“Low-cost pheromones!!” a bot that tried to post today on the blog advertised.

I used to get up to 10,000 spambots a day here, the vast majority trapped in a spam filter than I had to clean out several times a day or it would clog the blog and slow it somewhat. Then suddenly the total went down to about 50 a day, where it has remained.

I don’t know why, but it’s definitely a good development.

I obviously don’t usually look at them, but every now and then I glance at a couple before deleting them, and find something briefly amusing and/or edifying there. The one above was edifying.

They sell pheromones? Indeed, indeed they do. But beware, low-cost or high:

Humans technically have the organ that other animals use to detect pheromones, but many scientists argue that our vomeronasal organ (which sits between the nose and the mouth) is a puny little shell left over from ancient history, incapable of sending smells straight to our brain stem for unconscious response.

That being said, it’s totally possible that humans have pheromones — including ones that drive potential suitors wild.

But since we don’t know what those pheromones are, it’s impossible to sell them. Instead, when you buy a product that claims pheromones as an ingredient, you’re buying the finest in pig-produced chemicals. And despite what many marketers say, there’s no real evidence that humans are sexually swayed by the hormones that get pigs hot and bothered.

And I would be very careful when visiting a farm.

The whole topic reminds me of an old “Northern Exposure” episode featuring Chris (see this for a previous discussion of my love for the series). The premise of this particular episode is that Chris has become irresistible to women, perhaps due to pheromones. And here it is:

[NOTE: This post was originally on my older blog and had comments, but unfortunately the comments didn’t transfer over here.]