Mosquito repellents while shooting

[mark_graf]

This one is probably indirectly related to Nature Photography, but I am sure it is something we all have to contend with. I was in Michigan's Upper Penninsula last month hiking various locations with camera and tripod in hand. Despite the many repellents that I had handy, the mosquitoes made sitting still unbearable at times. I was just wondering what methods some of you use to repell these annoying little critters.

 

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I have recently heard about some electronic repellents. Have any of you used one of these? Also wonder if anyone has used garlic supplements or brewer's yeast with any success. I found I just end up smelling like garlic! Please share any successes you might have had...

[frederick_thurber]

Try some of the mosquito netting outfits. There are integrated shirts and headnets available along with pants and

gloves. The problem is focusing through the netting; autofocus

helps.

[don_baccus]

Out in the Great Basin, we have mosquitos which have been mistaken for B1 bombers...

 

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I always wear long pants and shirt when in an area thick with them, old clothes that I can liberally dose with Deet. I use spray Off! in its heavier duty concentration - studies have shown that concentrations around 40-45% are as effective as the 95% jungle-juice strength liquid concentrates for mosquitos, and the spray is much easier to apply to evenly all over your old clothes. I also do my hat, back of my hands, and will rub a little on my forehead and cheeks.

 

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Note that Deet's really bad for plastics. I rinse any deet off the insides of my hands before picking up my camera after dosing myself.

 

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I only do this when the 'skeets are very, very thick. Normally, I just grin and bear it - itching the bites is cheap evening entertainment in camp.

[bobatkins]

DEET is supposed to be the only <em>real</em> solution, though

since it's potentially toxic and dissolves plastic. I hate to

smear it on myself (or get it on my equipment). When it's really

bad. I wear a head net. Not much fun but 100% effective. I also

use a Citronella based repelent. It sort-of works OK, but probably

not as well as DEET would.

 

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I believe there have been some scientific studies which showed that

the only thing that really worked was DEET. The electronic gadgets

didn't do much (they even attracted mosquitoes at times!).

 

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I was shooting some lady-slippers in Maine earlier this year. The

mosquitoes were so bad that in a significant number of frames, there

are highly visible mosquitoes on and around the flowers! It was

so bad I finally decided I didn't need any more lady-slipper shots

and gave up!

[hans_buchholdt]

I think things like insect repellent are directly related to nature photography.

 

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The Alaskan mosquitoe is world famous, and cannot be mistaken for lesser insects that live elsewhere, and I've been battling them all my life.

 

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The electronic repellents work to a point, about the same as keeping one of those incense type repellents burning, except they use batteries that always seem to need replacing.

 

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Things like DEET work, but I hate the stuff. I've become a real fan of the Citronella based Aloe Vera creams. THEY WORK. Also, the AMWAY product "Skin so soft" works real well, but no one seems to know why.

 

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Long pants and gloves, etc, of course. Whatever you have to do....smoke cigarettes..

[james_r_babb]

Well, I live, fish, and shoot in Maine and spend a lot of time doing the same in places like Labrador, Ungava, and NWT, and the best avoidance system I've found is a bug jacket made from tight-knit cotton with mesh ventilation panels combined with thin gloves and 40% Deet (all the Inuit I know seem to like Deep Woods Off). The all-mesh bug jackets, I found to my sorrow on a week-long float trip down the Levefre River in Ungava PQ, don't work; they tear, they rip, and wherever the mesh stretches across you body, the skeeters bite right through.

Wear long, tightly knit pants (skeeters bite right through blue jeans) with your cuffs tucked into your boots. After a few days you hardly notice them.

[steve_bingham]

BEWARE!

 

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I lost all the markings off the top of my Nikon 8008s due to "OFF" repellent. Get it in your fingers, play with the various mode buttons, and PRESTO, the lettering disappears!!!!!!!!!!

 

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Steve

[mark_graf]

Thank you everyone for the tips. It seems as though I have been using all the common methods to keep those suckers away. I have seen an electronic repellent that uses solar power to charge its cells, that may elimiinate the need to replace batteries.

 

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I guess I will stick with the SKIN-SO-SOFT and DEET mixtures. Thanks again for the responses, this board is truly a valuable resource to many nature photograhers out there.

[don_baccus]

Bob mentions that studies have shown that only DEET is really effective, I cited a study that mid-strength concentrations are as effective as the 95% "jungle juice" types. I've seen a survey - New Scientist, perhaps? it's been a while, and I forget - which summarized what both Bob and I are saying, based on actual studies.

 

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I didn't mention citronella and skin-so-soft because any effect they have is minor, and I thought the myths surrounding these products had sort of dropped aside. In actual studies (you know, the kind where researchers dose themselves, expose their skin to known numbers of mosquitos in a confined space, then count the welts afterwards), DEET has been shown to be by far the most effective. I had the interesting experience this spring of seeing a couple of friends give citronella a try, and the Great Basin mosquitos just ignored the stuff. Skin-so-soft is supposed to be mildly effective, but no where near as good as DEET.

 

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There are some lightable sticks for use in camp which are based on some sort of chemical (not citronella candles, which are useless) and they actually seem to work, though I'm more wary of breathing chemicals than putting them on my skin!

