BS: Insects in tents

20 Aug 01 - 05:14 AM (#531637)
Subject: Insects in tents
From: Cas

What is the best way of dealing with insects esp daddy long legs in tents?

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20 Aug 01 - 05:38 AM (#531638)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: paddymac

Ignore them. "Daddy Long Legs" are about the most harmless creatures in creation, unless you're one of the bugs they feed on. However, if they are truly a bother, just lift them up on a piece of paper or something similar and gently evict them. They would probably appreciate the favor.

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20 Aug 01 - 05:39 AM (#531639)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: nutty

Remember Cas, when you are camping you are intruding on the habitat of certain insects and will never be able to fully get rid of them.
Firstly I would suggest buying a tent with a fly screenso that even if it is very hot you always have a barrier between the insects and yourself.

Secondly , you can spray the tent with insect spray when you close it up for the day so it will be insect free when you return in the evening.

Thirdly (this is my prefered option) understand that apart from wasps, tne majority of insects offer no danger at all, particularly the crane fly (daddy-long legs).

The easiest way of dealing with wasps is to mix a little jam,sugar of fruit puree with water in a jam jar and place it in the open a short distance from your tent.The wasps will much prefer that to the scent of you. Also if you must use hairspray, deoderant,showergel etc , make sure that its fragrance free - and NEVER WEAR PERFUME.
if you smell like a flower ,you can't blame the insects for getting confused.

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20 Aug 01 - 06:13 AM (#531647)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Ella who is Sooze

daddy long legs, just show them the way out...

Or if like me on a recent camping excursion, I awoke to find two of the biggest mosquitos I have ever seen in my life, hanging upside down from the top of the inside of my tent. Quickly despatch them, and don't give them a chance for a second appeal. YIKES!

I got bitten so much that weekend!

These were the buffalo sized versions of mosquitos and I had my own personal mosquito possy all weekend.

Also went to start teaching a bodhran workshop at the festival I was at, took my instrument out of its flightcase. And out trailed, one huge spider, several other critters, and an odd looking wee chap...

Hmmm!

Ella

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20 Aug 01 - 06:17 AM (#531648)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Crazy Eddie

Also went to start teaching a bodhran workshop at the festival I was at, took my instrument out of its flightcase. And out trailed, one huge spider, several other critters, and an odd looking wee chap
Ella, would "the odd looking wee chap" have been a banjo player you met the previous evening? Eddie, grinningrunning&ducking

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20 Aug 01 - 07:46 AM (#531670)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Cas

My tent is medieaval 15 ft diameter and 11ft high. not tall enough to reach up and grab from roof. Im not scared of insects... just wondered if anyone had ever been more inventive than most in the removal of options!

Thanks... I ll look out for stray banjo players

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20 Aug 01 - 08:28 AM (#531685)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Jeri

You can try mosquito netting. You'll need a sort of framework to hang it from, and make sure it's tucked in under your bedding. It won't keep insects out of the tent, but it will stop you from having unwanted sleeping partners. (Although I think some banjo players might be able to find their way through a mosquito net.)

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20 Aug 01 - 08:46 AM (#531694)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Ella who is Sooze

banjo players are very deft and inventing... they also have lots of cunning plans...

Crazy Eddie - you don't happen to play banjo do you...

mad things!

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20 Aug 01 - 09:07 AM (#531701)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Crazy Eddie

"I have a plan so cunning, you could put a tail on it, and call it a weasel" E. Blackadder.

No Ella, I don't play banjo, but I just couldn't let your "odd looking wee chap" go by without comment, and somehow a banjo player just came to mind.

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20 Aug 01 - 09:15 AM (#531706)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Gary T

If it's an old-fashioned canvas tent that doesn't zip shut all the way around the doors, it's essentially impossible to keep all the critters out.

If it's a more modern tent of nylon or other non-canvas fabric, DO NOT apply insect spray to in or on the tent. It can dissolve the waterproofing and weaken the fabric.

You might be able to find a short broom for getting the bugs out of the high reaches of the tent. We have one that looks like a whiskbroom with a three-foot handle.

And now for the technicalities--daddy long legs, also known as harvestmen, are arachnids rather than insects. There is an insect known as the crane fly (they look like gigantic mosquitoes), but it is no relation to the daddy long legs.

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20 Aug 01 - 11:33 AM (#531798)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Grab

A solution. There's things called mosquito coils, which you burn. A coil is about the size of your palm, and the instructions say to leave it burning, but in fact you only need an inch of coil for a 2-person tent, or maybe a couple of inches per compartment in a frame tent. We bought a pack of this stuff for use in Scotland against the midges, and we maybe used a coil in a fortnight (box contains 6 coils IIRC for £5).

