Our Minnesota Bug Arsenal

For years we have heard about the bugs in Minnesota. We've heard that the Minnesota state bird is the mosquito, because the bugs get so big here. We were hoping the stories were exaggerated, but now we have experienced deer flies and we realize they are true. Mark did some googling, looking for ways to ward off those terrible deer flies. He found that a guy markets some sticky bug traps you adhere to your cap. It doesn't get rid of them, but it traps them. We didn't have anywhere to buy the deer fly traps at Itasca State Park, but we did have some leftover sticky traps from the last time we stored the motor home. They are designed to attract mice, but we wondered if they would do the trick with flies too.

Using double sided sticky tape, we stuck them onto the back of our caps. Never in our wildest dreams did we foresee us wearing mouse sticky traps on our heads! But we were glad to have them this day.

The bad news is, Denisa's glue trap was in Mark's view from the back seat of the kayak on a lovely trip around the lake.

The good news is that it was effective. While we only caught a couple flies on the lake, we picked up quite a few more on a hike through the woods later.

By the end of the day, we were glad that all these guys were glued to our hat, rather than buzzing around our faces biting us.

When we got to town, we did some shopping before we go deeper into Minnesota. We found the deer fly sticky strips that are specifically designed to stick onto caps. Check!

We found the face nets that someone had recommended. Check!

We purchased the bug deterrent that is sprayed directly on your clothes. The instructions are very scary about keeping it off your skin. But this stuff will supposedly last through six laundry cycles. Mark sprayed some pants, shirts, and socks. Check!

We already have bug spray, but we decided to try these new mosquito wipes as well.

The picture below includes most of our arsenal. We bought new itch ointment (just in case a bug bites us in spite of the arsenal). We also bought a fogger, hoping to spend some time outside at our campsite. Hopefully we're ready for the best (and worst) that these wet Minnesota backwaters throw at us!