The Buzz On Bug Battles Devise A Strategy That Holds Pests At Bay With A Minimum Of Collateral Damage
You’re hunkered in a backcountry camp.
It could be anywhere from the Idaho Selkirk Mountains to the boreal forest of Minnesota. Dusk is coming on, and you can hear the rising whine in the woods as thousands millions? of mosquitoes take flight for their evening feeding.
A decision must be made. Do you:
* Slather on a greasy film of DEET-laced insect dope?
* Go for some natural concoction that claims to have DEET’s stopping power?
* Dive for the tent and call it a night?
DEET stands for the chemical compound N,N-diethyl-3-meta-tolumide, the active ingredient in many brands of insect repellent.
DEET repels mosquitoes, but it also will destroy fishing tackle, eat through sunglasses and dissolve the mosquito netting on a tent.
It’s powerful stuff, and some backcountry travelers swear by it.
If you use DEET, be sure to follow label instructions.
Medical studies have found that DEET can cause eye and sinus irritability, headaches, insomnia and confusion.
Some children are particularly vulernable, with documented DEET-caused ills ranging from rashes to anaphylactic shock.
Beyond DEET are the alternative approaches to mosquito control. They include repellents made from natural substances, and other techniques that could only have been the product of American ingenuity, such as:
* The Bug Button, a plastic disc that is pinned on a shirt. The button is impregnated with Phillipine geranium oil, Indonesian lemongrass oil and North American citronella oil,” its manufacturer claims.
* MosquitoControl Plus, a battery-powered unit that clips to a belt. The manufacturer says it emits “two sounds known in nature to repel the female mosquito… . One sound replicates the wing speed frequency of the dragonfly, the mosquito’s natural predator. The other sound replicates the wing speed frequency of the aggressive male mosquito.”
Okie-dokie.
Most people who spend time in mosquito country concede that DEET-based products are the most effective, but that doesn’t mean everyone enjoys using them.
Dick Anderson, an entomologist with the Environmental Protection Agency in Minnesota, said he avoids using DEET-based repellents because he doesn’t like their oiliness. He believes in DEET’s ability to repel mosquitoes, but if he uses them, he sprays the repellent on his hat rather than on his skin.
Repellents based on naturally-occurring chemicals - geraniums, lemongrass, citronella - tend to be less effective than those with DEET, Anderson said.
“And it’s not logical they would be,” he said. “There’s no reason those chemicals should be repellent to mosquitoes. Lemongrass does not have to repel mosquitoes.”
Sonic devices, which emit sound waves, are equally ineffective, Anderson said.
“There’s no evidence they work,” he said. “Although if people think they work, that’s cool. I’m all for the capitalist economy.”
Following is the buzz on dealing with mosquitoes from people who spend major amounts of time in the nation’s most mosquito-infested areas.
Pat Hart, Bonners Ferry, ID Trail maintenance boss, Idaho Panhandle National Forests
“I use tiger balm. It’s sold in a canister at hippy-orgo places. It’s a menthol and clove oil cream for sore muscles, I think. My grandfather told me it works as a repellent. “I just put a dot of it on my forehead, but you have to be careful because it will burn your eyes.”
Hart admits, however, that maybe she’s been in the woods so long, mosquitoes simply don’t annoy her so much anymore.
“The exception is at Two Mouth Lakes (in the Idaho Selkirks) where the mosquitoes can get so bad I’ve had no choice but to wear my rain gear all day long, even when it’s really hot,” she said.
Don Young, Fairbanks, AK Wildlife biologist, Alaska Fish and Game Dept.
“You can tell by the color of our skin, most of us never take our clothes off up here. We wear long pants and long-sleeve shirts all the time we’re in the field, and often we use head nets.
“When we use repellents, we go for the 100 percent DEET stuff. On the north slope, where the mosquitoes can be horrendous for a month, I’ve had good luck with the net jackets that you saturate with DEET and wear over your clothes.
“I use the pants and the jacket because the more DEET you have around you the better. There are so many mosquitoes they can drive you crazy just buzzing around.”
Anna Royer, Ely, MN Instructor, Voyageur Outward Bound School
“Pretty much, we prefer to cover up instead of using the repellent,” Royer said. “It’s more effective.”
And the students she leads on four-week canoe trips?
“The students tend to like the bug repellent. We have both the 90 percent DEET and the citronella, so they can take the natural route if they want to.”
Mary Lambirth, Ely, MN Bass fishing guide
“I always carry a little jar of bug dope for us, and we use it in the most extreme conditions,” said Mary, who’s been guiding in mosquito country for 22 years, “but ever since they came out with those patches to keep you from getting sick when you’re flying, I realized this stuff can get absorbed in your system.”
Lambirth doesn’t like that idea.
“If our customers use it for a week, it probably won’t hurt ‘em. But two months of using it year after year after year - we could become a little weird,” she said.
Mark Stensaas, Duluth, MN Naturalist, birder, author
“I’m a high-percentage DEET guy,” Stensaas said. “I prefer the pump spray. I put it on the bill of my hat and the back of my hands and rub it on my neck. And yes, I’ve seen my binoculars dissolve. But for me, it’s what works.”
Bill Hansen, Tofte, MN Sawbill Canoe Outfitters
“I use DEET,” Hansen said. “I really like the natural repellents, except that they don’t work. Other than that, they’re fine.”
While Hansen finds DEET products effective, he isn’t wild about using them.
“I don’t like putting it on my skin,” he said. “I usually put it on very sparingly. It works better if you use less. It even says that on the bottle. It’s better to go with the 100-percent (DEET) and use a little bit of it. Put it on your collar and sleeves.
“I put my pants inside my socks, which looks really dorky. I’m also a big fan of head nets.”
Larry Weber, Duluth, MN Science teacher, The Marshall School
“I see mosquitoes from a different point of view than a lot of people,” Weber said. “I’m always saying to my kids (students), that mosquito is taking blood from us so she can have babies, and she’s risking her life for that. And from the ecological point of view, they’re part of the system. They’re food for all kinds of animals.
“I will not use repellents because they’re so yucky smelling. I will also never swat a mosquito after it’s successfully taken blood from me.
“To be honest, if all the mosquitoes were to die, I think I’d feel like we were missing a real neat part of our whole ecosystem.”
Jeff Rennicke, Bayfield, MN Midwest field editor, Backpacker magazine
“Mostly I just use my head and common sense about where to camp,” Rennicke said. “Someplace where it’s dry and you have good drainage and good wind exposure.
“And mentally, you remember that mosquitoes are a major part of the food chain. Without the little creatures, there wouldn’t be big creatures.
“You get back into some of these places, and there’s no way to beat ‘em. You just look at ‘em as part of the landscape.”
Doug Hirdler, Ely, MN Base manager, Charles L. Sommers Canoe Base
Thousands of Boy Scouts pass through this high-adventure base each summer. The base sells repellents that do not have DEET in them, Hirdler said.
“Because basically it’s harmful to some people’s systems,” he said. “It isn’t going to bother you right away when you put it on, but some people do react to it. It (the reaction) is like a rash.”
The non-DEET products get decent reviews from the campers, who typically spend endpaddle and portage through the canoe country for 10 days.
Hirdler’s own tactic?
“When I go out, I spray the stuff (DEET) all over me, but I’ll probably die 10 years younger because of it,” he said with a laugh.
Graphic: Mosquitoes: Aerial assault
Outdoors editor Rich Landers contributed to this story.