Summer fun for us is a day at the lake where we can play in the water, hike nearby trails, and cook out. But nothing puts a damper on outdoor fun quite like bugs, especially mosquitoes. Whether you’re spending your day on the water or on land, here are my tips for keeping bugs away so your adventure is more enjoyable. I’ll also share the DEET free repellent our family uses, plus what the CDC recommends.
Mosquitoes, ticks, and chiggers are more than annoying. They can also pose a health risk. Mosquitoes can carry viruses such as West Nile and Zika. Some ticks spread diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Chiggers, a type of mite, cause intense skin irritation, with itching that can last several days, similar to a poison ivy reaction.
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Where Do These Pests Like to Live?
To protect ourselves outdoors, we need to know where these pests hang out so we can take the right precautions. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant, standing fresh water like puddles or ponds. After they hatch, they rest in tall grasses and weeds. Ticks prefer humid, moist areas that are wooded or grassy. Like ticks, chiggers prefer moist, grassy areas near rivers or lakes.
Insects love the lake areas just as much as we do. Mosquitoes breed in stagnant, standing fresh water like puddles or ponds. After they hatch, they like to rest in tall grasses and weeds. Ticks prefer humid, moist areas that are wooded or grassy. Like ticks, chiggers prefer moist, grassy areas near rivers or lakes.
While these pests are commonly encountered outdoors, travelers should also watch for bed bugs in hotels and vacation rentals, where they can hide in mattresses, furniture, and luggage. If bed bugs are accidentally brought home after a trip, professional bed bug treatment may be necessary to eliminate an established infestation.
1. Stay on the Path
Avoid tall vegetation to stay away from these pests. Mosquitoes, ticks, and chiggers all like high grasses and weeds. If you brush up against tall brush, chiggers and ticks may transfer to your clothes. Mosquitoes take flight when disturbed and may find you a suitable landing spot and snack.
2. Wear Protective Clothing
When you find yourself along the water’s edge in the grassy areas ticks and chiggers love, wear long sleeved shirts and long pants. Pants made with tightly woven fabric help keep chiggers from climbing through the threads. If you’ll be hiking or playing in these areas, tuck your pants into your socks. It’s not the most stylish look, but it makes it much harder for ticks and chiggers to reach your skin.
For extra protection, treat clothing, socks, shoes, and gear with 0.5% permethrin, or buy clothing that comes pretreated. Permethrin is for clothing and gear only and should never be applied directly to skin. Longs pants and a long sleeve shirt will help prevent mosquito bites as well as a sunburn.
3. Choose the Right Insect Repellent
Whether you’re on land or in the water, a good repellent is one of your best defenses. The CDC recommends EPA registered repellents that contain one of these active ingredients: DEET, picaridin, IR3535, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE), PMD, or 2 undecanone. You can spot an EPA registered product by the registration number on the label.
If you prefer a plant based option, look for an EPA registered repellent made with oil of lemon eucalyptus. This is not the same as lemon eucalyptus essential oil, which hasn’t been tested the same way. Also note that products containing OLE or PMD should not be used on children under 3.
For our family, I like Buzz Away Extreme from Quantum Health. It’s a DEET free spray made with geraniol, citronella oil, peppermint oil, thyme oil, and clove oil, and it smells much nicer than traditional bug sprays. Buzz Away Extreme is not EPA registered, so I reach for it on short outings close to home. When we’re headed somewhere with heavy mosquito or tick activity, I choose an EPA registered repellent instead.
A few tips for using any repellent:
- Reapply as directed on the label.
- Apply it to exposed skin, not under clothing.
- If you’re also wearing sunscreen, put sunscreen on first and repellent second.
- For kids, spray repellent on your hands and then apply it to their face, avoiding eyes and mouth. Don’t apply it to children’s hands.
4. Check for Ticks When You Get Home
Your bug protection doesn’t end when the fun does. After a day outside, check everyone in the family for ticks, paying close attention to warm spots like behind the ears, the armpits, the neck, and the groin. If you find an embedded tick, use tweezers to grasp it close to the skin and pull it out with steady pressure. Tossing your outdoor clothes in the dryer on high heat helps kill any ticks that hitched a ride home.
With a little planning, you can spend less time swatting and scratching and more time enjoying the lake, the trails, and each other.
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