Here are my top three least favorite biting bugs and strategies for dealing with each.
Ticks
There are a variety of biting ticks in Ohio. From a naturalist perspective, they have a unique and interesting life cycle, with slim chances of completing it. Tragic. They also carry two of the scarier diseases you can contract outside. The symptoms and effects of Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (yes, it happens in Ohio, not just the Rocky Mountains, courtesy of American Dog Ticks) are no joke.
While they won’t keep me out of the woods or fields, I do take precautions beforehand to make sure I’m not an enabler of their lifecycle journey.
I typically wear long pants and spray bug repellent, especially from the waist down to dissuade any ticks from hitching rides. Use an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered insect repellent as soon as you go outside. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website, it will contain some of the following ingredients:
- DEET
- Picaridin (known as KBR 3023 and Icaridin outside the United States)
- IR3535
- Oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE)—A plant-derived ingredient
- Para-menthane-diol (PMD)
- 2-Undecanone—A plant-derived ingredient
I’ve heard great things about clothing with built-in tick repellent, but haven’t personally tried them yet. With all of that, I still keep an eye out for them when outdoors and shower when I return.
As far as four-legged friends, make sure they’re treated with some sort of medicine, topical or collar, to prevent ticks from biting. Note that doesn’t necessarily mean ticks won’t hitch a ride and end up in your vehicle or home and then on you. My GSP, Jürgen, had Lyme disease but never showed any real symptoms. Knowing it was that close - he was a velcro dog if there ever was one - didn’t make me feel any better.
Also, the fight against ticks in Ohio is year-round; there is no off-season and ticks are active all 12 months. If you are bitten by a tick, it’s important to check for disease symptoms. There’s more to know about ticks than I can cover here. Check the links at the end for details.
Chiggers
These little red mites that cause the worst itching are the ones that catch me with my guard down. Because I’m vigilant about ticks, the same strategies the help guard against them also work for chiggers. I don’t recall any episodes with chiggers when I’m prepared for ticks. However, it’s that time when I don’t really think about biting bugs, step off into some taller grass walking the dog or just around the yard, and bam. Chiggers. Their tendency to climb up to where your clothing is tightest and warmest - ankles, waistlines, etc. makes them especially annoying. The relatively good news is that they don’t carry major diseases, just cause terrible itching. Sometimes that’s hard to remember when you’re scratching.
Mosquitos
Everybody hates mosquitoes. However, it seems that mosquitoes like to bite some people more than others. When everybody else in a group is under assault from the flying blood suckers, I’m typically the last to get bit. There are a lot of theories on what mosquitoes are attracted to. One study suggested that drinking beer makes you a more likely target, which clearly doesn’t hold up in my experience.
Jokes aside, mosquitoes are responsible for a variety of diseases, including West Nile Virus, Zika, and Yellow Fever. You should avoid getting bitten by them in the first place. Same as ticks and chiggers, use a tested and proven repellent. The CDC suggests wearing protective clothing, long sleeves, and pants. No problem there. They also advise avoiding the peak activity hours, dusk, and dawn. Those are my favorite times to be outdoors, so bug spray it is.
Runner-Up: Biting flies
I’m putting the biting flies in Ohio - deer and horseflies as runners-up. They’re annoying. They hurt. But beyond the initial pain, they don’t have as many potential lasting effects as the others to break into the top three. Here in Southwest Ohio, their numbers don’t make things unbearable farther north. At least I haven’t experienced it. The same strategies for everything else seem to work: long sleeves, long pants, and DEET.
Getting Out
With that in order, go enjoy some worry-free and bug-free events outside:
Owl Walk
Friday, June 13, 9 - 10 p.m. at Englewood MetroPark, 4361 National Rd., Vandalia, 45377
https://www.metroparks.org/programs-events-finder/?program_number=T163&api=programs&type=program
Wildflower Hike
Friday, June 13, 6 – 7 p.m. at Buck Creek State Park Marina, 1901 Buck Creek Lane, Springfield, 45502
https://www.facebook.com/events/1203610137705304/
Creeking - Life in the Water
Saturday, June 14, 10 - 11:30 a.m. at Governor Bebb MetroPark: Dry Fork Creek, 1979 Bebb Park Lane, Okeana, 45053
https://reservations.yourmetroparks.net/programs/3741/
Free Fishing Day
Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15
Ohio residents are invited to experience Ohio’s fantastic public fishing opportunities without purchasing a license. All size and daily limits apply during these two days.
Devin Meister is a local outdoors and wildlife enthusiast and has a blog called “Average Guy Outdoors.” He is an Ohio University graduate. Reach him at meister.devin@gmail.com.
RESOURCES
Ticks: https://odh.ohio.gov/know-our-programs/zoonotic-disease-program/diseases/tickborne-diseases
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/about/tick-lifecycles.html
Chiggers: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23267-chigger-bites
Mosquitos:https://www.cdc.gov/mosquitoes/prevention/index.html
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