The skeeters are out here with a vengeance and I'd been trying to cook up some alternative to marinating myself in Deet every summer and I think I hit on something that really works well. Little while back I'd been searching out cedar oil to give my old sauna that wonderful cedar smell that's been steamed out of the wood. As an experiment I mixed some of that cedar oil half and half with olive oil because the straight up?ÿcedar oil is pretty potent and would probably irritate the skin. While at it found some citronella oil on amazon and added a bit of that to my special sauce.
Low and behold those little blood suckers won't land on me for more than a millisecond before recoiling like they'd been snake bit. Think I found my alternative to off the shelf bug dope.?ÿ?ÿJust thought I'd throw this out there. I've tried a lot of other stuff, but nothing worked?ÿas well as?ÿDeet, but this stuff works pretty darn good and helps with dry skin at the same time.
I saw something on the TV just the other night about essential oils (cedar oil was one, eucalyptus oil was another) used to repel insects from dogs. The presenter said that oils were too harsh on the animals skin to be applied directly. He it put on a bandana instead and tied that around the wee beasty's neck.?ÿ ?ÿ
I've seen the mosquitos while in northern BC. It's hard for lower 48'ers to appreciate just what you are dealing with up there at this time of year. Think Joba Chamberlain in Cleveland.?ÿ?ÿ
If you find it let me know. One ?ÿeffective local botanical is the oil/tar baked out of birch bark. ?ÿ The iceman found buried in a glacier in the Alps had the stuff, though he used for attaching projectile points to shafts.?ÿ
In the past, I heard that one of the Avon skin products (Skin So Soft perhaps) at least used to work wonders at keeping them nasty little critters at bay. Anybody tried it and able to confirm?
In the past, I heard that one of the Avon skin products (Skin So Soft perhaps) at least used to work wonders at keeping them nasty little critters at bay. Anybody tried it and able to confirm?
Skin so Soft works well to repel gnats here in Georgia.?ÿ Dryer sheets tucked down the back of your shirt collar work pretty well too.
The mosquitoes I've seen in Alaska and Canada come in two sizes.?ÿ Those small enough to fly through a screen door and those large enough to open the door and come in.
I used the Avon Skin so Soft when I worked in central Maine. It worked great at keeping the no-see-ums away. The flower perfume is kinda strong, though. It was not effective against the black flies or mosquitoes. Had to use DEET when they were active.
Skin so Soft is the favorite in this area for Buffalo Gnats. Them things hurt.?ÿ They don't show up every year but you know it when they do. Haven't seen them this year.
One thing about the Texas penetrating sunshine, bugs can not take it any better than humans.
It is harder on the bugs as they hide in the shades or go underground if possible to avoid drying out and dying.
Any solution possible to use to run them away will also burn you quicker out in the sunshine and after long exposure will feel like your skin is in hot oil, which it actually is..
There are SPF50 versions of repellant out there and that is what I would suggest.
You can also mix SPF50 with your favorite bug repellant for some effectiveness.
Once you go into the shade, they will remind you they are there.
There are some places I have to put on my riding goggles and WolfBike mask to keep the critters from getting into my nose,ears, mouth and eyes.
One thing about the Texas penetrating sunshine, bugs can not take it any better than humans...
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I use to spend the summers on my uncle's cotton farm down in southern Hidalgo County, TX.?ÿ His fields were bordered by the El Rio with Mexico on the other side.?ÿ The term "penetrating sunshine" is an understatement.?ÿ And at times the mosquitos were vicious.?ÿ The irrigation pumps were ran by repurposed car engines.?ÿ When the skeeters were thick the radiators on the pump engines had to be cleaned all the time from the mosquitos matting up on them.?ÿ I don't know why they liked the pumps so much.
I don't remember using any bug spray, but you learned to keep your mouth shut.?ÿ One of the chores for all the kids when we moved the irrigation pipe was to tip the pipes up long enough to drain any standing water in them.?ÿ I'm not sure that helped the mosquito population, but it kept us kids busy after supper until dark.
?ÿ The irrigation pumps were ran by repurposed car engines.?ÿ When the skeeters were thick the radiators on the pump engines had to be cleaned all the time from the mosquitos matting up on them.?ÿ I don't know why they liked the pumps so much.
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Carbon dioxide from the exhaust perhaps? I've always understood that mozzies are attracted to humans by the carbon dioxide from the exhaled breath. Although long a ago I stated that to an Aussie sheila while on safari, and she quite aggressively told me I was wrong, and that it is in fact lights that they are attracted to. In the interest of my safety I left it at that.
Aren't there mozzie traps out there, that use burning gas to generate carbon dioxide, to lure the mozzies (then burn them)?
I use one of those 'mosquito magnets' around my place. Runs on propane to create carbon monoxide and has a chemical attractant 'oxynol'. A small vacuum sucks them up and traps them when they get close enough to the nozzle. There'll be tens of thousands in there when I clean it out. Helps knock down the numbers, but there's an endless supply of the buggers.
I use one of those 'mosquito magnets' around my place. Runs on propane to create carbon monoxide and has a chemical attractant 'oxynol'. A small vacuum sucks them up and traps them when they get close enough to the nozzle. There'll be tens of thousands in there when I clean it out. Helps knock down the numbers, but there's an endless supply of the buggers.
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Never had seen one of those contraptions until I visited Northern Wisconsin in June about 15 years ago.?ÿ We were all on the patio enjoying the weather and I thought it looked a little like a small outboard boat motor.?ÿ Someone had to tell me what it was.
I really didn't notice any mosquitos while we were all out there.?ÿ A few hours later I went back out to help put up the chairs.?ÿ Jesus the skeeters were thick.?ÿ Wife's cousin turned that little bugger back on and within 15 minutes all the mosquitos seemed to have vanished once again.?ÿ