[sean_donnelly]

I use REI's Jungle Juice (95% DEET). I have never had a mosquito bite, tick, or chigger on skin to which I've applied it. To avoid damage to equipment, I don't apply it to my hands, and I get bitten there despite my reeking of DEET.

[chelsea]

I read in a hunting magazine a few years ago that if you take Vitamin B1 every day (*sorry --don't remember the dosage) for about 2 weeks before going into the wilderness, it puts a smell into your bloodstream that mosquitoes and other insects dislike, cutting down on the numbers that bite you. (No, I haven't effectively tested it, kept forgetting to take the vitamin every day.) Also, avoid foods like bananas and alcohol, they put a sweet smell into your bloodstream that attract insects. Certain perfumes in shampoos, deodorants, etc. can also attract insects, as well as some types of detergents and softeners used in laundering clothes. There is a type of geranium called "mosquito plant" that puts out a citronella-like smell. I have rubbed the leaves of the plant over my clothes, it does help to cut down on mosquitoes a bit. I do NOT use the commercial chemical bug sprays containing DEET when I'm headed out with the cameras, I always end up getting it on my hands no matter how careful I am, and certainly don't want to take any chances of it getting into contact with the camera gear when I don't know what affect it may have.

[james_r_babb]

Don't put Deet on your hands if you'll be handling plastic (as in most camera bodies). Even if you keep it on the backs of your hands, it'll find its way onto your equipment.

 

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Wear gloves. The LoweProw photographer's gloves work perfectly for black flies and no-see-ums (which are chewers) and are OK for nondetermined mosquitoes (which drill through the fabric). If the skeeters are really bad, wear a pair of surgical gloves beneath them.

[dan_smith]

Maybe if we carried a CO2 fire suppressor & hosed the air & froze the little suckers. Then we could also photograph ice crystals on the frogs & birds. Or maybe a flamethrower & tell our audience the photos are from the summer of fire in Yellowstone or from inside Mt. St. Helens? I'll bet there is a REAL solution out there. Probably invented by the same guy who did the carburetor that gets 325 miles per gallon & was bought out by the oil companies. So OFF and others bought his solution & we all suffer. If you drink a lot do the mosquitoes get so drunk on your blood that they can't find you to bite again?

[stanley_mcmanus]

I remember reading about John Shaw having his fingerprint prermantly etched into a polycarbinate camera body due the the effects of DEET on plastic.

 

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Perhaps I should have posted this message under one of the "how to prevent stolen equipment" threads. :)

[stanley_mcmanus]

Put some insect repellant on your thumb and press it against your plastic body camera.

 

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You now have it permanently ID'd you camera!

[chelsea]

Spring 1998 -- Update on the vitamin B1: I've been taking 100 mg pills of vitamin B1 every day for 2 weeks now, and it has been very effective on Ontario blackflies. I usually get shredded about this time every year when the clouds of varmints show up, but have only had one or two bites each day while I've been working outdoors. In fact, while there have been other people anywhere near me, the flies buzzed around them and left me alone. I have not had to use any other form of insect repellent. I shall continue taking the B1 and see how it works on the mosquitoes.

[james_harrison]

I agree with Rose-Marie on the B-1 and since the season is upon us, why not add more to this thread? This is not a commercial...

 

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REI's Jungle Juice PLUS (not the same as Jungle Juice, the 95% Deet mentioned above, which is great for non-synthetic clothes) works very well against just about anything you can think of that bites. It is a lotion-based mix (less than 20% Deet) that SHOULD be safe to put on your skin. Unlike Deet, it doesn't soak into your skin so it doesn't have to be reapplied as often. You can put it on exposed skin and wash your hands before going out to shoot. The down-side? It costs about $4 for a small tube.

 

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(A NOTE: If you are using a bonding type sun-block with a repellent, put the sunblock on before the repellent. The sun-block works under the top layer of skin, lotion-type repellents work on top of the skin.)

 

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One more thing, eating or drinking anything containing mostly sugar (i.e., as much as this hurts, Coca-Cola) will definitely make you the blood-source d'jour.

[kferris575]

DEET is available in a roll on that will allow you to apply it to specific areas. I have found this helpful when you are trying to keep it off your gear.

[anthony_wong]

This is great info, but I'm wondering if mosquito repellants and other scents spook animals that you may be trying to photograph. I'm new to nature photography but my father took me hunting when I was young (I don't like hunting, but I went to be with my dad and I love the outdoors) and claimed that scent was an important factor in getting close to the animals. Any comments?

[chris_varner1]

"I'm new to nature photography but my father took me hunting when I was young (I don't like hunting, but I went to be with my dad and I love the outdoors) and claimed that scent was an important factor in getting close to the animals. Any comments?"

 

Anthony, your father is correct about scent and hunting. I, however, have regularly photographed in Fed/state parks, NWR and on a deer/fishing lease (although not during deer season because buck fever will get a photographer killed). On the hunting lease, the deer are accustomed to being shot at and flee at the snap of a twig, any movement, or scent of a predator. I have NEVER photographed a game animal on this lease, regardless of time of year, although I have photographed lizards, snakes, owl, armadillo, coyote, and hare. Federal and state parks and NWR are totally different. I have always tried to stay in the animal's plain view, never worn camouflage, usually had a variety of human scents on me and have even been known to sing to Pronghorns to get them to investigate why anything which sings so poorly would do so. I have photographed all kinds of animals under these conditions.