If you can wash your skin with water after being in the parsnip weed it won't burn you...Alaska is full of it. Gets 7 foot tall...The natives say that the height of the flower will be the depth of the snow come winter...One of the reasons I chose to survey in Alaska is there is NO poison ivy, oak, or sumac....I have scars from surveying in Texas when I was in school...
We do have pesky moose who think a chainsaw is a dinner bell. Black bears will stalk you.... And tall grass and thick willows will raise the hair on your neck...When the birds and squirrels chatter keep a look out.
Mosquitos here carry no disease, but are thick...Deet 99%, melts flagging, ruins Gortex, but will keep you sane.
Than we have the Arctic fox who has rabies, most do .... We have bad wolf problem also
No snakes, very little spiders, No red ants..........White sox flys which bite a chunk and then swell..and nosee-em gnats will make a grown man cry....Headnet is the only answer....
Replies
Kate,
I am not a fan of deet. I consider it "pre-poisoning" myself to prevent other "poisoning", or at least other discomfort. Deet is not only uncomfortable when it gets in my eyes from sweating, but it stinks and as you said, it melts plastic. I have been experimenting with those things that are worn on the hip that have a chemical and a fan (battery operated) that are supposed to drive off mosquitoes. I think it works well on mosquitoes but nothing else. Gnats, flies, and other insects seem immune. Have you tried these things, and did they help?
-Scott D. Warner
LSU Senior Director