipse around the Missouri River.
Clearly, all of the creatures above, and many not
listed (yes, you are welcome to add spiders to the list) are worth fearing on
occasion, but something far less fearsome has actually been our enemy number
one for a very long time. Scientists
studying the much broader view of predators and pests focused in on a much
smaller beast, one that is a far greater threat to men, women, and children:
the mosquito. Estimates reveal that
mosquitoes, mainly as a vector for all manner of exotic and deadly disease, are
responsible for over half of all human deaths since the Stone Age.
--Mitchell
Hegman
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