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Pastimes : NNBM - SI Branch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Clappy who wrote (43758)	5/26/2005 6:55:56 AM
From: Crocodile	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 104159

I can't imagine spending $300 on something that burns propane (and can't even cook a hamburger), lures bugs from far and wide, and catches probably less than half of them. Clapster, Nope... I hadn't seen one of those but it sounds bizarre (but not surprising). I think the dumb thing about the West Nile scare is that it is not all mosquitoes that carry it (actually just a fairly small number of species and they have rather specific habitat requirements). Up here, monitoring of species is done (along with some testing of mosquitoes when the right species are located in certain areas). If people got freaked out by every mostquito bite they got they wouldn't be able to go outdoors for several months of the year (that's just the reality up here where, if the black flies don't get you, the skeeters will). I actually suspect that I may have already gotten WNV. About 3 years ago, I was doing some stream survey in a semi-urban area and got into a section of mucky creek where there were clouds of mosquitoes where people had been pitching old tires down into a sort of mud hole. I figure it was was prime breeding habitat for the more typical WNV species of mosquitoes. I got bitten numerous times over the course of the day. I got pretty sick a few days later and maybe it was the flu, or maybe something else, but I actually suspect WNV. If I didn't get it that time, I might well have been exposed since while doing frog pond surveys as many are done around all kinds of ponds ranging from urban mud holes, to storm-water lagoons, to rural cattle watering holes. It's actually those urban mud hole type ponds that I dislike visiting the most, but then most are treated with larvicides, so the risk probably isn't that great. Anyhow, I guess many people have already had WNV and don't even know it. That's not to say that people should be careless about it, but to me, it seems like it's just one of those times when you have to decide if you're gonna hide in the house all summer long, or take some precautions but just get out there and enjoy the summer and not freak out over every skeeter that comes flying around you. Unfortunately, it seems that many people are becoming paranoid over every possible threat. I figure that the biggest threat most of us face each day is of getting in a car accident -- and yet nobody thinks anything of hopping into their cars and blasting off to work or elsewhere each day. I better stock up on citronella and Deet. (I imagine you might have a better method. Lemme know what you use.) Actually, I never use Deet-based repellants. I've been using a couple of other repellants that I get at the natural food store -- blends of herbs -- can't remember the names of the stuff I've used, but will get that for you later today (bottle is out in my truck). Works quite well, but you have to spray a bit more often than when you use the usual repellants. I don't use the typical Deet-based repellants at all as they are highly toxic to frogs and other herps -- even a bit rubbing off on their skin can poison them. Also, as you might imagine, when you're going out to photograph insects, if you spray yourself down with repellants you aren't going to get many insects to stay still for a portrait session. <g> I rely more on clothing to protect me from insect bites -- loose-fitting thick cotton pants, a bulky sweatshirt over my tee, a hat that is thick enough to protect my head from bites, and if it's really bad, I wear one of those hats with the mosquito netting over it. For what I do, and especially as I go paddling in marshes in the hottest parts of summer, it's really the deerflies that are the bigger problem to me. There's not too much that keeps them at bay and they can bite through most clothing. Also, when I'm paddling, I like to take off my shoes and just go barefoot for times when I have to climb in and out of the canoe to do lift-overs at beaver dams and the like. The deerflies really go for bare feet, so that's a problem. One thing that works really well is to take a piece of that "tanglefoot" paper (made for trapping flies and even mice) and stick it to the top of my hat -- as the flies like to annoy the hell out of people by landing repeatedly on top of the head (or hat). Kinda gross, but it's a great way to get them at their own game. ~croc