Mosquitoes and Alaska (Anchorage, Seward: house, buy, camp)

[Sunset_Va]

Hi

Been reading this thread, and wanted to toss my 2c's in.

I was in Alaska 11 days, was not bitten by Mosquitoes even once. However I saw some that took a prize in terms of size. I was at Seward,Anchorage,Denali,Talkeetna,Whittier and Fairbanks. The only place any were in my room was at Seward, but they never bit me. I am glad I left the bug spray at home, and didn't lug it around on my trip.

I think I can deal with the mosquitoes much better than the ticks and chiggers here in Virginia. The booming population of deer everywhere in Va and produced an epidemic of "deer ticks", microscopic sized ticks you can't see, and they leave a whelp on you that is very painful and takes weeks to go away. Grass mites here are becoming to be a problem also. I am glad DDT was banned, however I think the insects are glad too.

Perhaps a persons chemistry has lots to do with being attractive to insects, I had chemo treatments, wonder if that is why flying insects don't bother me, but however the crawling kind such as ticks/chiggers cause me much pain.


Just curious, are there hornets in Alaska? YellowJackets? Wasps?

[Rance]

Yes there are! Seems like they get worse every year. When I first cleared my property a couple years ago...there where many bee nest's/hives in the moss. I had to flag all the spots so we knew what areas to avoid. I've seen moose stomping and freaking out as they had stepped on a nest and were getting swarmed. This last summer my neighbor had one of those big grey beehives up in a cottonwood tree. We used it for a BB gun target. If you clean fish out in the yard, it only takes a few minutes and bee's start to swarm and try to get at the meat. But I have not been stung in years. It's not like they are out to get you...yet...

[BudinAk]

Skeeters seem to thrive everywhere you go, in Alaska, or out. However, I've noticed they seem to be worse wherever there is muskeg...swamp...or wet grasslands. Try hiking on the Alaskan tundra up north without bug dope and you'll soon regret it. They are not too bad in my area, but there are a few. In the hot summer months when the temperature swings above 90 the white-sox (little black biting flies) come out and are much worse than mosquitoes...swarms will buzz rapidly about you, and their bite is painful and sharp. I'd swear they use bug repellant much like we use ketchup...


Bud in Seward

[queeneene]

Originally Posted by mechengineer

Thanks for the replies.

It is about what I figured.

In town=OK, out in the bush = bad.

Farther Up-State NY (Adirondack region) we get very bad black flies in the lake country. You litterally have to duct tape your sweat shiirt to your wrists and you pants to your shoes to keep them out.

i'm from louisiana and they're worse here by far!
i'm in east anchorage, and they seem just as bad here as they do in south anchorage, where i used to live. my yard is terrible with them and i got tired of my kids smelling like bug repellant every day and me never going outside, so we bought one of those mosquito killer machines, they work great. when i was in fairbanks seemed the mosquitos were worse there than anchorage. downtown isn't bad.

[Rance]

The worst I've ever seen was in the Florida Everglades in 1985. Started down a trail laughing at a guy wearing a head net. 20 minutes later we were running for our lives. Mostly because of the big black and yellow spider that was left clinging to my face when I had walked through an over hanging branch. But the mosquitoes were worse than I've seen on the north slope. More open and breezy up here, than the everglades jungle.

[JuneauBelle]

Lived in Juneau for 3 year and never got bit once by a Mosquito! Now here in Texas, that's a different story.

[skibladnir]

The mosquitos in Sitka aren't bad. What you have to watch for is the no see ums. They bite pretty good and go up your nose but that is mostly in the evenings where you have wet grass and trees with no wind like a porch. They are attracted by smoke and your breathe..carbon monoxide..gas fumes..

[sommer6]

I agree about dealing with the misquitos then what we call "Turkey Ticks" they are the size of the head of a strait pin, and when you walk into the grass or touch an animal that has walked thru them, you end up with literaly hundreds of them on you, the only way I have found to get them off effectivly is with pure bleach... I think I would like the misquitos in compaireson !!!!!!!!!! It is really bad for outdoor families like mine!!!

[Unhappycamper]

I feel the need to quote the Fairbanks official city website FAQ section.

Are the mosquitoes bad in Fairbanks?

No. We have some of the best mosquitoes in the world in Fairbanks.

[hoff7407]

I still don't know why Alaska doesn't have fogger trucks in the urban areas like Florida does. The Fog isn't a repellent or a pioson. It settles into thewater the mosquitoes lay their eggs in and keeps them from developing past larvae stage. GET RID of standing water around your residence. (Old tires are a big culprit)

Hope some of this other stuff helps. "Luck favors the well prepared" but first a couple facts. Mosquitoes run in 14 day cycles from egg in water to flying blood sucker. Mosquitoes are primarily attracted to the carbon dioxide that you breathe out. Ever wonder how they find you so quick?

Only things that works repellent wise that I have tried is DEET (read the can for the %, 100 is best, lessor amounts ok depending on your threat). It also disolves plastics like cheap watch faces, GPS faces, bottle labels.

Avon makes a Skin-So-Soft repellant that works ok and is not so harsh chemically and contains sunblock (crumbsnatcher safe).

Head and body nets with deet underneath are the way to go if you are going to be static for any amount of time in the rural/remote areas.

Now for some good news, oddly enough the best cure for the itching is hot water. Now at least wait for the explaination here......

Your skin has histamines (hence; anti histimine lotion, pills etc.) in it and these makes the itching sensation. When your skin is exposed to really hot water for a period of time it will release these histamines and you will have any where from 8-10 hrs of relief. This goes for anything from poison oak/ivey, insect bites etc.

I did not believe it at first until I tried it. I'm in the military and I have had my fill of it all itch-wise. Try it once! Just let the water run over the area continuously and keep increasing the temp within your tolerance. Hold there for 3-5 min at the hotest temp you can stand. Then whala! No itch! Really what does water cost ya. Please don't burn yourselves it doesn't have top be scalding