The plan is, you get into your tent (along with insects), zip everything up, and then light the coil. It doesn't flame, but you don't want hot ash burning the groundsheet; best plan is to rest it on a fork (or on the little stand they provide), inside a billycan lid. 10-15 minutes later, the stuff's burned down, the tent's got this joss-stick smell (the smell gets right into your clothes and sleeping bag BTW), and all the insects that came in with you are dead. As Gary says though, if the tent inner doesn't have an integral groundsheet and the zip doesn't close, you're SOL. This stuff doesn't smell too good, and it kills insects, so you probably don't want to leave a coil burning away in an enclosed space like a tent.

It also helps to deter insects in less sealed environments. In a villa in Greece, we used about half a coil per room per night, in a high-ceilinged villa, which didn't stop all the mossies but certainly reduced the number of bites.

Why bother with daddy-long-legs though? They're easy to catch and return outside. Failing that, a newspaper is effective.

Graham.

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20 Aug 01 - 11:51 AM (#531809)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: GUEST

Shoes...BIG HEAVY shoes.

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20 Aug 01 - 12:03 PM (#531824)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: GUEST

There is a good chance the "buffalo sized" mosquitoes were actually non-biting crane flies. As for insects intents, I find it very difficult to decipher. Maybe it's those compound eyes. You never really know if they are looking at you or not.

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20 Aug 01 - 12:10 PM (#531831)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: harpgirl

I consider myself an expert on this subject! DLL's are welcome to share my lodgings as long as they don't crawl on my face or arms. They can be reasoned with as they are quite sentient. Just tell them your terms!

Mosquitoes are horribly little creatures! They spread diseases such as West Nile Virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Malaria and who knows what else. They are bloodthirsty little animals and they should be murdered!!!! They do not deserve to live!!!

Brown Recluse spiders love to hide in shoes and sometimes sleeping bags. Check yours vigorously before retiring. They eat holes in your flesh.

Earwigs are just annoying and do not really bore into one's ears. They can be swept out or get a chicken to hang around your tent.

Scorpions also like shoes. Watch out in Florida! Their poisonous sting will make you miserable. Carry Benadryl.

No see-ums have no natural enemies and will consume you in the South (and all over the rest of your body) regardless of what netting you use.

House flies also like tents, forecastles, and any place with sweating bodies. They should also be murdered! They are tone deaf and always play one off-key note! Murder them!

Hope this helps! I would still rather sleep outdoors though. The whipporwills, hawks and owls and the wind along the riverbank, you know....harpgirl

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20 Aug 01 - 03:40 PM (#531977)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: harpgirl

...omigod I forgot Fireants!!! Make sure you don't pitch your tent on top of a fireant mound. They will bite and sting the hell out of you. Look for mounds of red clay or sand. Some folks are allergic. They are all over Florida. Sugar ants (picnic ants) bite but they don't hurt much...

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20 Aug 01 - 04:10 PM (#531993)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: sledge

HA! daddy long legs, mosies Ha! I say again.

In the past week our camp has been visited by Sand vipers, several type of scorpian and camel spiders.

For those who have never met a camel spider you are lucky, while not venemous as such they can deliver a painful bite. This however is the good bit, they are without doubt the ugliest multi-legged beasty on the face of the planet, Huge legs, huge teeth things, beady eyes pulsing body and a sort of off white, three week old corpse coloration.

A quick search on the web should provide a picture or two of them. Dung beetles are almost cuddly after those things.

Cheers and sleep well, don't forget to check under the bed.

Sledge

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20 Aug 01 - 04:50 PM (#532012)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Liz the Squeak

Guest, finally we agree on something other than the size of my arse (sorry if that wasn't you, it's what you get for posting anonymously....).

To quote from a bug, in 'A Bugs' Life', "Squish 'em".

Using anti bug candles is a good idea, but position them some way away from the tent entrance. Don't leave a light on in the tent, it will attract the big fuzzy ones.

And that is a mosquito, not me on my motorbike doing the wall of death around the tent..... although the sound is similar....

LTS

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20 Aug 01 - 04:51 PM (#532015)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Jeri

Sledge, where the heck are you?! (Or will you have to kill me if you tell?) When I went to Kuwait, I had instructions to try to grab a camel spider, stick it into a jar of alcohol and mail it back to an entomolgist. I got the feeling I might need a whip and a chair to do this. Never saw one.

