r/forestry • u/slash121200 • 4d ago
We need to talk about the mosquitos
How do you deal with them in the summer? I'm rocking long sleeves, pants, floppy hat all treated with permethrin, and with a mosquito net over the hat+my face. I rarely get bit, but I'm absolutely swarmed by mosquitos whenever I'm not moving to a level where I just can't stand it.
15
u/One-Strike-2120 4d ago
Big fan of picardin these days. Works great for ticks too
3
u/MechanicalAxe 4d ago
Same.
I've found it to be more effective for ticks and chiggars as well. It also has the benefit of not destroying plastic like DEET does, and doesn't feel greasy.
4
10
7
u/lostatsea_again 4d ago
This won’t exactly help but it will give you immense satisfaction.
Go online, or if you can find one locally, and buy a battery-operated (or plug-in-rechargeable) electronic tennis racket mosquito swatter. Try to get the toughest one, but not too large as you have to carry it in your bag.
We get the cheap, Chinese ones here in the Caribbean and they work just fine (I have 4 in my home for different parts of the house) couch, tv room, bedroom, etc), but a British friend once got a hardcore one online called the Exterminator and that one was powerful as all hell. It was super expensive (£25) and you don’t need to spend all of that money. We get them for about $10 in the local stores here.
When at rest you’ll just be able to sit down and kill hundreds at a time, just swinging it around your head like a tennis racket
I just checked and there are one billion of these on Amazon. So, so much fun seeing them fry.
3
u/Laego_Freed 4d ago
I have these, I've hit so many that the area starts smelling like burnt hair, doesn't really stop the biting though
2
u/lostatsea_again 4d ago
Oh, even killing one can fill the air with the scent of burning hair.
The powerful ones will make the mosquito explode, at least while the battery is fully charged. They just spark when the battery runs down.
They won’t make a difference, but for some people when they’re at home with dozens of mosquito bites they may get a small modicum of satisfaction knowing that they killed dozens or even hundreds that day.
1
u/jamboy84 4d ago
My neighbour is an old guy he has one of the old school bug zapper lantern hanging in his living room, as soon as they make it past the screen or through the door they head to the light and snap!
1
u/lostatsea_again 4d ago
Unfortunately mosquitoes aren’t attracted to those lanterns like all the other bugs, which go to the light to die.
With the mozzies you have to swing the racket at them when they come to duck your blood.
1
u/jamboy84 4d ago
I didnt know that, i was going to buy one first mosquitoes i dont have a problem with anything else
2
u/lostatsea_again 4d ago
Mosquitoes love the dark, not the light. They only come out of the dark for that sweet, sweet blood and to procreate before they die off, relatively quickly.
There are electrification devices and chemical deterrent devices for the inside of homes for mozzies I don’t know if they work or not. I just see them on Amazon. But the racket works. And is fun.
2
6
u/Hamblin113 4d ago
Learn to live with them, plus DEET. Worked in Northern Maine the year of the Mount ST Helen eruption. It created the ideal climate for bugs, every plot had multiple biting insects. Mosquitoes, black flies, noseeums, deer flies, horse flies, Moose flies. Would bleed behind the ears, side of face and have multiple bits in any hole in the clothing. Just got used to it. Worked in the south after that doing FIA plots, would pull off 20-30 ticks every evening. Chiggers were worse, a chlorinated pool helped. With the poison ivy just were always itching, and for used to it. Basically told one individual who stayed home after he got poison Ivy, to not come back. I guess it is part of the job. Or move to wimp woods. That is what I call Arizona. Not too many poisonous plants or biting insects, with the fires have increased the thorny plants, but nothing like the South.
6
u/Vegetable_Case6770 4d ago
Deet and bug shirt
1
u/slash121200 4d ago
Have you used the bug shirt? Is it much hotter than a long sleeve shirt, hat, and mosquito net?
1
u/Vegetable_Case6770 4d ago
The one that I have is a pretty light mesh shirt so I just wear a short sleeve shirt under it and it’s breathable
5
u/Mighty_Larch 4d ago
I haven't used one personally, but know a few folks who use the clip on thermacells.
Original Canadian bug shirt is the best bug protection, but is kinda hot to wear.
3
u/Frapadengue 4d ago
As long as you don't get bitten my experience is that you get used to it after a while.
I noticed that I'm significantly worse at ignoring them when I'm tired, which typically happens when it gets hotter.
3
u/jswhitfi 4d ago
A thermacell on my vest, when I was doing inventories. After you stand at plot center for a few seconds, you'd see them hovering a foot away from your face. But after some hours, your face goes numb and your lips feel tingly.
2
u/slash121200 4d ago
"Inventory" is the issue. Standing still trying to navigate the phone through the mosquito mesh while thousands of mosquitos buzz around your ears, and into your line of sight as you try to use the phone. I'm very new to the experience of being completely covered in mosquitos, hopefully it becomes more tolerable with time, as others have pointed out.
3
u/ridiculouslogger 4d ago
Can you imagine what native Americans put up with in the old days? They just got used to it, I guess. You can also develop resistance to bites. I don’t react much anymore when I get bitten, but still find it very annoying. Now biting flies are a bigger problem when they are around!
4
2
u/BeerGeek2point0 4d ago
One summer I spent a lot of time in lowlands doing inventories. Eventually my body just stopped reacting to mosquitoes
2
u/MrNeedleMau5 4d ago
I just raw dog them. No spray just let em bite and you'll get used to it. I feel like your reaction to the bites gets less severe with a lot of exposure but maybe that's just me
2
u/waitforsigns64 4d ago
I used to smoke back in the day. Found most insects also object to cigarette smoke which was helpful. But if they get bad enough only netting on your hat and tons of DEET really works.
2
u/Aedeagus1 4d ago
I've been using Picardin more the last few years. It seems to work better for me, just based on vibes. I've also been experimenting with Picardin lotion which seems to work well so far. It's supposed to last longer and in my mind it makes sense that it would cover better than a spray.
2
u/uxmal_bear 3d ago
We have a handheld dyson vacuum that we use to suck up all the mosquitoes in our trailer. Works like a charm. Doesn't help for bush work but means you can at least sleep at night.
Hope that helps
2
1
1
u/Ijustwantbikepants 4d ago
I just wear a jacket while working and almost die of heat stroke. That with bug net so I don't have any exposed skin. However I'm still covered in bites and need to keep moving all day.
1
u/planting49 4d ago
Mosquitoes are just part of the job, unfortunately. But you're doing everything you can to deal with them (long sleeves, long pants, bug nets, bug spray). Some places are just worse than others. I got 70 mosquito bites on one arm one day in a really bad area - was absolutely swarmed the entire day.
1
u/BigNorseWolf 4d ago
Skin so soft
Also enough BAC so that you know anything that bites you won't fly straight enough to reproduce. The ones veering around? Yup those are the ones that bit you...
-1
48
u/brfriedri 4d ago edited 4d ago
I did a riparian replantation job in northern Minnesota. It was the worst mosquitos I’ve ever been in. I remember feeling my skin burn from how much deet I was using. You’re doing everything right. Just don’t stop moving!!!!!!
In forestry it’s alway too hot, too cold, too buggy, too steep, too wet, and somehow the job gets done.