One thing as sure as death itself is, when you're up in Algonquin, you're gonna meet up with a bug!  However, the proper precautions can prevent them from ruining your camping experience.  Here you will find the most common types of insects you'll encounter and some tips and products that will ensure you don't encounter them often.

General Tips

Some general tips on avoiding all various types of insects.

• Be sure to wear light coloured clothing such as light browns and greens.  White is also good but keep in mind that it will get dirty eventually.

• Remain as scent free as possible.  Colognes and perfumes are not the best of ideas here.  It's also important to conduct good hygiene and avoid those funky body odors.  Bananas and alcohol will attract insects.

• Use insect repellents with DEET (diethyltoluamide).  As mentioned in the Equipment section,  DEET is a powerful repellent which works for all kinds of insects.  DEET should be spread on your skin and not your clothes, however, it has been associated with causing cancer.

• If at all possible, travel and camp on high grounds.  Try to avoid wet ground and grasses.  Ideally, try and set up camp in a open and breezy area.  Unfortunately, these are few and far between in Algonquin.

• Insects in general do not like smoke, so if you happen to wander away from the fire you're on your own!  Burning orange peels is also said to prevent an over abundant amount of pests.  From personal experience, we believe that bugs, mosquitoes in particular, will just laugh at mosquito coils purchased from camping supply stores.

The Mosquito

Everyone is familiar and has had experiences with the mosquito.  Mosquitoes are really more a pest than anything, namely because their bite is pretty tame.  They can be found in marshes and bogs or areas with a still, stagnant water.  They can appear approximately three weeks to a month after the final thaw in spring and usually hang aroundand are abundant at six to eight weeks after that.

Mosquitoes will be certainly attracted to you if you are wet and damp or if you are wearing blue, although Jeff insists he's had no problems with his blue poncho.  In extreme cases, mosquitoes have been known to carry disease.  The best way to avoid mosquitoes is to use a adequate amount of repellent and maintain good hygiene. If you ever feel an mosquito chowing down on your arm, you can know that it is female, since only the females bite.  If there is no blood available, mosquitoes will feed off of grass.  That is, until you walk in it!

The Black Fly

Found in the daytime from the months of May to the beginning of July (June being their peak) these little fellows are a wee bit more painful than the mosquito.

They are typically dark with transparent wings, adults range from 2.5 to 3.5 mm (0.10 to 0.14 in) long. Various other names for the black fly are buffalo gnat and (improperly) the sand fly.  They like the running water found in rivers and streams to breed in.  These insects are very persistent and can annoy you for hours.  They have been known to "attack" those (namely Jeff) who get in the way of their meal (namely Paul).  As a defense, black flies are not a big fan of garlic.

Ticks

Ticks are small, oval, dark coloured, and, if you can count them, have eight legs.  It's approximately 1/8th of an inch long and lives in the grass or on different types of wildlife such as mammals and birds.  There are many different types of species, but you wouldn't want to meet any of them.  Ticks can and will consume your blood.  They transfer from animal to animal to human to human and back again like they were catching a bus downtown. Trying to find them is not a day at the beach either since they will most likely lodge in dark areas such as your armpit, groin, or butt.  In addition to feasting on "life's liquid", they transmit a bacteria like organism into your blood stream, which produces symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle pain, chills, and sensitive eyes, along with possible red spots on your hands or feet.  Hopefully it won't come to this if you take preventive measures such as wearing socks and long pants and inspect yourself and clothes.  If you happen to find any, they can be pulled off with a pair of tweezers that you should have in your first aid kit.  Deer ticks have been known to cause diseases (lyme disease).

Leeches

Okay, okay, so leeches aren't insects but this is as good a place as any to get them out of the way.  Leeches are very common in the Park and in Canada in general. They can be found in still fresh water lakes, ponds, and streams.  These small, dark, worm like critters enjoy clinging to you and then proceeding to suck your blood.  It takes awhile for them to attach to you and can be easily swiped off at this point.  After they "link" onto you, you can either use salt on the leech causing it to kind of wither up, or you can burn a match or cigarette close to it to discourage it from it's task.  The wound will bleed quite a bit afterwards and should be cleaned.  None of us are very fond of leeches.