Mosquitoes?? (And other biting bugs) (Missoula: gated, live, shopper)

[canondreams]

My family is looking to move from South Florida to somewhere cooler, less humid and mosquito-free! Since Missoula has so many beautiful rivers and lakes in the area-- are mosquitoes or other biting bugs a problem? I lived in Northern Arizona as a kid and know that mosquitoes were very rare-- but it's also very dry there.

[rambrush]

yep
but they go away or thin out after the hatch. the biggy for us is the deer fly's them suckers hurt

[rickers]

Here in North Central Montana Mosquitoes are an all summer long problem in and near the irrigated grain fields. Parts of western Montana have major yellow jacket wasp problems as well as grasshopper infestations. Then there are the occasional large black hornet swarms. Western Montana valleys can get humid and hotter than heck but all one has to do is go up into the mountains for less hot and humid air. The folks from really hot and humid states will scoff at our humidity but it can be bothersome in the western valleys at times. One thing that many folks don't seem to know about is all the poison ivy along many of Montana's riverbanks.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by rickers

One thing that many folks don't seem to know about is all the poison ivy along many of Montana's riverbanks.

Lots of fun to be had with greenhorns if you happen to be one of those lucky enough to be immune to it... inherited that from my dad.

[T-310]

Originally Posted by Reziac

Lots of fun to be had with greenhorns if you happen to be one of those lucky enough to be immune to it... inherited that from my dad.

I once used the stuff as TP!!

[Fodderman]

Originally Posted by rickers

One thing that many folks don't seem to know about is all the poison ivy along many of Montana's riverbanks.

You should always be looking out for that (and poison oak), especially if you are in unfamiliar territory. "Leaves of three, let it be".

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by T-310

I once used the stuff as TP!!

I note the use of the word "once"..... I sure hope it wasn't "twice".

[T-310]

Originally Posted by Reziac

I note the use of the word "once"..... I sure hope it wasn't "twice".

I'm a fast learner and I do learn from history.

[rickers]

Originally Posted by Fodderman

You should always be looking out for that (and poison oak), especially if you are in unfamiliar territory. "Leaves of three, let it be".

Montana supposedly also has two types of poison sumac. I never seem to see that stuff and it does not have "leaves of three"
About the insects, Montana also has chiggers and no-see-ums. No-see-ums are a (gnat) that carries livestock and wildlife diseases including bluetongue. Chiggers and no-seeums are very small, aboutthe size of a dot from a ballpoint pen. The chiggers are very unusual in that the adult is an arachnid where as in the juvenile stage it only has six legs. Insects have six legs and arachnids (spider family) has eight legs. Very strange bugs and nasty too.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by rickers

Montana supposedly also has two types of poison sumac. I never seem to see that stuff and it does not have "leaves of three"
About the insects, Montana also has chiggers and no-see-ums. No-see-ums are a (gnat) that carries livestock and wildlife diseases including bluetongue. Chiggers and no-seeums are very small, aboutthe size of a dot from a ballpoint pen. The chiggers are very unusual in that the adult is an arachnid where as in the juvenile stage it only has six legs. Insects have six legs and arachnids (spider family) has eight legs. Very strange bugs and nasty too.

Used to see sumac up toward Glacier (we have a cabin near Essex), tho one year there was an eradication project, because of being a forest fire area and how nasty the smoke is when sumac burns -- dunno what happened re that.

Never encountered chiggers in the dryland areas, but I sure did learn not to sleep on the lovely lush grass west of the divide, specifically outside of Moscow, Idaho... those things BURROW into your skin and ITCH like nothing else!! Supposedly you can suffocate 'em by dotting their little "volcanos" with nail polish, but this proved a dubious cure at best.

A much better cure was a plastic bedsheet between me and the grass ... I was told it came from the booby hatch at Warm Springs. Sure hope it didn't belong to rickers' cousins!