best way to use bug zapper

[patrick_g]

The stuff I used in the Army would melt plastic...like my watches...wonder what it did to my skin?

It did much less to your skin than to plastic things. Viet Nam Jungle Juice in the little OD plastic bottles was almost pure DEET. Tests have shown that concentrations above about 30% do not increase protection. Some people (more often children) are harmed by DEET exposure. All the more reason to use the stuff I mentioned, Permethrin as it is much much safer. It is a synthesized plant substance that has natural bug protection qualities.

The Ultrathion (3M product) does contain DEET but it is inside little microscopic protein balls and the user gets exposed to way less deet than any of the other common formulations. DEET is sold in aerosol cans and liquid in varying concentrations. It works pretty good but... it is absorbed into your body and that is not a good thing for some people and a lot of children.

Treating your cotton clothes with Permethrin is much safer and works better. One treatment and you are good for a year. You absorb much much less chemical this way. Most DEET is sprayed on you and your clothes. You end up breathing the fumes. You have to reapply frequently providing additional opportunity to breath the fumes. There is no question that DEET works but not as good as Permethrin and it is not as safe in aerosol or liquid form. DEET in microencapsulated time release form is much safer and if you treat your clothes with Permethrin you only need DEET on your hands and face or other exposed flesh. Not everywhere.

You used to be able to buy the Viet Nam jungle juice in the little OD containers at the surplus stores. It is usually over 90% DEET. If you do use it, dilute it. One part jungle juice to 2 parts skin cream (you can use sun block if you want.)

Pat

 

[ampsucker]

thanks for the good info, patrick g!

amp

 

[vansimplement]

Personally I'm a big fan of bat houses, but I would never get that idea past my wife. That, and a bunch of toads to control the garden and I'd be doing alright

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Tell her the Bats are the Green way to go. Besides how often do you see them out there? They are bug getters for sure. I think there are way more bats around than folks know usually. At least here where I am at near Seattle. I like to watch them in the evening...

 

[Danno1]

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Permethrin is made from chrysanthenums (sp?). It is a neurotoxin to insects but harmless to mammals.

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[patrick_g]

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Permethrin is made from chrysanthenums (sp?). It is a neurotoxin to insects but harmless to mammals.

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Danno1, Mostly right but perhaps overstated. I wouldn't go so far as to say harmless. I don't recommend getting it all over you in liquid solution or breathing the mist or drinking it.

Toxic effects in humans vary according to the best info available but they are way milder when used appropriately than the risk with conventional (not encapsulated) DEET.

I'll take my chances with Permethrin bonded to the cotton of my clothes rather than take a chance with any of the insect born diseases.

A week or so ago I hired a couple guys to help me do some fencing. One was about 90% recovered from a tick fever which nearly did him in. The other said he had taken some ticks off just the previous day. How do they remove ticks? With any of the folk remedies. Burn with a cigarette, cover with Vaseline, cover with finger nail polish, grab and pull loose, and so forth.

All of these techniques are incredibly stupid and counter productive. Anything you do to a tick that makes him sick enough to turn you loose could cause him to regurgitate his gut contents into your bloodstream (where his head is attached) essentially giving you an intravenous injection of whatever disease agents he is harboring in his gut. (That is where the disease agents are carried)

Grabbing and pulling is dumb for two reasons. 1. You should never touch the tick as you could be infected by contact. 2. When you grab it hard enough to pull his mouth off of you you are squeezing his tummy hard enough to inject his gut contents into your blood stream. Ticks secrete a sort of "crazy glue" to glue their mouth parts to you to stay in contact with your blood vessel. They don't get glued to you immediately.

It is important to get the ticks off before they glue themselves down. Usually (but there is no guarantee) the disease agent will not be passed into your blood stream for the first few hours. There are commercially available tick removers, inexpensive, small, easy to use and effective. I carry one for just in case and to give aid to others (who don't treat their clothes.) A magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers will git 'er done. Grasp the tick where the neck would be if it had a neck and SLOWLY lift and rotate (like unscrewing a very delicate screw) Be patient, take your time, and you have a good chance of getting his mouth out of you. I have an unhealed red spot on my left calf where I left a small piece of tick in me seven years ago. I got in too much of a hurry.

Pat