After a lifetime of fishing and finding myself the primary target of every insect within stinging range, I have made it a point to investigate why insects bite, and more specifically, why insects bite ME in particular, sometimes to the exclusion of perfectly good warm-blooded creatures in my immediate vicinity, and how I can avoid their advances. Insects are especially bothersome in the spring, and biting bug populations can peak in May following a wet April in my neck of the woods. Here is what I learned:
Mosquitoes are considered public enemy number one by most anglers across the nation and there are some 240 species of the insect found in North America alone. For whatever reason, research has shown that the female mosquito, which does the biting and blood gathering to nourish the eggs she’s carrying, prefers her human hosts to be male. And, like her human counterpart, she is attracted by bright colors and drawn to sweet scents left behind by soaps, shampoos, aftershaves and deodorants. Even with only their female population on the prowl, the bugs have the numbers on us boaters; it’s estimated that the ratio of mosquitoes to humans in the United States is 42,000 to one.
As if mere mosquitoes aren’t bad enough, they represent just one of more than a million insect species in the world that first emerged from the ocean some 350 million years ago. That’s 349 million years before humans swam ashore and took back to the water in boats, and we’ve served as a food source or a pin cushion for many of them ever since. Black flies, deer flies, chiggers and “no-see-ums” round out the insect assortment most often assaulting boaters, for their own varied reasons.
Deterrents Then And Now
A thick coat of mud was an early bug barrier for primitives on the go by land or water, and once they were settled-in ashore, early anglers eventually figured out that the smoke from their cooking fires kept bugs at bay (many insects breathe through their wings, which get clogged-up with the minute particles that comprise smoke) and started using smoke-producing smudge pots when bugs got bad. In the same vein, some fishermen swear by a cheap, stinky stogie, “hot-boxed” to create a dense cloud of thick smoke.
When bugged by biting insects like mosquitoes, black flies or chiggers, most fishermen simply reach for one of more than 250 insect repellents available commercially, concoctions that come in sprays, creams, lotions or waxy sticks in scented or unscented formulas and more often than not are fueled with DEET, (diethyltoluamide) in concentrations from two to 100 percent.
In addition to insect repellents that rely on chemicals, there are physical barriers boaters can buy to keep between you and biting bugs. From simple mosquito netting to mesh bug-proof suits, there is a host of apparel and accessories now available for thwarting insects’ efforts. When cruising on buggy waterways, I always carry a mosquito net we bought at Pier 1 Imports that was designed for suspending over a bed. When we are anchored out or docked for the night, and bugs get bad, we drape it over the pontoon boat’s bimini top to cover the playpen. The mesh keeps bugs out but allows light in—and us to see out while still enjoying sitting on the deck. In the morning, we stuff the netting into a gallon-size Zip-Lock bag for easy storage.
Insect Attractants
Entomologists have learned that the most powerful attractant humans have to mosquitoes is the carbon dioxide (CO2) we emit through our skin and when we breathe. In fact, it is the CO2 that is given off by all warm-blooded creatures that alerts ‘skeeters to our presence. The insects can detect our delectable scent from as far as a half mile away, ringing the dinner bell for the females and their young.
For whatever reason, some of us humans give off a scent that is more attractive to biting bugs than that emitted by our peers, and men are usually more attractive to mosquitoes than women. That’s why some of us may be bugged while our boat-mates go unbothered. Studies have also shown that scented toiletries like shampoo, after-shave, perfume, deodorant and hair spray, as well as the color blue, are also especially attractive to mosquitoes. However, the hands-down favorite odor among biting insects such as mosquitoes is a chemical found in the CO2 emitted by exhaling bovines (grass-eating mammals such as cows), which is called Octenal. That’s reason enough for me not to anchor up near a feedlot or cattle pasture.
With regard to electronic “bug zappers,” which come in 12-volt models for boaters, that electrocute insects that are drawn to their distinctive, blue-hued light, their effectiveness as mosquito executors is in question, although they are proven insect attractors. A test performed on the devices by a television network news team recently resulted in some 10,000 bugs being “zapped” during a single Florida night, only eight of which were mosquitoes. To increase their effectiveness at attracting insect pests like mosquitoes, some bug-zappers now come with a paper tab or other “bait” device that has been treated with synthetic Octenal, in hopes the odor will attract more ‘skeeters to the electronic bug eliminators.
Non-Traditional Tactics
To thwart the advances of mosquitoes and black flies in Ontario’s bug-filled outback, a Canadian bush pilot I know swears by vitamin B1 or B12, which he starts taking a month ahead of any boat trip he plans to take into the Great North Woods. Ron Buck takes 500 mg of B1 or 1000 mg of B12 daily in tablet form, and claims a chemical reaction takes place to create a body odor that humans can’t detect, but insects avoid. Buck claims that bites he does get when on the B complex don’t itch as bad or for as long as those endured when he is not on the vitamins. A canoe guide I know says the best bug deterrent he knows of for long-term trips into buggy country is simply not bathing, which seems to agree with findings about toiletries’ attractiveness to insects.
Some of my boating friends use zinc in the same manner, ingesting up to 60 mgs per day in tablet form, which they say changes their body odor making them olfactorally unattractive to insects.
A fishing lodge owner I know in Northern Canada eats garlic to ward off bugs, and her housekeeping staff stuffs their pockets with Bounce fabric softener sheets when the mosquitoes get bad. The Bounce tactic is also used by some Great Lakes boaters to avoid small biting flies that hatch this time of the year and terrorize the ankles of anglers. The lodge owners said one of her regular guests takes the primitive mud-pack idea a step further and coats himself with a layer of Vicks Vapo-Rub to keep mosquitoes at bay before heading out for a day on the water.
The Bottom Line
Consumer Reports conducts in-depth tests of insect repellents every few years, and the most recent results of their work showed that repellents containing DEET, at various concentrations, continue to be the most effective at repelling mosquitoes. My own experiences reflect CU’s findings. When biting insects are merely bothersome, products such as Avon Skin So Soft, Badger Bug Balm, Natrapel and other non-deet-containing repellants can ward off insects for a while. But when the bugs get bad while I’m wetting a line from my pontoon boat, I want access to DEET.
