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Avoiding ticks and mosquitos

Since last summer was my first chasing bugs around the countryside, I wonder if you have any tips for avoiding ticks and mosquitos. Last summer I doused myself with bug spray every morning...and my deet levels must have been off the charts by the end of the summer. Even with the bug spray, sometimes I would come back with five or more ticks. It is HOT and Humid here in the summer and there is no way I could take photos with pants and long sleeved shirts....any suggestions?

My technique
I always wear long pants but generally do not wear long sleeves. The long pants are more so I can comfortably kneel down and take pictures without scraping up my knees. I go for the cargo style pants which also give me extra pockets to stash things in.

I don't usually have any problems with ticks. My dog may come home with a few (I always check her), but I generally feel them as they crawl up my neck and then I just grab them. I can't even recall the last time I actually had one take a bite out of me. Lyme disease is rare in the Southeast, so I don't worry too much about them anyway.

Mosquitos are a different story. They have ruined many otherwise fine days. My wife worries about me getting West Nile from mosquitos, but I understand the chances of that are pretty slim. I mostly just hate getting bitten and being constantly annoyed by them.

I always carry a little spray bottle of DEET in my photography vest pocket. I know that stuff is bad for me, so I avoid using it until I have to. I've read that anything more than 25% DEET will not be anymore effective but certainly increases your exposure. I try to find products with that concentration but usually I end up with the 100% stuff because I can't find the 25% stuff.

In the field I spray it on my palms and then rub it over my face, ears, neck and arms (generally the only exposed areas). I avoid above my lips and eyes because it runs when I sweat. Then I spritz my pants and try to wipe off as much as possible from my palms. DEET melts plastic so I don't want to have any on my palms when I touch my camera equipment. I don't spray up high for the same reason; it might drift onto my equipment.

I'm in Georgia so I sympathise with your hot and humid experience. I admit there are some days that I just can't motivate myself to go out in the heat.

By the way, you had a pretty awesome first year chasing bugs.

 
Repellant
There's some relevant information from the Canadian government here. Basically, higher concentrations of DEET last longer, but don't repel any better. Concentrations above 30% have been banned in Canada due to potential safety concerns.

I don't have much experience with ticks, but for biting flies, I think all you can really do besides using a repellant is build up a tolerance to them. Repellants don't stop them from buzzing around your head, which I find is the worst part of being attacked. They also don't work on tabanids, from what I've heard, although tabanids rarely bite me with or without repellant on). Most of my time outdoors is in the earlier part of the season (bird breeding time), when the flies are at their worst, but wearing long sleeves and a toque (to protect the top of my head) are still options. I don't know how conditions here compare to the south-east, but later summer here is much less buggy and I find short-sleeves and repellant used in bad habitats works for me.

 
Lyme disease
I had a lot of ticks last summer, but only three bites...and I think I caught them all within the 24 hour window (they say it takes about that long to transmit the disease). We had one neighbor girl get it this summer, which is what concerns me.

As for deet melting plastic...I had no idea. I will be much more careful this summer.

I did have a fun year chasing bugs, but some of the credit goes to the neighborhood kids. They all know I take bug photos and come running when they find something good. Also, I must live in bug central because they are EVERYWHERE here. I'm originally from Montana where there aren't nearly as many interesting bugs.

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