What's Bugging You?        by Barry Bridgeford

There are numerous bothersome bugs in Algonquin, ready to literally feed off your blood and/or flesh. They are usually considered in their order of 'nastiness'. Here are the "main players". Check out suggestions of how to reduce their "nastiness factor", at the end of this article.

Mosquitoes        (Approx. 6mm)

Mosquitoes are the most reknowned, primarily because of campers' encounters with them throughout summer. Female moquitoes are the biters, being most numerous in the spring .. usually in the weeks immediately after Mothers' Day.

A biting mosquito penetrates your skin with a narrow probe equipped with cutting mandibles. After burrowing its way to a small blood vessal, the probe secretes an anticoagulant. The mosquito then uses the same probe to gorge on the thinned blood. It is the presence of this anticoagulant that produces the initial irritating itch of a mosquito bite.

Mosquitoes are typically a problem in sheltered shade, after dark and after a period of rain.

Black Flies        (Approx. 3mm)

Black flies are definitely at their more bothersome and injurious in spring, particularly right after their initial "hatch".

They prefer full daylight to do their biting.

The black flies' bites are large ... involving actual "extracted" chomps of flesh ... in order to get to the victim's blood.

Deer Flies        (Approx. 12mm)

These flies usually attack during the period from mid-day to late afternoon.

They're knowned for circling around one's head during canoeing, hiking and swimming ... prior to zeroeing for the bite.

On sunny but windy days, deer flies annoy canoeists by staying in the sheltered area below the gunnels and biting at their shins and feet.

Suggestions for reducing the bug "nastiness factor"

1) Get "garlic'd-up" a couple of days prior and take a few garlic cloves to lace your on-trip suppers. Mosquitoes will hover around but shouldn't bite. It seems to confuse their sense of smell, particularly if you have worked-up a sweat, such as when portaging. No kidding! Just make sure your whole group's "on-the-garlic", or you could be "odd-man-out"!

2) Eliminate scented products. Pre-laundry your gear in plain soap flakes. Take unscented soap, shampoo and deodorants. Prohibit perfumes and colognes!

3) Avoid taking dark coloured and bright yellow clothes. They attract bugs and "yellow-jackets".

4) Don't eat bananas within 48 hours of or during the trip ... attractant! Likewise, avoid consuming concentrated fruit bars, fruit flavoured gum or punch drinks.

5) In case the bugs are really bad despite all the above measures: pack a cotton long-sleeved shirt, similar slacks, a "mesh bug head-bag" and an applicator of pre-tested bug repellant. Pre-test it on a small area of skin well before the trip to avoid unexpected reaction problems during the trip.

Its reassuring to have the items from group 5 with you. But if you follow the other suggestions, you'll probably not need them .. except maybe at sheltered locations in the hour or two after sunset. To reduce absorbing chemical repellants into the skin, apply them only to hat brims, shirt collars and sleeve cuffs.

It isn't just Algonquin that goes through buggy summers. Its part of the great outdoors! All the little bugs are hatching, feeding, mating and reproducing before the bigger bugs and birds can get around to eating them!