Author Topic: Are insects a problem in Alberta?  (Read 7011 times)

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Offline PeteJack

Are insects a problem in Alberta?
« on: December 16, 2010, 08:14:58 pm »
In 2012 I'm hoping to ride the ACA route from Jasper to Whitefish. I'm trying to get a friend in England to join me and he's terribly worried about mosquitoes and possibly other bugs. Are they a problem on this route? If so how do we deal with them?
« Last Edit: December 18, 2010, 10:03:16 am by PeteJack »

Offline valygrl

Re: Are insects a problem in Alberta?
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2010, 08:54:12 pm »
Yes, there are mosquitos, but they aren't horrible.  Use Deet based insect repellent or wear long sleeves & pants.  They only bother you in camp, not on the bike.  And that is such a spectacular route, it would be a shame to miss it for fear of a few mosquito bites.

Offline Galloper

Re: Are insects a problem in Alberta?
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2010, 06:13:20 am »
And ticks!   Quite common on the prairies!

Offline rvklassen

Re: Are insects a problem in Alberta?
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2010, 12:35:22 pm »
And ticks!   Quite common on the prairies!

Ain't no prairies on the route from Jasper, Alberta to Whitefish, Montana.  Them be the Rocky Mountains.

I've ridden from Lake Louise to Jasper, and don't recall encountering any mosquitoes along that section.  Mostly it's not particularly good habitat for them.   There isn't all that much standing water, which they need to breed.  May depend on time of year.   And we didn't camp that time.   Fantastic scenery.

Offline geegee

Re: Are insects a problem in Alberta?
« Reply #4 on: December 18, 2010, 09:42:26 pm »
If you ride through the Prairies in the late summer you might come across swarms of grasshoppers. When I rode across western Canada, the infestation was of epic proportions — entire roadways were covered in them and it was "crunch, crunch, crunch" going over them and I had to constantly bat them off my legs.
« Last Edit: December 20, 2010, 09:21:47 pm by geeg »

Offline waynemyer

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Re: Are insects a problem in Alberta?
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2010, 11:24:15 am »
Alberta?  Don't they have legendary blackfly swarms around the hatching times?  Maybe I'm confusing the region with somwhere  else.  Maybe that was Ontario...

Edit: and doesn't DEET attract blackflies?
« Last Edit: December 20, 2010, 11:27:28 am by waynemyer »
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FredHiltz

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Re: Are insects a problem in Alberta?
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2010, 12:33:39 pm »
Based on long experience in Vermont, where black flies definitely make life miserable from mid-May to early July, DEET does not seem to attract them. It does not repel them, either. I use a headnet in the woods. They are not a problem on the bike; only when you stop. And they are not a problem after dark.

Whether they live up there in the Rockies, I hope someone who has been there in late spring can tell us.

Fred