I didn't know this was even possible.....

[Big Muddy]

Massive hordes of vampire mosquitoes, driven from the Louisiana swamps by Hurricane Laura, are literally sucking all the blood from livestock and wildlife, killing them in the process.

https://www.kplctv.com/2020/09/10/hordes-mosquitoes-kill-livestock-after-hurricane-laura/?fbclid=IwAR0rXcuH65aYIb65fMZ20TeISm6IXcWf0-pVL00eSwjzVzQ0TYMiw2YLZcI

[BarryBobPosthole]

freaky deaky.

[Penguin]

Reminds me of some of the stories about mosquitoes in Canada and Alaska. I never knew whether those were true or not. I've seen film of caribou and moose driven almost crazy by them. I can sympathize.

Will

[Thumper]

Yeah, I saw that article on my news feed yesterday. Crazy stuff. I used to go to Northern Ontario twice a year for bear hunting and walleye fishing. I was born and raised in Florida and am VERY familiar with mosquitoes, but those bastages in Canada are as big as helicopters and each one can suck a pint of blood out'ta ya! Well, "maybe" I'm exaggerating a little bit, but between the mosquitoes and the black flies, I'd be anemic at the end of a trip up there. I've personally witnessed what Willy mentioned and have seen them drive the moose almost batshit crazy. They'd many times swim around in the lake right in front of our campsite to help keep those blood suckers at bay.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Reminds me of some of the stories about mosquitoes in Canada and Alaska. I never knew whether those were true or not. I've seen film of caribou and moose driven almost crazy by them. I can sympathize.

Will

I think most of the stuff I’ve seen like that was caused by buffalo gnats (blackflies) instead of skeets but it could be both. Ask HH about those!
BKB

[HideHunter]

damn buffalo gnats (black flies if you're in the north) there are studies going on here now as to the detrimental effect they have on ground nesting birds - especially turkeys.. You simply can't imagine unless you've witnessed it at its worst.. Mosquitoes.. like Jim.. I have experienced them in June in the Canadian bush. Wore two complete sets of clothes, gloves, taped our wrists and ankles.. full headnets.. One night in the bear stand I looked down at my legs and could not see one spot I could have put the tip of my thumb and not crushed a mosquito.. Pants actually looked "fuzzy"..

[johnboy]

Used to lake trout fish at Cold Lake, Alberta every June and the bitey bugs could and would drive you insane. Horse flies, mossies, black flies and no-se-ums all at the same time! Head nets were de rigueur wear around the campsite.

[BarryBobPosthole]

When we fish in my boat at Dogtooth I don’t allow any northerns across the gunnels unless its a trophy fish and I might even whack one of them with a net to make sure its hooked well. The reason is the ankle biters that love the fish slime that accumulates on the floor of the boat after a week of fishing. 100 deet works.....as long as its applied thickly.

BKB

[johnboy]

Hard and fast rule in my boat was NO PIKE in the livewell! Turned into a big bucket of goop. Good reason we called pike 'slimers'.

[LJ3]

When we fish in my boat at Dogtooth I don’t allow any northerns across the gunnels unless its a trophy fish and I might even whack one of them with a net to make sure its hooked well. The reason is the ankle biters that love the fish slime that accumulates on the floor of the boat after a week of fishing. 100 deet works.....as long as its applied thickly.

BKB

And every 3 minutes.

[Thumper]

Odd timing. (sorry, this will be a Thump post)

The first time I went bear hunting in Northern Ontario, I couldn't believe the mosquito and black fly problem (TBH, at the time, I had no clue what a black fly was!) and I was about eaten alive! My buddy and I didn't believe in wussy tree stands and we'd get up close and personal with a simple ground blind made of piled up brush. It made a few hunts VERY interesting, but those are another story. The point is, when hunting that close to bear, you couldn't move an inch. They have crappy eyesight, but they'll pick up ANY movement and you'll never get a shot as they'll vanish into thin air in a heartbeat if you so much as bat an eyelid. Try sitting perfectly still while those flying bastages are literally eating you alive. Like HH said, you could wrap yourself in a mummy bag and a face net, but they'd still find a way to chew your ass up! I'd slather myself from head to toe with 100% DEET, but on a hot evening, I'd sweat the stuff off my face and hands within 20-30 minutes, then the onslaught would resume. Not moving was impossible when you had to fish out your bottle or can of DEET and start spraying, etc.

