BEATING LABOR DAY BUGS
Labor Day bugs me. Fishing spots near home makes sense as everyone heads for the boondocks. However, my wife likes to camp. So we camp and pup and I head off for doves or grouse before it's time to return to camp and make breakfast. These days, with campground sanitation dubious at best, yellow jackets are a pain. But other kinds of insects bug anglers too.
Each year 100 or Americans die from insect stings and about 50 from snake bites. Still, we kill snakes and suffer bugs. We need not. Tent and RV nets and screens protect your meals and sleep. Headnets and proper clothing keep insects off your skin so they can't bite. Repellent lotion, spray, sticks and smudges confuse insects so they don't zero in on tender skin. Zappers and traps kill insects before they bite. If you still get bit, Afterbite(tm) sticks can ease itch and stings. Understand insect behavior and avoid insect hangouts and you just about eliminate the problem. Mosquitoes puncture your skin and blackflies chew their way in. Both spread malaria and a host of other diseases. They spend part of their life in water just offshore from that lovely lake or stream-side camp. Camps 50 yards from water with some wind and you reduce the problem. If it's colder than 50 degrees F you shouldn't be bothered with bugs; so try spring or fall visits to stream or lakeside campgrounds.
Net in tents and screen RV windows tight enough to keep tiny "no-see-ums" out for restful nights. Smudge-type repellents and, in sites with power, electric bug "zappers" work. In extreme cases such as swampy country in the Northeast, Southeast, Canada or Alaska you might need a headnet -- L.L. Bean's folds up into a hat. Also wear tightly woven long-sleeve dull brown or tan clothing least attractive to biting insects. A loose fit and mesh underwear underneath keeps bugs from biting through.
Repellents handle most other bug problems. DEET , the active ingredient, percentage keys performance. It apparently jams insects' chemical receptors so they can't tender skin. Repellents with 95 or 100 percent DEET work in smaller quantities and last longer than the typical 19 to 39 percent spray that does work well on clothing or in vehicles.
According to Dr. Thomas C. Jones an expert on international medicine, "repellents should contain a minimum DEET concentration of 27 to 28 percent to be effective. " Expect three to ten hours per application and reapply when bugs start to land on your skin or clothing.
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