top of page
Search

A Mosquito Scale

  • Writer: balzaccom
    balzaccom
  • Jun 10, 2020
  • 1 min read

Those who are sailors will be acquainted with the Beaufort Scale, which is used to grade the force of winds at sea. A force ten gale is something fierce, and the scale tops out at twelve--a full-blown hurricane. Each step is accompanied by a description of the sea at that force of wind. A good system.


So we were thinking...



What if we had a similar scale for mosquitoes in the wilderness? We could call it the Bugforce Scale. Here's our suggestion:


0--Zero. Really. No mosquitoes.

1--I think I may have seen one. But maybe it was a gnat.

2--OK, I saw one, and heard one, but didn't actually get bitten,

3--Yeah, there were some in a few spots. Only the timid put on organic bug juice.

4--Got a few bites, but I got more of them than they got of me.

5--Time for DEET at dawn and dusk. Hiking, we just slapped and sped up.

6--DEET while hiking. Headnets at dawn and dusk

7--Pick your camp spots carefully, up on the ridge in the wind. Bites between hat and sunglasses--how do they get in there?

8--Long sleeves and long pants, I don't care how hot it is. Pray for wind.

9--Headnets while hiking, or you'll breathe in at least one bug per mile. DEET dissolves sunglasses

10--Clouds of mosquitoes waiting on the trail and on the screen of the tent. Open warfare. DEET dissolves watchband, and it's stainless steel.

11--We made it out alive.

12--They got Larry. RIP, Larry.



 
 
 

Recent Posts

See All
Drones...ugh

We hate drones, and we really hate drones in the wilderness. So we're delighted about this story of prosecution:...

 
 
 
Campgrounds in Yosemite

Yes, some of the closed campgrounds in Yosemite are opening, but the headline on this article from SF Gate misleading. Tuolumne Meadows...

 
 
 
Amsterdam to Budapest

And then the second part of our trip was a cruise up the Rhine, across the canal, and down the Danube to Budapest. It was complicated by...

 
 
 

Comments


© 2023 by Name of Site. Proudly created with Wix.com

bottom of page