OT-Swarmed in the swamp!

Y

youngwood

Joined
Mar 23, 2003
Messages
168
Looking for suggestions:

What have you used or what do you do when the bugs (blackflies, mosquitoes, deerfly, ect.) are really bad?

I am NOT so slowly being driven mad -
by hordes of blackflies, joined recently by the mosquitoes. The in your ears, up your nose and better keep your mouth shut kinda hordes.
Particularly bad this year, as last couple years a token spray of whatever was on hand(Off, citronella based spray, etc.) was enough.

Also am working in a swampy area. Chopping, limbing and "to heck with de-barking till I'm outta here!" with the small cedars for fencing.
Fence(digging, shallow notching and tying)is in same general vicinity.
I think they follow me back and forth so they can drive me crazy all day long.

Even got desperate enough to use those bug hats but they got to me anyway. And vision too obscured for much knife work.

Someone suggested bringing out pots of smoky fire to keep bugs away.
Any thoughts on that one?

Still have half the fencing to do ..........:eek: !


Shirley
 
After having endured the blackflies and mozzies of a few arctic summers, I can say that I understand you. Thousands of ragged-looking caribou understand you too.

DEET works great but they still bounce off you and up your nose. It also eats away at anything plastic or nylon.

I met a woman in camp who simply gave up. She put on a loose pair of shorts and a halter top and that was it (except for the boots of course). She said that the blackflies didn't have anything to push up against, and the mozzies just buzzed on through. I say that the 2 and one half pots of coffee she had every morning were what kept them away. They sensed caffeine poisoning and didn't bite her. Either that or it was her caffeine-induced psychosis that kept them at bay.

However, there was one guy that got dropped off in shorts a couple years before she came along, and they had to ship him out in a straight jacket after one day. He thought he could handle it.

We had another guy who didn't shower or bathe for six weeks because he thought it kept the bugs away. I made it three weeks and it didn't seem to help. Besides, I couldn't stand myself.

After awhile I think I found something that worked for me: Showering once or twice a day with just plain old clean (lake) water. The best defence is when you don't smell like anything at all. Neither be floral nor funky. Free your ass and your mind will follow. :D

Depending on how bad things got, I have also used tight leather gloves, breathable nylon pants or jeans and jacket, and an olive-drab headnet. The olive headnets don't corrupt your vision as much as the parachute coloured ones. Duct tape seals the cracks at boot and cuff. Sweat pants suck because they drill right through them.

I also chain-smoked Old Port cigars and thought that it helped, but in retrospect I think that it was just for my peace of mind: A placebo. When I quit smoking, the bugs didn't seem to act much different. They only moved when I blew smoke right on them anyhow. Also I felt sick every day from smoking so dayumed much.

After all that is said and done, the only thing to master is the art of patience and tolerance. Lots and lots of tolerance because you really have no choice about them being there. Get accustomed to the fact that you are ensuring the survival of their species. :):rolleyes:
 
Well, we do not have flies that are that terrible over here, but when I go fishing a stuff named "Zedan" works wonderful. It does not help against your fellow human beings like some of the other stuff does (Do not know if you ever used "Autan" - does not keep the flies away, but will make you lonely...:barf: ). Zedan is based on sesame-oil and cedar extract I think. Flies, ants and ticks do not like it and it won several tests here. In Europe you can find it under www.zedan.de (... in German) they say it is sold worldwide in pharmacies and shops that sell items related to horse-riding.
Maybe you can find and try it.
Greetings from Bavaria
Andreas
 
The Shaklee Company; which makes vitamins & etc., have a product called "Basic H." It is sold as a cleaner/detergent/soap. We use it for several things other than that. If you are working in grease, you can rub this thick liquid on your hands before you start & the grease doesn't adhere. If you rub your arms, legs & other exposed skin with it, the mosquitoes & black flies pretty much leave us alone. Several people have told me that they do the same when working around poison ivy & etc. & it helps. I have noticed that in addition to detering mosquitoes & flies, if I rub the Basic H on between ankle & knee before I put on socks, I don't seem to have the problem with ticks crawling up my boots onto my legs.

There is another product, don't know if it is Shaklee but I think it is, called "Skin-So-Soft" that is supposed to be a good bug/mosquitoe/flie/tick deterrent. I haven't tried....just been told about it.

Most of the mosquitoe deterrents like DEET & etc., cause Nila & the girls to break out in a rash, so she is constantly looking for alternatives. The Basic H is a good product. There are a lot of uses for it besides the above & it is safe enough to use as a tooth paste. One of the main ways it works is to break down the surface tension of water. Nila uses it in a sprayer in the garden. It is a good, environmentally safe bug deterrent that can be sprayed on plants. It helps the plants & you can go ahead & eat the vegetables. She buys the Basic H from a local pharmacist who stocks a lot of Shaklee vitamins & etc. I imagine you can find it on the Internet. She pays about $28.00 per gallon & a gallon goes a long way.
 
has always worked in Wisconsin, but Phil has more experience in high-density bug areas.

