Mosquitoes in the Canadian Rockies

[jakub_jasinski3]

Are mosquitoes, black flies or other insects a big problem in

Canadian Rockies in mid-June? I apologize if this too off-topic but

perhaps not. Those who stood for hours behind their tripods know

that proper preparation can make a big difference.

TIA, Jakub

jasinski@scranton.edu

[john_shaeffer]

Start taking Vitamin B-1 (Thiamine Hydrochloride) at 100 mg. a day. The mosquitos will not both you then, but can't be sure about the others.

[stemked]

Not compared to other places I've been. I don't really recall any blackflies. It's been a while, but I don't recall mosquitos being all that bad, but then I used to live in Western Minnesota-30 seconds outdoors on a careless evening could leave you down a pint or two.

[bill_oneill]

There are some down at lower altitudes and mostly in the evening. I have rarley encountered a biting insect anywhere in Jasper, either in the spring or fall. I have visited the southern parks less often but don't remember anything troublesome in the way of biters.

[photomark]

It depends on the time of year. Unlike Bill, I have been swarmed to the point of

wanting to pull my hair out in Jasper. A little mosquito net for the head is very light

and cheap so it might be worth having around just in case.

[lawrence_smithers]

Bill has it right there are few biting flies of any kind in the Alberta Rocky Mountains. A few perhaps just as it is getting dark but very few during the day. My opinion is based on ten years spent at Banff and Kananaskis at the forest research station. There are Horseflies later in the summer during hot weather.Few if any deer flies and I dident see a barn fly in ten years. Blackflies hatch from running water while mosquitos from still. However I still think it would be a good idea to have some Deet with you just in case.

[david_henderson]

Admittedly in July, I have been bitten to the point of distraction

round lakes near Banff and Jasper. Equally I have ( or had)

transparencies with insects crawling round the edges of the

frame- clearly getting there while I was changing lenses or film.

Around Vermillion Lakes, just outside Banff, I several times gave

up trying to photograph because of swarms of black biting

insects. Even my hotel in Banff provided no relief, and I vividly

recall being bitten repeatedly whilst in the bar. I just can't

understand people saying there's no problem there. At no time

in my ten days there did I have fewer than fifty bites, but I have to

admit that my preparation was cursory. Banff was worse than

Jasper.

[les_gyug1]

Mosquitoes in the Cdn Rockies are never as bad as on the prairies or in the boreal forest. I base this on having worked and lived a number of years in both places. But their numbers in the rockies in any given year are related to the depth of winter snows and how long it takes to melt. When there is little snow at low elevations, and it melts quickly, and the snowmelt pools dry up quickly, there are few mosquitoes (but there are always some around permanent swamps and marshes). More snow, and slower melting means more mosquitoes, but still never, in my experience, as many as on the prairies. Some years you can spend all summer waltzing around in just a t-shirt (on days that are warm enough) and some years you need to cover up a lot more or slather on the DEET (which ends up melting plastic pieces on binoculars and cameras, so I tend to avoid it).

 

So, on the prairies or boreal forest, it seems every year is a bad year (with some really bad) but in the mountains it is much more hit and miss. Sometimes they can definitely drive you to distraction, but other times they are hardly noticeable.

 

Les Gyug