Tuesday, May 22, 2007

The Adirondack Air Force (AAF) has deployed

Black flies are at their worst during late spring and early summer. They swarm in large numbers and look to penetrate your clothing to take chinks out of your skin. They will climb up your leg to the area just above your sock and leave a nice ring of red dots that itch like the blazes. Or they will attack your neck just above your collar and do the same. Failing that, they might get inside your shirt between the buttons, or fly in your eyes, ears or nose. If you breathe through your mouth, be prepared to swallow a few. Keep your pant legs tucked into your socks/boots, your shirttail in your pants, your sleeves inside your work gloves, and a hat/bandana down over your ears and the nape of your neck if you want to avoid most of the bites. There’s a reason the old timers used to where their long johns right through June! Once we have a week or two of temperatures in the mid-70s or low 80s they are about done. Unfortunately, that’s when the deer flies appear.

Deer flies are larger than the black flies but not so numerous. They can arrive silently upon your hand (usually your knuckles) and take a chop that would do a Rottweiller proud. They are fairly territorial, however, and sit in the shrubbery along the side of the trail waiting for a large mammal to pass. Then they will swoop out and buzz around your head (and hands) looking for a point of attack. If you stand still, you’re lunch. If you keep on walking, they may drop back to their favorite perch and leave you alone—or, at least, leave you to the next deer fly along the trail. The good thing about deer flies is that they make a large target for your swatting hand. The bad thing is that, once you’ve managed to swat one, you really, really need to stomp on that sucker. If you don’t, it’ll be back to get you. They were the original models for the Terminator. The deer flies at the Bolt Hole seem to disappear around the middle of August. (More on why they disappear later.)

Mosquitoes rise out of the grass, little tiny pools of water in hollows of trees, puddles, streams, lakes, buckets and old tires just as soon as the water melts. They are surgical in their attack. While the black flies and deer flies seemingly want you to know your being attacked, the mosquito slides that proboscis into your skin with a delicate touch that will leave you wondering (but only for a moment) when you got bit and by whom. You can hear the mosquito as it tries to select a vein to tap. The high-pitched buzz of the wings may make it seem to be right in your ear. This may also give you a false sense of being able to swat them out of the air; after all, they seem to be moving so, so slowly. Unfortunately, like fruit flies, mosquitoes have access to warp technology that allows them to slip between realities. When you swat at them, they merely slip between the folds of time and space to emerge where your hand or swatter isn’t. Luckily, mosquitoes are only a threat in the twilight hours. They are seldom, if ever, out and about during the day. Which is good because you’re already busy with the black flies and deer flies! I have found that they also tend to disappear several hours after sunset. Perhaps because the temperatures in and about the Bolt Hole drop quite rapidly once the sun goes down. Or maybe it’s the bats.

No-see-ums are a scourge. I’ve no idea what humans did to deserve these tiny little beasties, but I will gladly join with you to scream at the heavens, “Enough, all ready!” As the name suggests these are really, really tiny flies with really, really sharp biting parts. Usually the first indication that they are about is a bite that feels like a student nurse practicing her acupuncture techniques with a dull needle upon your arm or (should you be so foolish as to be wearing shorts in the Adirondacks) leg. They are so small they can easily pass through the screen on your window or tent, so there is no place you can go to escape them. They are so small that their flight is totally silent, so there is no warning of the impending attack. They are so small that, unlike black flies or mosquitoes and certainly deer flies, they do not disturb the fine hairs on you skin as they land. Thus, their bite seems even far more painful for being inflicted without warning—often while you are in bed inside your home/tent. They only attack at night and are usually drawn to the lights in your room or tent. If you have a campfire or gas lantern, the CO2 given off by these sources will distract them.

What defenses can we mere humans have against these bloodsuckers? There are several.

We could try avoidance. Move as far away from water as possible. This would get us away from the mosquitoes, black flies and no-see-ums, all of which need moisture (as well as your blood) to lay eggs for future generations. Unfortunately, there is nowhere in the Adirondacks that is more than a short distance from any water.

