OFF! Bug Spray

[Cody]

Is this Bug Spray good for birding?

I am mostly trying to avoid  mosquitoes, black flies,ticks, Red Ants etc... .

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5 ... ?locale=en

[Leslie]

If I'm reading the specs right, the product has 23% DEET.  My kids' camp recommends non-DEET insect repellents ie citronella oil.  If you must use DEET, a maximum concentration of 10% is advised.  (The concentration limit may be due to safety for children, but they have faster metabolisms than us old folk ie produce more heat & carbon dioxide for their size, which attracts the bugs.)  My kids stopped using insect repellent some years ago, and they're in the Algonquin interior for half the summer.
When are you going birding?  Blackflies are done by now (they're May-June critters), mosquitoes decline significantly in August.  You can keep most insects away by covering up ie pull your socks over the cuffs of your long pants, button the collar & cuffs on your long-sleeved shirt, wear a hat.  (One of my kids wore a hat with a net one summer, but that was for the Rupert River.)  I only get bothered by ants when I foolishly garden in bare feet & legs (trying to get my Vitamin D at the same time).  I have to admit my knowledge of ticks is pretty sketchy.
Hope this helps.

[Cody]

If I'm reading the specs right, the product has 23% DEET.  My kids' camp recommends non-DEET insect repellents ie citronella oil.  If you must use DEET, a maximum concentration of 10% is advised.  (The concentration limit may be due to safety for children, but they have faster metabolisms than us old folk ie produce more heat & carbon dioxide for their size, which attracts the bugs.)  My kids stopped using insect repellent some years ago, and they're in the Algonquin interior for half the summer.
When are you going birding?  Blackflies are done by now (they're May-June critters), mosquitoes decline significantly in August.  You can keep most insects away by covering up ie pull your socks over the cuffs of your long pants, button the collar & cuffs on your long-sleeved shirt, wear a hat.  (One of my kids wore a hat with a net one summer, but that was for the Rupert River.)  I only get bothered by ants when I foolishly garden in bare feet & legs (trying to get my Vitamin D at the same time).  I have to admit my knowledge of ticks is pretty sketchy.
Hope this helps.

I would use this every time I go birding. Ticks are a big problem on the Niagara Escarpment/Stoney Creek Mountain Side Roads (AKA Shorebird Migration). Even at the Grimsby Sewage Lagoons, the Ticks are everywhere. The other bugs are basically only seen when I am in the deep forests here. Fire Ants are also bad if you run into them. When I was on the OFO Trip at the Leslie Street Spit this year, my trip was cut short by constant biting ants.

Thanks for the advice.


Cody

[Axeman]

Fire Ants?

I was a little sceptical but I got on the internet and learned that a species of ant that has come to be commonly called the fire ant has indeed surfaced in Canada -- out east mostly but they have apparently been found in Richmond Hill and Scarborough.

It's a sign of global warming. (That was a joke - global warming...fire ants coming to Ontario...get it?)

[Cody]

Killer Bees are also extending their range http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Killerbees_ani.gif .

[Leslie]

Does anybody know if flickers will/safely can eat fire ants?