[pct-l] REPELLING MOSQUITOES AND TICKS/GARLIC

[Edward Anderson]

Yes, I realize that Zombies are really into garlic.
 
You are mistaken, Nate. Mosquitoes do NOT land on my ExOfficio clothes - much less than bite through them. They might hover just over the fabric and decide not to land. This has been my experience.
 
Now lets discuss garlic. While I have never tested it on mosquitoes, but do have an experience that proves that it works very well in repelling yellow jackets. 
 
Here is an incident that made me a believer:  I have done a lot of endurance horse racing in my past. This yellow jacket incident happened during the Swanton Pacific 100, which is run in the Santa Cruz mountains. (I have completed that race 11 times - it was a favorite). I was riding in the lead pack along with three women. We were about 23 miles into the race when I dropped beck to take a quick pee. As I remounted I heard the women riders SCREAMING. I guessed that it must be bees. This being a race, I had to move forward. The location turned out to be just before you had to cross "the slab" about 150' of angled rock that race management always warned riders to walk carefully over. That was the last place, while being stung, you would want to be riding dancing horses, who were being stung along with their riders. When I got there the women had crossed successfully, but I could hear them continue to scream in the distance. I crossed, and my horse and
 I were repeatedly stung. The yellow jackets, unlike bees, can sting over and over, and over. They got into my socks and stung my ankles. They got into my hair under the riding helmet and stung my scalp. They stung my neck. Yellow jackets actually followed us for several miles. When we got to the 35 mile vet check there were spent yellow jackets on us, especially under my horse's mane. 
 
Almost everyone (about 40 riders) got badly stung on that morning. But not everyone. After the race I was talking to a rider who DID NOT get stung. He had even paused at the slab and saw that the yellow jackets were coming from beneath a rock. What he told me was that he was an Italian. He said he eats lots of GARLIC. 
 
MendoRider-Hiker
 
 

________________________________
 From: Nathan Miller <erccmacfitheal at yahoo.com>
To: Jerry Goller <geartester at comcast.net>; "pct-l at backcountry.net" <pct-l at backcountry.net>; Edward Anderson <mendoridered at yahoo.com> 
Cc: Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes <diane at santabarbarahikes.com> 
Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2012 8:55 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] REPELLING MOSQUITOES AND TICKS
  
You could also try eating garlic...LOTS of garlic!  Mosquitoes have a very narrow range of smell.  Blocking and confusing their olfactory senses is the basis of repellents.  If they land on you, they'll still bite you, no matter what you're wearing, but they have to find you first!  With raw garlic, you also get all those other great health benefits!

-Nate the Trail Zombie