🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <2389@mit-hermes.ARPA> jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA (John Purbrick) writes:
>It's the season to be....bitten. What methods exist, apart from the application
...
>going on a 10-day canoe trip in central Canada in July, and I can't see hauling

Central Canada in July?  Black-fly time!  Or, at least, the tail end of
it.  The little buggers (also called "no-seeum gnats") are probably the
worst of the insects.  Numerous mosquito bites are usually little more
than an annoyance.  Black-fly usually travel in large swarms and
you frequently get mobbed by them.  In rare occasions, large quantities
of black-fly bites can be dangerous.  Every once in a while you read
about domestic cattle dying from black-fly bites due to insufficient 
shelter, no breezes and becoming panicky.

Re: repellents: I very much recommend "Musk Ol" (I think that's what it's
called).  You can get it at any of the outfitters.  You don't need much -
one small plastic bottle (the size of one of the nasal sprays) should be 
enough for one person for at least two weeks.  I've never found "OFF" to be 
particularly effective - Musk-ol is fantastic.  We were in Kilarney for a 
week - we were barely touched by anything.  Made a believer out of me!
Even kept most of the wasps away (glad of it too, my wife is strongly 
allergic to 'em).  At best, OFF only prevents mosquitos from biting me.
It isn't particularly effective for me against black-fly or the truly
awesome Horse or Deer fly.  Musk-ol will prevent almost everything from
landing, except possibly for Horse fly - you'll still need a baseball
bat! (:-)).  

Seriously, Horse fly take quite a bit of meat and leave behind quite an
inflamation.  Fortunately they don't swarm and are much rarer than
mosquitos or black-fly - but one or two will fly in circles around you
for hours waiting for a chance for fresh meat - you don't feel it til
after they've left.

Warnings: Musk-ol is *very* smelly at least initially.  You get used to
it - it's a small price to pay.  Musk-ol is also *very* irritating to
sensitive tissues.  Particularly eyes.  You must pay attention to the
warnings on the package.  However, once you apply it (it's a thick oily
liquid), you should rinse your hands - it's still effective as a repellant
but it won't be concentrated enough to cause problems with rubbing
your eyes etc.  One dose of Musk-ol per day is usually sufficient
even with some minor dunkings or splashings.  

At least partial washing is very strongly recommended if you and 
your friend decide to ...

The smell isn't particularly objectionable after a couple of hours - 
but you gotta get your friend to use it too!

Musk-ol is somewhat expensive (say $3-4 CDN per bottle) but well worth
it.

Another suggestion.  Anti-histamine cold-remedy pills (eg:
Chlortripolon in Canada) are sometimes very effective at reducing the
itch from most biting insects.  I use the strongest non-prescription
anti-histamines I can get (the stronger version of Chlortripolon).  I take
one or two after getting a few bites and I have very little itching at
all.  One pill per day (if I'm getting bitten) seems to be the right 
amount for me.  You will have to decide for yourself what strength 
is strong enough to be effective that won't make you too drowsy or
have other undesirable side-effects.

Also, anti-histamine may just save a life when you discover, 5 days
into the bush, that you are having a very strong allergic reaction to a
bee or wasp sting.  My wife carries a little box containing a two-shot
adrenalin-substitute hypo and several prescription-strength
anti-histamine tablets.  Anti-histamines alone (the hypo is
prescription-only here, quite expensive and lasts only for a year
or two) *may* be sufficient for survival if the reaction is 
life-threatening.  However, it is always safer to have a doctor 
check you out for bee/wasp stings if you don't know how you will 
react to them - particularly if you are going into the bush.  
If you are sensitive to bee/wasp strings, you should carry the 
hypo around at all times.

Re: food selectivity.  Some people at some times seem to naturally
repell bugs.  I don't think that anyone has managed to figure
out precisely why or, more importantly, force it to happen with
any sort of reliability.  All I can say is, if by luck you discover 
it happening to you, don't change your "cleanliness-factor" or
your diet.  Neither perfectly clean or filthy bodies, in themselves, 
will repell bugs much either.  Sweating has something to do with it tho.
I've gone for a year without being touched, then two years getting 
eaten alive (before I discovered Musk-ol).  It's largely a matter of luck.

One "natural" suggestion tho:  Avoid wearing anything blue or black -
they attract some bugs.  In particular, blue attracts mosquitos.
And, mosquitos can usually go right through blue-jeans...
I also think that white is to be avoided but I can't remember for
sure.  Greens, medium browns and dark beiges are probably best.

I may have made camping/canoeing around in the Canadian bush sound a
little intimidating with the comments about the insects.  It ain't all
that bad - I just don't like insects biting me (particularly Horse
fly).  The danger I usually worry about is being caught too far out in
a lake during a storm or misjudging how close you can get to a set of
rapids.
-- 
Chris Lewis,
UUCP: {allegra, linus, ihnp4}!utzoo!mnetor!clewis
BELL: (416)-475-8980 ext. 321