[pct-l] bug question

[Kathi]

I don't remember where I read it, may have been a post from someone on 
this list or a book I read. There was a very scientific study done by 
the military on what would keep mosquitoes away. They learned that it is 
not a smell that keeps them away but an altering of the way they find 
food. So their little blood sucking receptors get scrambled when the 
come across something like deet. From what I remember they said it is 
the carbon dioxide that the mossies zero in on to find their "prey", 
same for ticks apparently. Deet scrambles their finding abilities so 
they don't really "know" that anything is there and if one gets you with 
a product like deet it is supposedly by sheer luck not because they 
could "find" you. The article I read claimed that garlic and citronella 
and all that other stuff and "home remedies" really didn't do anything 
to detract mosquitoes.

I personally think there might be something in a person's natural 
chemistry to keep mossies away. When I am by myself and unprotected I 
will have mosquitoes come after me, but if I'm with other people the 
mossies always go after them first and I might get 2 bites to another 
person's 20 bites. Guess my blood is just too sweet for 'em. :p
Kathi
>> Thanks for all the great responses everyone. :)
>>
>> I'm hearing that they can be anywhere, so plan to carry bug protection the
>> whole way.
>>
>> I already carry a bug net hat on most mountain hikes, but I don't always
>> carry the extra netting to make my shelter bug proof. I was planning to
>> remake a couple pieces of gear, so I might be able to lighten up my
>> shelter.
>>
>> Thanks again for the info folks :)
>>
>> On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 3:58 PM, Brick Robbins<brick at brickrobbins.com
>>> wrote:
>>> I found the most obnoxious were the Deer Flies in SoCal, bighting my
>>> through
>>> my shirt, and leaving big blood stains (my blood) when I squashed them.
>>>
>>> The "face flies" in the So-Cal oak forests were really annoying too,
>>   they
>>> didn't usually land on me, but just swarmed in front of my face, so they
>>> weren't a pkysical problem, except when I inhaled one.
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>>
>>
>> --
>> ~ Kevin
>> Soon To Be PCT Thru Hiker!
>> "The indoor life is the next best thing to premature burial." Edward Abbey
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