Sand Flies

I am sorry if I offended anyone and i can see that my comment wasn't very helpful probably because Sandflies don't bother me much as I spend lots of time working/tramping/hunting ect in the west coast bush and probably built up an amunity to them, either that or i'm too senile to notice them biting me!! Here are my suggestions to help prevent sanfly bites if all the above suggestions don't work 1/ Early settlers on the west cost used to Take a teaspoon of kerosine each morning.( i've not tried it so don't know if it works and haven't met anyone who has tried it or was sane enough to have a decent conversation so it's up to you to test and measure) 2/ Don't enter the bush during daylight hours 3/ Do not enter sandfly habitats at all 4/ Wear full protective clothing making sure not to leave ANY exposed skin. Nasa may have some second hand space suits for sale on ebay. You maybe interestsd to know the Moari ledgend of the West coast sandfly. It is said that when an early Moari queen visited the west coast she loved the beauty of it so much that she put the sandly there so that when other people visited this beautiful place they wouldn't stay long!!It's a pity Winston Peters couldn't have come up with as powerful a strategy as that when he was minister of immigration !!! In all honesty the reality is that the sandfly is part of our beautiful bush and wildeness and nothing is going to change that. So it is realy up to the indiviual to accept that as a small price to pay for the privilage of being able to have the freedom to explore our beautiful country and all it has to offer.If all the repelants on the market both chemical and natural are either not acceptable/ don't work or you have such sever reactions to a bite then it is really a matter of toughening up or going home. Again I am not trying to offend anyone just saying it as it is.

Actually it isn't so much a case of toughening up, it is building up immunity, that's what I believe anyway. After tramping in sandfly country for years I found that sandfly bites didn't swell up any more whereas newbies who I took into the bush would develop some awful reactions. That then leaves the nusence factor, which there is no getting way from. I have found that keeping as much of your body covered up as possible, Put repellant on the areas you can't cover, but the sandfly will still find the small area that you miss. You tend to keep moving too as sandflies only seem to land when you are resting. Also, as sandlies are a valley phenomina, plan to camp out at or above bushline is a lot more pleasant. But then in the end you have to get used to them. They used to say that Davy Gunn (of Hollyford valley fame)had a reflex where he would brush his hand across his face to wave away the sandflies. He would even do it when he was shopping in town, away from the sandflies.

Not so much about toughening up as more of a pet hate that we all have in common :-)

I agree, I love tramping too much to let the sandflies stop me - I just use plenty of DEET and tell myself at least we don't have snakes and funnelwebs. It is a pain in the neck but for me not so bad as being bitten. I'm sure you do "build up immunity" (actually the opposite probably - your immune system gets used to them and stops reacting to them) but I've not spent enough of my time in sandfly areas. Also, I know someone who grew up near Lake Sumner and sandflies from that area didn't bother her at all, but when she went elsewhere eg Milford she reacted badly to the "foreign" sandflies.

Remember DEET is listed as carcinogenic (causes cancer) and perhaps should be used sparingly. I can never understand the constant reference to snakes and spiders as something to fear. They are not as prevalent as you might think. Admittedly i see snakes more often than most(most weekends) but i walk in places many people wouldn't (off track and in long thick grass or dense jungle). Even still, they are more scared of you than you are of them and your not on their foodlist. Give them some credit because most of the time you will only see the back end of them as they are incredibly astute as to measuring your size by footfall etc. If they are standing their ground it could be because of a nearby nest and the riskiest time is NOV because it's the height of breeding season. If you've come on them by surprise often a stamp on the ground will alert them and they will go. Black snakes are more placid and will often give a warning blow before biting. They have suffered badly through eating cane toads and perhaps less common now. I rarely encounter a brown as i believe they are more common to desert type areas. In most decent walking areas of Australia you will likely encounter a carpet snake (the biggest i've walked over is about 15'long)They are only a risk through infection from a bite as they eat vermin as so forth. You can usually leap over them or simply avoid them and go around. I rarely encounter spiders in the bush. At least those that are threatening. Funnelwebs are probably more common in built up areas.

Reminds me of a guy I met in Canada. he was an outdoorsy sort of bloke and the conversation inevitably came to the risk of meeting bears. His response was "I have seen plenty of bears in the backcountry. I havn't given them any bother and they havn't given me any either". I thought that was a pretty sensible appraisal of the risk from an experienced bushman.

As far as I can see, evidence regarding DEET has not gone beyond EPA category D, ie "not classifiable as to human carcinogenicity." Meaning no one has been able to prove it increases the risk of cancer (or that it does not). Yes it is still possible that it does. But if so the effect is probably pretty small, given that no one has been able to demonstrate it yet. Similarly, a long haul flight or a CT scan ("cat" scan) also increase the risk of cancer. I agree it probably shouldn't be used frequently or for prolonged periods but I'm yet to be convinced that there is any reason for concern over intermittent use. (I've just done 4 months on an oncology ward and believe me, if I thought it significantly increased the risk of cancer, I would be the first one to stop using it!) If anyone knows of literature showing otherwise please let me know

I would rather risk it in the short term instead of getting eaten by the Black B******s esp. the West Coast ones who eat through your polyprop tights and wool socks(don't ask me how)!

You're right about the DEET, Chris1. It's MY list that puts it as carcinogenic. Give it time though and i'm sure the authorities will catch up.

The sand flies have always confused me, they are in such abundance here, possibly more than the black flies back home in Canada, but what do they feed on when there are no hot blooded trampers? Seriously! Flightless birds?