[pct-l] How to remove ear bugs

[Marcia]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Reinhold Metzger" <reinholdmetzger at cox.net>
To: "PCT" <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Marcia,  you probably could have  avoided  carrying that bug for 100
miles by tilting your head and pouring water into your ear.
The bug would then have to choose between drowning and crawling out and
they usually choose the later option.

Dr.Reinhold

The first idea we had was to try a photon light hoping the bug (it turned 
out to be a moth, too big to turn around and too stuck to back out) would go 
to the light. It fluttered which made me very dizzy. Second idea was water 
which resulted in more fluttering. Last idea was olive oil  which killed the 
bug, stopped the fluttering, but didn't slide it out the ear canal. I was 
happy to have the fluttering stop.

The Dr in Yellowstone flushed it out in pieces using thin catheter tubing 
with water pressure. He said that mine was the third bug-in-ear that he had 
flushed out that season.

The only tubing that we carried (we now have a steri pen) was that tubing on 
our water filter which is probably too thick to use for flushing.

I hope this doesn't happen to other hikers. But if it does, I hope they have 
tubing of some sort to use.