We can encourage the natural predators of these pests. Bats eat mosquitoes like baseball players eat sunflower seeds. Each individual bat will eat thousands of mosquitoes each night. So cheer them on when you see them swooping and diving in the twilight and remember they will continue to gorge on mosquitoes all night long. Frogs, toads and some tadpoles eat mosquitoes and mosquito larvae. Dragonfly larvae will also eat mosquito larvae. Adult dragonflies eat deer flies and black flies on the wing. Near the end of June I start to see one or two swooping over the lawn. By August, I have a dozen or more that show up when I start the lawn mower to dart and dive at the insects that I stir up or that come to feed on me. They seem to favor the larger deer flies and you can see them eating on the wing as they carry one about in the cage made from their six legs. On the avian side of the ledger we have the flycatchers and kingbirds, the Eastern Phoebe, Chimney Swifts, and swallows. I have several Least Flycatchers in the area around the house and currently have an Eastern Phoebe building a nest over one of the windows. I’ve often seen Tree Swallows resting on the wires that run along the road. And Chimney Swifts appear from who knows where to join the bats in the evening.

Then there is the chemical/biological approach. Foggers might be justified if you don’t intend to go anywhere, but they are indiscriminant and will kill many a “good” bug as well as the bad. Besides, they really don’t reach very far into the woods and the “bad” guys will just reoccupy the emptied areas in a day or two. Tikki torches and citronella candles have a similarly small range and are practically worthless if there is any kind of breeze blowing. A substance called Screen Proof can be sprayed on your screens to keep no-see-ums out. Actually, it turns your screens into flypaper and traps the little buggers as they try to get through. Unfortunately, it also traps dust and this clogs your screeds over time. If you have a private pond or pool near your home, there are mosquito control cakes you can purchase that release a predatory nematode that feeds on mosquito larvae. But it is a big world out there and there are numerous sites that mosquitoes use to breed from beaver ponds, to little puddles in the mud made by loggers or ATV enthusiasts, to hollows in plants and trees that collect water for just a week or two. You won’t get them all.

DEET is the most effective deterrent. Sprayed on your clothes and a hat, scarf, or bandana it can keep the bugs from biting. They will still swarm around you and create an annoyance but they won’t land to bite. Any insect repellant that contains DEET (the higher the percentage, the better) is worth its weight in gold.

Or you can accept the inevitable.

When I was younger, I was very allergic to stinging and biting insects. So allergic was I that as a toddler, I nearly died from my second bee sting. As a teen I was again stung and almost died. That was when I began my series of desensitization shots. It took several years of getting stuck by a doctor’s needle before I was no longer allergic to bee stings. I’ve been stung since with no ill effects. The first time, I stepped in a yellow jackets nest while in the woods and got stung 10-20 times. I walked out of the woods to find a state trooper’s car next to mine. I explained my situation (this was the first time I was stung since I ended the shots, yadda, yadda, yadda) and we sat and talked for a half hour waiting for a reaction. Didn’t happen. As a result, I went to get shots for biting insects. (I used to blow up like a balloon if bitten by a mosquito or deer fly.) I got six different series of shots over four years, and today I barely notice the mosquito bite or even the deer fly bite. Oh, they still hurt immediately after the bite but there is little itching or swelling associated with the bite. The same goes for the no-see-um. But the blankety-blank black fly! The doctor must not have had a serum for that one. When they bite me, it will be a week before the itching and swelling fade away. By then I may have scratched down to the bone! Funny thing is, this only happens in May. By the time June has rolled around, the black fly bite has much less effect upon me. Whether that’s because I have build up an immunity or the black flies are growing weaker or whatever the reason, I am thankful that I can get through the last few weeks of their abundance with out looking like someone went wild with a red Sharpie and left little red spots all over my arms and legs. All I have to worry about is the occasional fly in the ear or nose and the extra protein in my diet as I walk behind the lawnmower.

The AAF does have its good side, however. Whenever someone wants to move up here, they need to consider two things: the snow and cold of winter and the Adirondack Air Force in the summer. Surprising how many flatlanders decide they’d rather live elsewhere.

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