Why do I think Harpgirl's tent at a festival must sound like "smack, smack, shake-shake-shake, buk-buk-buk-bukAAAWWWWK (that was the chicken), STOMP, STOMP, BAM!!!!"

To keep things out of your shoes, stuff socks in them. Make sure your sleeping bag/bedroll is closed up when you're not in it.

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20 Aug 01 - 04:52 PM (#532016)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Kim C

Is a crane fly the same thing as what we call a Skeeter-Eater?

I have lived in the south all my life and never been consumed by no-see-ums.

I like Burt's Bees insect repellent - lemongrass oil, basically. It works well for me, although some people don't like it.

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20 Aug 01 - 05:13 PM (#532023)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Sorcha

Camel spider at the bottom of the page..........yuck!

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20 Aug 01 - 06:48 PM (#532079)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: harpgirl

ewww...that is disgusting! Hey, I had a boyfriend once who ate and ate and ate until his body was bloated and he couldn't move!

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20 Aug 01 - 07:12 PM (#532088)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Mudlark

Not a pretty sight, the camel spider/wind scorpion. I don't have those (I HOPE) but I do have tarantulas all over the place, black widows and recluse spiders. But the worst bite I've ever had, am just getting over, in fact, was from an assassin bug, member of the cone nose family (NOT related to my own tribe, the big nose family). Very nasty bite, arm swelled alarmingly, ran a fever, the works....was glad I didn't hear until it had somewhat subsided, that it often puts people in intensive care.... Makes DLLs seem pretty tame, in comarison. Think the short broom idea the best...years ago when we did a lot of camping seems we found a broom scaled to tent size in a camping store....or maybe a toy store....

Happy camping!

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20 Aug 01 - 07:25 PM (#532096)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Little Hawk

That camel spider is a seriously ugly critter! I saw some scorpions in Cuba, but the camel spider is far uglier.

You've had all the sensible suggestions about keeping insects out of your tent. Here are some less sensible ones:

1. Set the tent on fire. All the insects will either flee or be consumed in the flames. Presto. No insects.

2. Use a hand grenade. Pull the pin and throw the grenade into the tent, taking cover behind your car or a large tree trunk. Insects will be eliminated.

3. Tent above the snowline, a la Edmund Hilary. Very few if any insects will ever be found in your tent.

4. Place tent inside a microwave, and put on "cook" for at least 5 minutes. Any insects found afterward can safely be eaten.

5. Immerse tent in water for 5 minutes. Kills most kinds of insect pests. Boiling water is more effective.

6. Fold tent up and run over it with a road flattening machine several times. Insects will be squashed.

7. Rig tent up to some high tension wires and electrocute the little rascals!

8. Place tent on a military bombing range at ground zero and wait. Sooner or later Big Brother will eliminate those nasty bugs for you. Consider it your tax dollars at work. :-)

- LH

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20 Aug 01 - 07:48 PM (#532102)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: JohnInKansas

Several things to do about insects:

Put your tent where it will get some full sun during the day when you probably won't be in it anyway. A good breeze helps too, even if you have to give up some shade to get it.

Before you pitch your tent, it's a good idea to rake/sweep the spot where you are going to put it. This gets rid of the leaf/twig & other trash where the little critters hide.

I know it's tough to do, but avoid keeping huge mounds of assorted junk in the tent. If you really want to keep a clean tent, you should be able to see almost all of the floor. Pile things on folding chairs or stools, to keep them OFF the floor, if necessary.

Ventilate the tent as much as possible during the mid-day, when flying insects are least active. The creepy-crawly ones generally don't like fresh air. Let some sun in, if you can.

Close the tent up as tightly as possible BEFORE the bloodsuckers start flying in the evening.

Most of the really objectionable creepy's don't like a lot of activity around, so plan for all night action in the tent (be careful about accepting volunteers - some of them can be worse than insects.)

Don't eat bananas. (Persuading a friend that bananas will keep the mosquitos off really works. It will keep the mosquitos off YOU, if someone else nearby eats them.)

And most of the above good advice.

JohnInKansas - home of the Dobson Fly - really ugly but harmless - my hero(namesake?)

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20 Aug 01 - 09:10 PM (#532143)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: harpgirl

...clever, Jeri! At least I'm not a UseNet reject! *wink*(or whatever those boards are called...)

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20 Aug 01 - 10:19 PM (#532171)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Jeri

I still hang around Usenet, but it's not the same as Mudcat. (Cue someobody to come in and say "oh, yes it is.")

At least I've never taken a chicken camping with me. Well, not yet anyway. (Do earwigs really like chickens? Do chickens like earwigs?)

