bugs mostly

[bookwormom]

this may have been covered, but after moving to this climate zone (KY) from one where the last snow is melting now on the northern exposures, I find bugs to be a plague. I spent sleepless nights last summer because I was so eaten up. you could have played connect the dot all over my body, turkey mites seem to be worst. at least that is what they call them here. I seriously doubt that it used to be that bad in the olden days. folks used to let their kids run barefoot all summer. My little grandson had socks and shoes on, spray, and still his little legs got so bitten up I was afraid his mom will never let him visit our homestead again. When I grew up I was a barefoot kid always in the woods and never saw a tick in all my years. Now you have to watch it, ticks are in abundance, and they make you sick. where did they all come from all of a sudden? so how do you protect yourself against those critters naturally? you can not take quarts of bugspray, I think the Indians of old would cry if they could come back and see what the woods look like.

[Archer]

Actually there are more insects, and "problem" weeds now than there ever has been.. the answer is fire, it was not all that long ago we had limited ability to put out wildfires.. a just a very short time before that we have NO ability to put out wildfires.. the only choice we had was to cut a fire break miles ahead and hope it worked.. there was a fire during the 1700s that burned for over 2 years, and it started in Mexico, and finally burned itself out 2 years later in Alaska..

SO remember to thank your local nature Nazi's for making sure both, you, and your Govt. is not allowed to manage natural resources in a manner more consistent with nature when you are pulling the yellow fever spreading ticks off your kids and yourself...

[nancy1340]

And Archer that has been going on for over 45 years. My in-laws in Christian County Mo had the deal with not being able to "burn" once a year. *


They never left the farm when they were doing a burn.

When they did a burn there was almost NO problem with ticks and chiggers.

[Mac_Muz]

Get even and ride a motorcycle ;D

I got my first dose of chiggers at the Hopewell mounds in Indy.... My little brother dies of mis-diagnoised Lymes, as he was one of the very first to contact it from deer ticks... he lived about 10 years after the bite... he suffered from all sorts of malidies due to it before death at 40 years old.

Lymes is a wretched disease...

[CarolAnn]

Mac Muz - so sorry to hear that about your brother. How awful to have first hand knowledge about Lymes!

I agree about burning - although when I first moved to Arkansas and heard a guy bragging how he set the woods on fire every year, I thought he was nuts. Later, I understood what he was doing. If you burn it a small bit at a time and keep it under control, you can keep both some weeds down and the bugs too. (And it also prevents wild fires if the dry stuff is controlled that way!)

We used to think that the bugs smell "fresh meat" because new commers to the country seemed to get bit the worst. Later, it's not quite so bad for some reason.

You learn not to use scented cologne, soap or deodorant, first of all. Carry a roll of tape to pick up ticks that are walking, as you can't squish them easily and if you brush them off they'll just get on you again. Fold the tape over on itself and they're stuck in there for good.

Some people think sprinkling sulphur in your clothes helps.

Brewers yeast and raw garlic in your diet (LOTS of both) are supposed to help give you an odor that bugs don't like. We fed both to the dogs, and that seemed to help them a little. I can only take so much raw garlic, but brewers yeast is pretty good on buttered popcorn!

DEET bug spray is supposed to help, but if you miss a spot, they'll find it.

[Mac_Muz]

Try un-scented body oil.... As a historical re-enactor i do my home brew paint with suntan lotion mixed with a little bear oil (cooking quaility) and earth pigments, from head to toe...

I find bugs stuck to me quite dead... maybe not too pretty, but in battle re-enactments pretty isn't much to worry about... So far as i know most bugs breath thur their body, and oiling that body killes them.

Something else I didn't know but native no doubt did is this oil cuts wind and water well, making me warmer even in Snow.... In upstate Ny the battle on snowshoes usually has snow and I dress very light for even that...

[bookwormom]

thanks all.

I am so sorry to hear about your little brother MacMuz.