bugmeter

Comment

Comment by Wayne Wells on December 20, 2010 at 1:16pm

The first time I went to the Everglades as an uneducated rube, I went in the late spring.

You know you're in trouble when the Ranger on duty at the Flamingo campground is wearing bug gear INSIDE the booth, and slides the registration card out under a miniscule crack at the bottom of the window.

It was ALL 100%DEET, ALL THE TIME. I showered, IMMEDIATELY hosed myself down with Maxi-Deet, and was ready for the day.

 

We have a newly minted National Park here in South Carolina, Congaree NP, that has sported a mosquito meter for years. But like all things subjective, what constitutes a bad day at Congaree would be a very mild day in the Everglades.

 

That first time I went, some other uninitiated folks rolled in really late and were so overwhelmed that they didn't even set up their tent. They crawled inside without even putting in the poles and were gone before daybreak the next morning.

Comment by Xavier Becquer on December 20, 2010 at 12:27pm

The thing about a skeeter meter is that although you can come up with a scientific measurement of how thick they are, certain people just seem to be natural magnets for them.  On our last trip when we took this picture My girl was miserable and suffered numerous bites, while I was comfy. I'd like to know how the park comes up with the data on a daily basis for the skeeter indicator.I think it has to do with body chemistry etc...

 

One thing that we found out works really well while paddling in the thick stuff like the first 2 hours of the hellsbay trail was to light a mosquito coil in the canoe. I use one of these

 

http://www.rei.com/product/407021?preferredSku=4070210010&cm_mm...

 

to hold it without burning anything on the boat and it works extremely well. I am going to buy another one that way we can put one under each of our seats in the canoe. They burn for over 8 hours and are inexpensive We like the smell, but it may not be acceptable to some people.

 

We have friends that swear by thermaCELLS

 

http://www.mosquitorepellent.com/

 

The active ingredient in them is the same as the mosquito coils except in a higher concentration.  The bad Thing is the refills don't last long and it ends up costing about .42 cents per hour + the butane + the cost of the unit itself...

 

When they are really bad I swear by 100% DEET, but i use it very lightly and caution must be taken with plastics.

 

I wish we had some historical knowledge on how native peoples from this area paddled around in dug outs without getting eaten alive.

 

Comment by Wayne Wells on December 19, 2010 at 9:58pm

Considering that Iasked about a bug meter a year ago, and nothing existed, this is a step in the right direction.

I'm 100% in agreement with the on-line aspect, too.