People love to enjoy the outdoors during the summer.  But one thing that is not enjoyable are the mosquitoes!  Many times outdoor lovers will burn citronella candles or grab an insect repellent such as 'Off', 'Repel' or 'Bull Frog' to keep the pests away. But now there may be another way to keep the mosquitoes from biting and possibly infecting people with diseases that may be fatal, such as malaria.

A California company recently received a Gates Foundation grant totaling $100,000 to allow the company to continue experimenting with an unusual method of pest control: a cow cologne.

ISCA Technologies has created a substance, that when applied to cows, will make the cows smell more like humans.  The mosquitoes will then be more attracted to the cows, biting them, instead of people.

The cow cologne that is being tested by ISCA Technologies, is a mildly-scented shampoo-y goo that is sprayed onto a cow which then makes the animals smell like humans from several weeks to months.  Smithsonian.com states that as an extra bonus, if the cows are treated with an insecticide, the mosquitoes will then die after biting the cow.

ISCA Technologies founder and chemical ecology researcher, Agenor Mafra-Neto, will be using The Gates Grant to fund the study of cow cologne in California before doing tests on cattle in Kenya this fall.

 

 

 

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