Once I returned home, I started thinking of a way to reduce movement when applying the stuff on my next trip as well as easier carrying than a frigging aerosol spray can. I figured, why not come out with a towelette (like common hand sanitizers that were available at the time) soaked with 100% DEET? Simple, wipe your face and hands in a matter of seconds, then you're back in business. I actually (seriously) decided to "invent" mosquito repellent towelettes. My plan was to make the packaging "out-doorsy" by making the packages in camo colors and the towelettes themselves in OD Green. I did tons and tons of research and nobody had them. I could see my fortune rolling in as I'd market them through Wally World, Cabelas, Bass Pro, etc. .... geared toward the outdoorsman. Heck, sell them in the concession stands at h/s ballgames, keep them in your glovebox or tacklebox, etc. I was already counting my millions!

I went so far as making a deal with a packaging company, a towelette manufacturer, a marketing firm and even a chemist. I made a deal with a firm to supply my Deet. Heck, I was ready to go into production! THEN .... I ran into the FDA. During my research, I found that since the product was to be applied to the skin, it had to be FDA approved! Ok, no biggie, I mean, nobody will be EATING the stuff ... surely that won't be a major hurdle ... after all, it's not a NEW product, just a new way to apply it. Ha! I ran into more government regulations, hoops to jump through and solid block walls than you could shake a stick at. First, to get the approval would take at least a million dollars (this was 1980's dollars) to cover FDA testing, etc. (I really don't remember all the details) So, this turned out to be a hurdle I didn't know how to surpass. I had a long talk with an agent with the FDA and he told me the way around it was to get licensed by a company that is already approved. Johnson & Johnson or Cutter for example, then work out a deal to pay for the licensing through them. The problem is, MY product ingredients had to be an exact match to whatever they were marketing, if not, it's considered a "new" product and I'd have to go through the million+ $$$ approval process.

My next step. I contacted both J&J as well as Cutter and after wading through all their corporate bullshit, finally got in touch with the people I needed to talk to. I discussed my idea and they pretty much poo-poo'ed it. I was devastated and eventually threw in the towel. I boxed up all my research and contacts, etc. and relegated the worthless junk to the back of the closet in our guest bedroom. To add insult to injury, a few years afterwards I received an envelope in the mail from a friend who knew of my plight. It was a package of mosquito repellent towelettes! I don't remember now, Deep Woods Off possibly? It was still only something like 25% DEET, but still a slap in the face. I've always wondered if they didn't steal my idea after I contacted them.

The really odd thing? After all these years, I just cleaned out the guest room closet about 2-3 weeks ago and found all my old research papers. I threw all of it in the trash, but I found the two (free) sample bottles of DEET from the manufacturer I was working with. I wasn't sure what to do with it and Googled the shelf life of DEET. I found that some DEET products "expire", depending on what they are mixed with (creams for example), but DEET by itself has no shelf life and lasts indefinitely. So, although I trashed all my research papers, contacts list, product samples, etc, etc, I kept the bottles of DEET ... more than I'd use in a lifetime these days. In fact, I've never opened them. Oh, BTW ... I never did become a bazillionaire. :crybaby

11875

[Bwana]

Well that just SUCKS Thumper. Sure wish that would have worked out for you and I think you were really on to something with your idea.

As for DEET staying effective forever, I think you are probably right. When I was trying to put stuff together for my first ever bear hunt two years ago I stumbled upon a little bottle of 100% DEET that I had bought well over 25 years ago when I did a lot of bowhunting. Like you my first thought on finding it was that it was surely "expired" but when I opened the bottle it smelled just as I remembered so I threw it in my pack. After the first night in a tree stand waiting for a bear to show up I dug the stuff out before round two and used it religiously after that. Still did what it was supposed to do!

[Thumper]

Yep Bwana, I've always had dreams of developing my own product, but never really knew how to go about it. I'm a good ideas man, I just have no follow-up knowledge (or money).

Back in the late 80's-early 90's, Lynn and I would always attend an annual Blues Festival in Clearwater (Florida). The problem was, parking was very limited, kind of a downtown area, city park, along the waterway. There was a large city parking garage a block down the street and 99% of the people attending the festival would park there and walk to the park. It was a large festival and lasted three days (Fri-Sun) and you'd basically stake your claim to a spot on the large grassy area in front of the big portable stage they'd set up every year. The problem was, dragging a cooler, blankets/chairs, umbrellas, munchies, etc. etc. etc was a real hassle. The second year, I purchased a wagon (like the old Radio Flyer wagon I had as a kid). I set my cooler in the wagon and strapped all the peripheral stuff on with bungee cords. After the festival, I was at home and drew a rough design of a cooler with built-in wheels and a handle that could be pulled like a wagon or luggage cart. I showed it to Lynn and she said, "That's cool! You should "invent" something like that!" Of course, like all my silly ideas, it went nowhere. Years later, I stumbled on a pile of Igloo coolers at Wally World ... WITH BUILT-IN WHEELS AND A HANDLE!! The story of my life, always a day late and a dollar short I guess. :crybaby