Take yourself off the menu
Every outdoors enthusiast has a biting bug story. My younger brother swears the mosquitoes in Alaska are so big they need landing gear. My father used to brag that the clouds of black flies on his beloved lake in Maine would get so thick he'd clear them out of his way with a tennis racket. In the Everglades I've found no-see-ums so ravenous I swear they can bite clean through the toughest boot leather. Here are some tried, but-not-so-trusted, techniques for warding off biters.
By Terry Tomalin, Times Outdoors Editor
Published August 17, 2007
Go native
There are numerous herbal remedies purportedly used by American Indians to ward off biting bugs. Most of these involve hard-to-find herbs and plants only an ethnobotanist could love.
The Calusa, a maritime people who once inhabited the southwest coast of the Florida peninsula, were said to have rubbed a mixture of animal grease and mud on their bodies to ward off mosquitoes. This mixture, when cured on the body in the smoke of a campfire, kept a variety of creatures at bay, including other humans.
Indigenous peoples around the world have unique methods of dealing with bugs. Years ago, I spent some time in the Trio Indian village of Kwamalasamutu in the rainforests of Suriname.
Monkey hunting with the lads, I noticed that my companions seemed oblivious to the swarms of blood-sucking beasts that seemed to follow our every move. When asked about the bugs, the leader of our bunch simply shrugged his shoulders.
Strategy No. 1: Don't give a darn.
Stay inside
Experts offer another way to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, no-see-ums and other "nasties": stay inside. Skeeters, in particular, seem to feed most voraciously at sunrise and sunset, so if you avoid being outside at those times of the day, your chances of becoming a human buffet are greatly reduced.
But those experts obviously are not anglers, hunters and birdwatchers; for if they were, they would know that morning and evening are the best times to catch fish and encounter wildlife.
Let's move on to another plan.
Cover up
Watching an outdoors survival show recently on television - I am hopelessly addicted to Man vs. Wild, Survivorman and others of that genre - I saw a U.S. Marine Corps jungle warfare instructor sweating in camouflage fatigues and advising people to "cover up."
Wearing long-sleeve shirts, pants, socks and even gloves, he said, is the only surefire way of avoiding biting insects. That sounds good in theory, but given the choice between dying of dehydration and heatstroke or feeding a few "mossies" as me mates Down Under call 'em, I'll take my chances with the insects.
Several companies do offer light-weight clothing that has been factory-treated with a chemical that theoretically repels biting insects. I've field-tested several brands and found them no match for Florida's legendary biting bugs.
However one company, Safety Harbor-based Sawyer, makes a fabric treatment that you can apply yourself. The active ingredient, odorless permethrin, seems to work well under most conditions.
Smoke out
Since mosquitoes seem hungriest in the early morning and late evening, another tactic is to start a raging fire. Any Boy Scout will tell you that the first thing you do when you set up camp is gather wood and get a fire going.
A good fire has many benefits. First, and most obvious, it keeps you warm. Second, it forces unwanted guests - grizzly bears, Girls Scouts and psychos in hockey masks - to keep their distance. Third, a good fire, especially when stoked with the right (or wrong, depending on your point of view) kind of wood, it's a great way to put a good "stink" on.
Sit in the smoke of a good campfire for a few hours and you may suffer temporary blindness, but you will smell so bad the mosquitoes will leave you alone. See the above Calusa animal grease mud technique.
Stogie time
While this natural repellent has not been evaluated in the lab, 30 years of personal field testing has proved it to be a reliable and effective way of repelling not only biting insects, but at times, my wife and children as well.
Mosquitoes hate cigar smoke. As a result, I always carry a few in my tackle box, sea kayak and/or first-aid kit. Cigarettes, for some reason, do a better job of offending people than they do biting insects. (Big Tobacco, before you sic an army of attorneys on me, please note that in my prepubescent youth, I smoked my share of Marlboros in a box, so I speak from experience.)
Choosing the right cigar can be almost as confusing as choosing an insect repellent. As a result, I keep it simple and favor Tampa-made smokes by Arturo Fuente and son. The company's A. Fuente Don Carlos have served me well from beach to swamp and can be recommended for any outdoor adventure.
The chemical solution
When all else fails, you may have no other option but to bathe in bug spray. The most effective bug sprays contain the chemical DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide) or Picaridin (KBR 3023).
Oil of lemon eucalyptus, a plant-based repellent, has also been found to be as effective as repellents with low concentrations of DEET. (Lemon eucalyptus oil should not be used on children under 3.)
Studies have shown that products containing 24% DEET provided an average of five hours of protection from mosquito bites. Products with 5% DEET provided about an hour of protection. The jury is still out on how safe DEET is for children.
DEET is available in higher concentrations. Ben's 100 Max Formula (it comes in a little orange bottle) repelled even the notorious sand flies of New Zealand, but when I accidentally spilled some in my tent, it burned a hole in the floor.
Other options
Some people may have concerns about putting harsh chemicals on their bodies (not me - I'm from New Jersey, a state where toxic waste is a leading export), so there are alternatives.
Thermacell, a mosquito-repelling device that you can place on a picnic table or wear around your waist, works as well as any insect repellent. You'll find them at most outdoors stores for less than $25.
When he's not giving blood, Outdoors Editor Terry Tomalin can be reached at (727) 893-8808 or at tomalin@sptimes.com.Fast Facts:
Buggy tales and remedies
Got a biting bug story - better yet, got a remedy - you want to share with our readers? Send us an e-mail of fewer than 150 words to rkenda@sptimes.com and put "Biting bugs" in the subject field. We'll run selected responses in coming weeks.