Last week, August 12th, was World Elephant Day.  Elephants are in trouble primarily due to poaching and habitat loss.  We cannot afford to let these magnificent species go extinct.  There are three species of elephants (with a number of different populations scattered across Africa and parts of Asia), the largest of which is the African elephant, weighing up to 8 tons.  A century ago, it has been estimated that there were as many as 12 million African elephants roaming the continent, but today, there are maybe 400,000 individuals left according to the World Wildlife Fund.  And in recent years, up to 20,000 elephants, or more, are killed in African each year. Something needs to be done.

And in some parts of Africa, something is being done, especially to address the problem of poaching.  To learn more, specifically, you have to check out a new film by National Geographic, and Executive Producer James Cameron (of 'Avatar' and deep ocean exploration fame), Akashinga: The Brave Ones.  This movie looks amazing, and these women, total bad-asses, focused on one mission: stop poaching by any means necessary.  I think this film is a must-see.  We cannot lose such impressive animals, and to see what is being done, to understand the Akashinga, we must witness their efforts, efforts should not go unnoticed. 

These are strange and difficult times, but it is still summer, time to get out there and explore.  Many more people than usual are heading outside these days, to hike, bike and camp, and avoid those areas and activities which are unsafe right now, where and when it is difficult to maintain proper social distance, and stay safe.  Outdoor activities, including camping, can be done safely.  But summer outdoors, camping and hiking, is always accompanied by those pesky little and often extremely annoying bugs, those mosquitoes.  And things are being made worse by climate change, with warming temperatures providing more degree days for mosquito development and allowing for range expansion for these and many other insects.  As the climate continues to warm, and some areas become wetter, mosquito populations continue to flourish and expand.  Since mosquitoes are disease vectors for a number of diseases which affect us, including malaria, yellow fever, West Nile fever, dengue fever, Zika, and others, more mosquitoes is not good for us.

There are about 3,500 species of mosquitoes world-wide, with about 176 different species in North America, and their distribution is 'cosmopolitan', meaning that they are found almost everywhere, except Antarctica, and some Subantarctic islands, and islands in more polar regions such as Iceland.  Taxonomically, mosquitoes are in the Family Culicidae, and Order Diptera, which includes all the 'true flies' (excludes other 'flies' such as mayflies, stoneflies, dragonflies, etc.).  The origin of the name, 'mosquito' is Spanish, which means "little fly".   They carry disease, they can be extremely annoying, they can be incredibly numerous, and generally, they are bad.  What can be done to deal with this one of many summer scourges?

I generally am not bothered by mosquitoes, just dress properly, use aerosol repellent when necessary (I only spray my hat, and prefer not to apply any insect repellent directly to my skin), and look to ways to keep them at bay, especially at camp.  What works, at least for me? I'm a total fan of mosquito coils, and have been for many years.  This stuff really seems to work.

I have been using mosquito coils for years, and years, and I firmly believe that this stuff effective in repelling mosquitoes.  You might need to deploy more than one coil, and they don't work if it is windy.  But if it is windy, there will be fewer mosquitoes anyway, so no problem.  A good campfire also works to drive mosquitoes away, but sometimes this is not an option.  When I was out West exploring our national parks in 2017, it was a dry summer and most states had burn bans, campfires were not allowed.  So I relied on mosquito coils as I have for years.

I prefer Off! brand coils, though their are others which seem effective as well.  Most coils produced today are made of a dried paste of pyrethrum, a natural powdered material originally isolated from chrysanthemums.  Some of the older coils (which might be still in circulation) contain metofluthrin as the active ingredient, but the EPA has classified this substance as a neurotoxin and a potential carcinogen.  Today, most coils, including Off!, contain active ingredients dl-allethrolone and d-trans chrysanthemate, both still types of pyrethroids.  The Material Safety Data Sheets suggest these compounds are very safe, and they appear to be very effective.  I have also played around with Thermacell (Portable Mosquito Repeller), which uses allethrin, a synthetic version of the pyrethroid repellents found in chrysanthemum flowers.  I can't say I have experimented extensively with my Thermacell Repeller, though it does appear to work.  But it is kind of expensive, and bulky, and I simply prefer mosquito  coils.  They seem to work well for me, I don't go camping without them.  As I mentioned above, you sometimes have to deploy more than one, but they generally last up to 4 hours or more, and as long as it is not too windy, they work great.

So, while it is still summer, get out there, explore our wonderful public lands, camp, hike, and play.  But don't forget those mosquito coils, cause the bugs love summer as well.
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