Insects, bugs, and other creepy-crawly things in tents & camping & hiking...

[WhiteWaterLady]

Insects, bugs, and other creepy-crawly things in tents
　
What kinds of things do you anticipate sharing your tent with, and what plans do you have for keeping them to a minimum?

Depending on where we are, I can easily envision spiders, ants, scorpions, roaches, centipedes, milipedes, pill bugs, moths, and potentially even termites attempting to share my tent. Then there are the rodents that like to chew through EVERYTHING that's not metal!

My cats are good hunters and will certainly help with the bugs and rodents, but...
　
And let's not forget ticks, mites, and fleas - the great spreaders of plague!
Speaking of ticks...
　
The Deer Tick---

Deer Tick & Related Species

Nick Names: Deer tick, Bear tick, Sheep tick, #(!&* Tick
Common Names: Western Black Legged tick, Black Legged tick, European Wood tick, Sheep tick
Formal Names: Ixodes scapularis, Ixodes dammini, Ixodes pacificus, Ixodes ricinus
Name Match Ups:
<DIR><DIR>Deer tick - Black Legged tick - Ixodes scapularis - Ixodes dammini
Bear Tick - Ixodes pacificus - Western Black Legged tick
Sheep Tick - Ixodes ricinus - European Wood tick
</DIR></DIR>Description: Often confused with brown dog tick during later engorgement due to shield design. Mouth part is much longer than brown dog tick mouthparts. Brown dog ticks seldom attach to humans.
Repellents: Permethrin clothing treatment kills ticks and deet-based skin repellent helps repel them.
Diseases: Lyme disease (http://www.lymediseaseinformation.com/), (http://www.lymediseaseinformation.com/) Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis

Clockwise from top: female, male, larval, nymph

[WhiteWaterLady]

grumble, grumble, grumble, can't figure out how to attach the much needed pictures which are stored on my hard drive

mutter, mutter, mutter

[WhiteWaterLady]

try this...

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.1800pixtick.com/images/DeetTickCoin2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.1800pixtick.com/deertick.htm&usg=__1YFbUQBtrHxVOebRI8Ye46nK7UA=&h=221&w=216&sz=10&hl=en&start=0&tbnid=1EBFsKvQjWO2QM:&tbnh=142&tbnw=139&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddeer%2Btick%2Bcoin%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den %26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1122%26bih%3D585%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=150&vpy=88&dur=5203&hovh=176&hovw=172&tx=72&ty=103&ei=F9tHTMOQGoz6swP-muCLCw&page=1&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

[DisasterGuy]

I've spent about 3 years of my life sleeping outdoors, mostly in tents. You seem to have an aversion to sharing your tent with insects, etc. I've found some things that may help.
1. Look at the ground before you pitch your tent on an anthill. Swish the vegetation around to see what's under it. Try to keep several feet between you and anthills.
2. Don't pitch a tent under a tree unless you like ticks. Most of the ticks I've gotten were in wooded areas. Got the last one 2 weeks ago.
3. Never, never, never eat or drink in your tent. Tiny crumbs are a mother-load of food for a bug. They also love the sugar in so-called empty soda pop cans.
4. Keep your sleeping bag zipped up until you are ready to sleep in it. Before you do, check for insects and shake it out.
5. Keep your tent zipped up shut except to get in and out of it. That way, other things won't be getting in and out of it, too. Use the bug screens if your tent has them.
6. Do not use lights in your tent at night. Phototropic insects will flock to you. Hope you like moths.
7. Avoid the use of perfumes, deodorants, floral sprays, etc. inside your tent. They attract insects.
8. Avoid the use of bug spray, DEET, OFF, etc. inside the tent. They're bad for the fabric, and they concentrate the chemicals where you breath them.
9. I use "flowers of sulfur" -- real, elemental sulfur dust for roses -- and dust a rectangle about 6 inches away from the sides of my tent. It doesn't hurt the plants, and bugs seem to hate it.
10. It isn't environmentally a great idea, but I also "ditch" my tent. I have a 3-inch deep "trench" around my tent so rain water doesn't get under the tent. It gets in the ditch and runs away downhill. This has nothing to do with bugs but lots to do with comfort. Sulfur goes on the outside bank.

If I am sleeping outside without a tent, I prefer to sleep off the ground. Big old wolf spiders don't have a poison bite, but it irks me to have them walk over my face at night. It irks them when I swat them dead, too. But it doesn't make for a restful night. A pickup truck bed is nicer.

If you have trees available, put all your food in a bag, tie a rope to it, and hang it high in a tree away from your camp. Include dirty dishes and your camp garbage bag. This is called a "bear bag," but it keeps bugs out of your food, too.

Hope this is the kind of think you're looking for!