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20 Aug 01 - 11:03 PM (#532186)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Celtic Soul

I once went to a re-enactment where tent city had been erected in an area previously unused. The whole place was overrun by moderate sized black spiders.

I am not one for the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" philosophy when it comes to insects. I'm more the, "if you can't beat 'em, let them have the space" sort of mente.

I slept in the car. ;D

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21 Aug 01 - 01:02 AM (#532228)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Crazy Eddie

LH, I like your suggestions, but I hope you don't mind if I make a small amendment.
6. Fold tent up and run over it with a road flattening machine several times. Insects will be squashed
6a. Remember to remove kids, lovers, beer-mugs etcetra, before step 6.

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21 Aug 01 - 01:06 AM (#532233)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Liz the Squeak

Actually, there are some children I know who might benefit from Treatment 6.....

LTS ducking and running for cover from the NSPCC....

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21 Aug 01 - 01:16 AM (#532235)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Peg

hey I thought eating bananas kept mosquitos away!

You can make some nice non-toxic repellent which you can spray on before you sleep (bonus; it helps you fall asleep more easily to): put six drops of lavender essential oil into two ounces rosewater; spray on with mister or apply with cotton ball. You can also mist the zips of your tent and it will NOT damage the fabric or seals.

Lavender and peppermint oil both work well as repellents, as do the aforementioned lemongrass or citronella essential oils (the latter two do not smell as nice). Lavender oil is also EXCELLENT if you apply a bit to bites as soon as you get them; helps them heal and cuts down on itching.

Bug bucket candles are okay in the vicinity of your tent but best not to leave them burning all night while you sleep; inhaling citronella fumes from these things is not the healthiest...

If you value your health and that of those around you, don't use aerosol bug sprays! This shit is very toxic to humans and it has bred stronger, more resistant insects! (same with commercial pesticides used on farmland crops and on suburban lawns, but that's another show, Geraldo). Even the creams or lotions are not real good to use too often; always wash hands well after applying them!!!

I camp every year and only resort to commercial insect repellent if going deep into the woods or if the biting insects are REAL bad...most people are way too wimpy when it comes to bugs.

They say meat eaters get bit worse than vegetarians. I am not sure about this, but I have noticed meat eaters' mosquito bites hang around longer...

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21 Aug 01 - 05:08 AM (#532301)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Ella who is Sooze

I LOVE the idea of using a chicken. I'm off to pur-chase a chicken. I could just see my friends faces as I turn up with pet chicken.

And Guest, I knows mosies when I see's them. And you can't mistake a mosie especially when they are feeding of you.

fainting at the thought of a brown recluse spider, gawd, how disgusting.

Only problems with chickens, they come with their own bugs - what do you do about a chickens personal chicken mite problem?

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21 Aug 01 - 11:08 AM (#532470)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: White Dove

This thread reminded me of a song that Christie Moore sings....my son sings it too. The words escape me....something about..

A Daddy long legs jumps up lighlty.... heal to the toe, round we go go and dances a jig in the flickering light!!!

...they are great company in a tent

hummmm :-)

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21 Aug 01 - 12:08 PM (#532504)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: JohnInKansas


From past experience in the Arizona desert (courtesy of US Army Ordnance Corps) re: EARWIGS.

Earwigs are obnoxious, but relatively harmless. One thing to remember, is NEVER squash one in your tent. A single small squashed earwig can smell like a whole carton of rotton eggs.

Forget the chickens. CATS love them (at least ours did). Based on what a lot of canned cat food smells like, they probably are something of a delicacy, for a cat.

John

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21 Aug 01 - 12:47 PM (#532538)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: catspaw49

Hellfire, what a drag...........I thought this was a thread about somebody like Little hawk showing up at your campsite...................

I would mention to those of you interested in assorted sprays that most of them are flammable and also capable of impregnating themselves into the fabric of a tent (canvas or synthetic) just through the air....you don't have to spray it on. Combining this with the insanity of burning anything inside a tent is asking for a disaster. Before embarking on such a course of action, locatee your local burn center.

Spaw

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21 Aug 01 - 01:23 PM (#532561)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Don Firth

AK-47. Uzi also works pretty well.

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21 Aug 01 - 01:39 PM (#532577)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: MMario

it's the little sweat flies and mosquitos that bug me - setting the tent up during daylight and making sure the netting is zipped shut has solved that problem for me. The other thing is once is dusk or past I do not enter or exit the tent with the light on. in other wordds - the netting is unsealed ONLY during full daylight or in unrelieved darkness. it only takes those beggers a second or two to get in!

