I never knew God made Canadian mosquitoes bigger than Filippino mosquitoes. We only get the size small in the Philippines and California. I wasn't in the mood for a couple days to update cuz those insects bugged me. (Pun). I didn't get enough sleep because of them. I now equate Canadian campgrounds with mosquitoes and No-See-Ums. Like I mentioned before, you can't beat the Canadian views and you can't beat the bugs either. So for many days, it would be the same old scenic campground ground by the lake or stream, with free mosquitoes and No See Ums. We moved every day hoping to outrun the bug bites and it was bugs all the way to Yukon Territory. We only stopped for diesel and propane in the Yukon. Never gave the skeeters a chance to dig in.
How Combat Canadian Mosquitoes and No-See-Ums With an Electric Bug Zapper
It was satisfying hearing the sizzling sound of a mosquito being zapped. Too many mosquitos being zapped smelled like burnt toast. I had a couple sleepless nights doing that zapping on this trip. One night, as I was zapping mosquitoes and trying to fall asleep, there was a lightning storm and I watched the lightning flicker on the horizon at an almost regular second interval for more than an hour.
What's A No-See-Um?
Those No See Ums have proven to be our biggest troublemakers cuz they pass through the tulle mosquito netting and they can't easily be zapped either cuz they are so small they go through the bug zapper. They're the size of a pinhead. At least with the mosquitoes, because they're large, they don't fly fast like their smaller relatives, so we got really good at catching them with our bare hands. With the No See Ums, you stand no chance. They are stealthy and you can't see 'em easily. That's why they're called No See Ums. They also hurt like pinpricks and they loved biting our skull, face and hands at night cuz those were the body parts exposed out of our sleeping bags. What a nightmare of a nuisance they were. We would wake up with bites on those areas.
Canadian Mosquito Face Net
We had to resort to using our Canadian mosquito-netted hats in bed. My hubby wears a special Sea To Summit Head Net that stops all Canadian Mosquitoes and No-See-Ums. I sometimes wore my charmeuse sleeping bonnet. Tried all kinds of things to beat them at their game. There was one night when the kids were in the tent and we ended up following them after an hour or two of slapping and scratching ourselves. We were too lazy to move our foam mattress into the tent so we thought we'd stick it out in the van. We thought that those No See Ums would go to bed too. Nope! Those mosquitoes and No See Ums do not sleep. Ever! They bite all day and all night long.
Speed Is The Key To Avoiding Canadian No-See-Ums
We can't get out of our van fast enough for them not to come inside the van when we go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I'd have to stay up another half hour zapping them before trying to go back to bed. If I could even fall back asleep. Most of the time, I'd be so wide awake at the excitement in my killing spree, that I couldn't go back to bed for a long time. I slept with my hand holding that bug zapper. Any buzzing sound would send me sitting up faster than a lightning bullet, to open my LED Luci light lantern, to hunt down that pesky mosquito.
Nemo Bugout Shelter Is A Canadian Mosquito Safehouse
We've had to put up our Nemo Bugout Shelter almost every day in Canada and slept in the tent too cuz the tent screens have mesh screens that No See Ums can't get through.
Why I Like Spiders Better Than No-See-Ums
These bugs are so bad, I forgot I had a phobia of spiders. There was this spider in the outhouse of one of our campground, the size of a quarter, doing a hide and go seek with mosquitoes. I saw the spider dart out near the hinge of the door to catch a mosquito that landed on its web, but then the spider lost it after the mosquito escaped it twice. I kinda felt sorry for that spider and mad at the mosquito. Normally, I would freak out at the site of any spider in the house and would have the boys kill it or I would vacuum it. Not this time. I actually fed that spider. I caught mosquitoes with my hand, squished em a bit ( so the mosquitoes were still whole ) and flung em on to the spider web.
Catching 4 mosquitoes is an achievement! I was delighted to give that spider a feast for a meal. I didn't stay long enough for the spider to come out again cuz the mosquitoes got a whiff of juicy me and spread the word. Had to get out of there. The spider was kinda shy which I liked. It didn't crawl around everywhere. That would have sent me running out the door. Just played peekaboo with those mosquitoes.
Zach reported to me that only one mosquito was left on the web when he used the outhouse later. That made me smile. Mission accomplished. Can't believe I can talk about this spider story without my hair standing up. Those mosquitoes tempered my phobia for spiders just a tad on this camping trip. It was just nice to know that this spider was doing its job in its own small way in controlling the mosquito population, one skeeter at a time. My feeling it was my way of saying "thank you".
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