But I'm half-remembering back to something about garlic (no joke, honest) in your diet, which in sufficient quantities actually affects one's body odor and serves as a deterrent to insects. Garlic pills are sold in natural food stores and pharmacies...heck, even in Wal Mart.

The downside, as I remember, is that not only the mosquitoes think you reek of garlic.

I'd follow others' recommendations first.
 
Tried the skin-so-soft but wasn't that impressed. The DEET does work but can be kinda hazardous too. Might try the garlic method. I like kimchi and other Korean foods which can be loaded with garlic. Makes you kinda lonely in some circles though.
 
.
Best way to keep the mosquitos away is to stop breathing.
.
.
.
Heard that garlic is useful.
.
Also, I think it was B6 vitamin that was supposed to help.
Brewer's yeast also comes to mind.....I think as a source for B6.
 
Thanks everyone for suggestions and links.:)


Had Garlic omellettes for breakfast, pasta with garlic for lunch.
Or maybe it was GARLIC with pasta cause by supper they(kids) didn't want to know about garlic any more.
:( :D Will keep it on the menu- lower profile.


Have tried to stay away from deet since kids were babies.......

Love to visit Arizona but I guess I am a forests and woodlands type.

DKP:
Basic H sounds like the kind of stuff I'd like to have around for any of those purposes. Thanks for heads up will check pharmacies.

Ddean:
Stop breathing?
Then how am I supposed to smoke ?!!:confused
To at least think I'm keeping some away.;) :rolleyes:

Phil:
I can appreciate that arctic summers have taught the bottom line.
Patience, tolerance....... uh, in the meantime gonna try the 2 1/2 pots of coffee fully clothed.

Shirley
 
Originally posted by hoghead
I like kimchi and other Korean foods which can be loaded with garlic. Makes you kinda lonely in some circles though.
Click to expand...

Hoghead we've finally came up with a decent recipe for kimchi. I need to put the three recipes together so that it will make sense to anyone else but Barb and I and then I will send it to you or post it here if there's enough interest.
Regretfully I have had to quit eating it due to the salt content. I swelled up like a poison pup and had to take extra diuretics for two days to get rid of the extra fluid.:(
It sure was Good though.:rolleyes: :D
But I'm gonna experiment with using citric acid instead of salt as a curing and crisping agent along with some salt substitute which I can eat. Barb says the citric acid along with salt is what's used in canning some veggies anyway so I'm very hopeful.
Would you also like that recipe if it works?
 
I would be interested in Recipe.
Those here that would like some variety in garlic dishes.;) :rolleyes:

Shirley
 
Easy to make:

Many cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced.
Scallions, for color.
Add leek if you like.
Use chicken boullion in water.
Simmer all the stuff

Serve with crispy noodles sprinnkled on top.

This is a Yang food and is thus good for colds and such, and will make you sweat garlic if you eat it more than 1-2 days in a row.

Garlic in this quantity is very hot&spicy. serve with rice or noodles it it is too strong as is.

Keith
 
Lots of vitamin B12 in your diet or as tablets is supposed to make you taste bad.

The most effective repellants are supposed to be the ones with a high percentage, or all DEET.

I say supposed because i was in coastal east Australia in their spring, taking B12 tabs breakfast lunch and dinner, sleeping in DEET soaked vest and shorts, and still counted 42 bites accumulated over 5 days :mad:.

DEET stinks and is a bit toxic if yo get it on your food. Thats why citronella is quite popular as the next best thing
 
Somewhere, here at the chicken coop, Nila said she has several typed sheets of the many things Basic H can be used for. Will let you know when we find it.
 
Kis:
Thanks for doing the time(research) and providing "quick" link. Many's the time small questions have gone unanswered because the 3min. answer I actually needed; would take hours of "interesting" reading!:rolleyes: :)

Ferrous:
Big Hit!
Never thought I'd hear kids say "GARLIC" soup and "delicious" in the same sentence. (Did I do something wrong?!)
Eight cloves in sm. pot to serve 3(maybe4). I don't think I was chinzy on the garlic.
At any rate, very tasty- gives me ideas for wild edibles. We enjoyed and will continue to enjoy your quick and easy recipe.

Sorry Bruise:
You're right, you're not a very good cook!:D
Tried it your way too.
It gets stuck in your throat and just sits there.
No matter how many glasses of water ya drink.
Then rest of the day all ya can taste, smell and burp, is raw garlic.:barf:
Okay....I'm not a very good cook either, cause I tried it this way already this winter.;) :)

DKP:
No Basic H at my pharmacy(will ask around). So no rush for info. sheets.


Shirley
 
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