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21 Aug 01 - 02:21 PM (#532607)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: GUEST,Nick

Daddy Long Legs in tents? I dont think so. It is caterpillers in tents, and you can cut down the part of the branch they built the tent on an burn it, or expect defoliation..... Or am I missing something ;) Nick

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21 Aug 01 - 04:18 PM (#532707)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: JohnInKansas

Unfortunately (but only in this one respect) most of my camping is done with fairly large groups about. At least one ........ will always have 19 double-mantle, superpressurized, gasoline/propane/acetylene etc. lanterns - excuse me - LANTERNS - that he will insist on burning 24 hours a day, making the likelihood of "darkness" something to reminisce about while you sit around the 30 foot high flames of the campfire built by the OTHER .........

But a single lantern 40 or 50 feet (or more) away from your tent does draw the flying bugs away from the tent flap, making it a little easier to slip in and out with only small platoons of the critters sneaking in.

If you take reasonable care with the hanging (safer than sitting) of the lantern, you can safely leave it burning when you bed down. The "Coleman" lanterns universally used in my area simply run out of fuel and fade out.

Technical notes:
The flame temperature of a gasoline fueled lantern attracts the bugs better than a propane one.
A gasoline lantern with a "bug proof" glass (usually yellow) is less satisfactory for this use, but is still almost as good a bug-magnet as a propane one with the clear glass.

Letting a gasoline lantern run out of fuel is hard on the "generator," but most people don't actually use their lanterns often enough to notice the reduction in gen life.

The propane lantern is considerably less subject to "idiot abuse." It may, or may not, be a little safer, depending on the quality of idiot(s) in your crowd.

John John

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22 Aug 01 - 07:48 AM (#533129)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Grab

Mosquito coils smoulder, they don't actually burn (no flame). Dropped onto the tent, they'll melt through the plastic but shouldn't light it. I haven't noticed that they reduce the waterproofness of a tent any more than a tent naturally gets less waterproof from wear and UV.

Graham.

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22 Aug 01 - 12:07 PM (#533273)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: JohnInKansas

The traditional treatment for those minor itchy bites around here is to rub a little meat tenderizer into it. It helps to moisten the area a little first. Theoretically, the papain enzyme is supposed to break down whatever (usually protein?) slobbers the bug left under your skin.

I've never been able to tell that it does a lot of good; and since the commercial stuff is 95 percent common salt, it ain't fit to use on food; but lots of our local fishermen swear by it.

I've known a couple of people who recommended crushing an antihistamine tablet and rubbing it into the bite. Claimed the itching was caused by histamines generated from the irritation, so an antihistamine (phenylephrine, or the like) should help. Since there's no way of telling how much of it gets into you, this method should be used with great caution, and only for cases of a few bites and when you have used and know you're not "sensitive" to the antihistamine.

John

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22 Aug 01 - 06:06 PM (#533562)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: Liz the Squeak

Watch out when camping near rivers in the UK, especially in the south. There's a nasty little varmint called the Blandford Fly - OK, it's also the name of a special brew of beer too, but the insect came first, judge how the beer got its name......

It's small, dark grey/black and looks like a common wine fly. Its' bite is pain out of all proportion to the insect, and instead of swelling, itching, going down and stopping hurting, it will swell, go red, go blotchy and hard for an area up to 6-8 inches across, the point of entry will get blistery, if you scratch it even slightly it will itch like buggery four times worse than previously, and it will pustulate and turn into a gaping wound if you are not careful. Even if you are careful, it lasts around 3 weeks longer than your average mozzy nip, and feels like a bruise for longer than that....

It was discovered on the banks of the Stour near Blandford, Dorset, hence the name. The beer is brewed by Hall and Woodhouse, whose brewery is nearby in Blandford.

LTS

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22 Aug 01 - 06:29 PM (#533573)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: harpgirl

...welcome home from Siberia, troll! I want to hear all about it. Start a thread! Oh, and I hate those yellow flies. I'm allergic to the black ones up in Michigan. Ouch, those little bastards bite!!!

Anywho, they start spraying Dibron over Tallahassee tonight, so if I start to grow a third arm, my skin turns black, and my hair falls out, it's from that and not my last boyfriend...
but hey, we won't have mosquitoes for a couple of weeks until the next generation hatches!!

...so Jeri I thought you would zing me one better. Artemis was never a match for Athena!!!

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22 Aug 01 - 08:38 PM (#533645)
Subject: RE: BS: Insects in tents
From: McGrath of Harlow

Didn't Sir Thomas Beecham once say something about it being a good idea to try everything in this life except insects and folk dancing?

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