Camp Pests: Tips & Tricks

[Ethan N]

Today I came across this image on Facebook in the Overlanding USA page. The caption reads "Ever been to a nice spot out in the desert just to have it ruined by bees? Here's a little pro tip. Typically the bees are looking for water/moisture... put out a peace offering for them and they'll leave camp alone."



I would love to keep this conversation going, what tips & tricks do you have to keep your camping area pest free? Have you tried unconventional methods that panned out better than expected? Or maybe you tried something that didn't work at all, let's chat! Let's combine a few threads and common topics here, but keep it short and to the point! (like the above picture). We don't need another thread with 15 pages on bear protection. Anything goes: ticks, bees, bears, coyote, whatever! And remember the T.R.E.A.D. Principles, we aren't interested in how you poured gasoline down a ground hornet nest.

 

[smritte]

I will agree and disagree with the bee thing. I will agree that it works but, if you have enough bees in your desert area to be a bother, your not far from their hive. Spring time is when I see the most bees but their more interested in flowers.

"if" I had the occasional bee fly through just to put out water and see that many congregate, I just drew more to my area. I've seen people put out water and then have seen a small up tic in the number flying around.

On the other hand, one of my buddies had a bright yellow Baja bug. When we camped, he always had bee issues where my "earth tones" didn't have an issue.

90% of my camping is desert. The only critters I try to deter are desert foxes, coyotes.... things like that. They tend to get into any left out trash and make a mess while you sleep.
Bee issue are rare, tarantula hawks are more rare, snakes and centipedes are just avoided. Dont park on an ant nest. I think burning them just makes them angry.

 

[MOAK]

Agreed, especially about colorful vehicles and clothing. Everything we wear and use at camp are neutral colors and we don’t use aftershave, deodorant, perfumes or any other smelly soaps or shampoos. Our vehicle is painted desert sand. Insects just aren’t a problem for us. Mosquitoes? When going into a region that is known for mosquitoes all our clothing and some gear gets a heavy treatment of permithian and we apply deet first thing in the morning. 25 years ago we had a red Jeep which attracted flies, bees, sweat bees, wasps, etc etc. lesson learned. My brother-in-law has a blue truck and is constantly warding off any number of insects. I never really thought of it this way, but we have camouflaged ourselves quite effectively.