Bugs! (Kennebunk, Wells, Pembroke: home, rated, properties)

[Abbymoulton]

In Florida my hubby puts one dryer sheet in his pocket and the mosquitos stay away. When we get up there I am going to try that on the Black flies. It REALLY does work on mosquitos. Worth a try.

[CapeCodder]

Originally Posted by NewDad

Oh Wow, sounds pleasant!

Originally Posted by Abbymoulton

In Florida my hubby puts one dryer sheet in his pocket and the mosquitos stay away. When we get up there I am going to try that on the Black flies. It REALLY does work on mosquitos. Worth a try.

Really? I'm going to try that! The skeeters were bad here last spring.

I had one black fly bite all season, I looked down and I was bleeding, never felt a thing. You know it took a month for that bite to heal all the way?

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Abbymoulton

In Florida my hubby puts one dryer sheet in his pocket and the mosquitos stay away. When we get up there I am going to try that on the Black flies. It REALLY does work on mosquitos. Worth a try.

I have tried it.

[CapeCodder]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

I have tried it.

did it work?

[Submariner]

I think that they did repel a layer of skeeters about as well as one ultra-sonic key ring works.

In the summer, on the river, during the late afternoons, the skeeters come out in layers of thickness. That first layer can be chased away using an ultra-sonic key ring, or a laundry sheet under my hat hanging out over my ears and collar.

Either method will form a primary light-weight bubble or shield of 'protection', shielding you from the un-focused accidental skeeter.

But you need to be seriously heading back to the house, before they get their cousins.

Dawdle and the cloud will thicken around you, they will force they way through that bubble, and the survivors will feast on you like a pack of hungry wolves.

A coffee can with an inch of diesel in it, with a knotted rag in it, set aflame will keep skeeters back for a small perimeter.

We do stuff down by the river in the mornings and mid-day, but we plan our days to stay away from the riverfront when the sun gets low and the skeeters come out. I have tried a few times with different things, but in those circumstances you need to wear a mesh hooded shirt.

They will sting me right through a regular shirt. Commonly when my shirts shift around on my shoulders the skeeters get stuck and can't pull out their straw, so my blood pumps them up really large and they burst. Wearing long sleeves may be fine for the first thin cloud of skeeters, but as their cloud gets thicker, long sleeves do not work any more. You need the mesh.

Dope, DEET, laundry sheets, ultra-sonics, oils [citronella, eucalyptus, lemongrass, peppermint, etc], smoking a pipe or cigar, Permethrin clothing; are all good things. They all work some.

A lot of homes have cleared the brush back 100' away from the house. No puddles anywhere, and they can enjoy the lawns in the immediate area of their house all day long. At night they need a propane-fueled skeeter killer lamp-post, if they are going to entertain outside. Those homes are virtually skeeter free.

We live in a forest, next to a creek, near a river bank. So we see the skeeters a bit thicker.

[mensaguy]

Originally Posted by NewDad

How do you guys and gals up there deal with the black flies? I've heard horror stories but I've never experienced black flies before.

I'm from the south so I know how bad mosquitoes can be here especially in the wetland areas.

Could some of you outdoorspersons enlighten me on the black fly scoop? What are the worst months and how do you deal with them while hiking and such? Are they really that bad?

Thanks

The easiest way to deal with the Black Flies is to stay in Eastport. The Black Flies seem to prefer the mainland, and very few mosquitoes come into town either. I like it that way. Of course if you choose to "join 'em" you could apply for membership in the Maine Black Fly Breeders' Association. They have an annual meeting at the Puffin' Pines in Whiting.

[Mainer61]

No problem with black flies in Rockport or Pembroke. Look out if you go to Warren...YOW!!!

[gussie]

There are plenty of Blackflies in Pembroke.. at least in 2005 there were. And ticks!!!!! They were the worst!!! I had a white chihuahua and I let her out. When I brought her back in after 10 minutes I thought she was covered in burrs. I attempted to remove them.. They were not burrs but she was coated with mosquitoes and her white coat was covered in blood. I bought a mosquito magnet.. that was a joke!!!!!!!

[Mainer61]

Never seen a tick in Pembroke in 3 years. Mosquitoes are bad sometimes in wooded areas, though

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by gussie

There are plenty of Blackflies in Pembroke.. at least in 2005 there were. And ticks!!!!! They were the worst!!! I had a white chihuahua and I let her out. When I brought her back in after 10 minutes I thought she was covered in burrs. I attempted to remove them.. They were not burrs but she was coated with mosquitoes and her white coat was covered in blood. I bought a mosquito magnet.. that was a joke!!!!!!!

Around here the blackfly will bite the dogs ears, inside the ears so the blood flows down the ear-hairs. I inspect the dog's ears and what I find will be long strings of dried blood caked to each ear-hair.

I am not familiar with ticks making blood flow like that.

Skeeters will commonly get stuck while sucking, for whatever reason they can't stop the blood flowing into the straw, they keep inflating and they blow-up and you get a big blood smear. I get that all the time when they sting me through a shirt, if the shirt shifts on the shoulders, the skeeters get stuck like that.