Black Flies, Mosquitoes and Bears

Black Flies

For those of you who are not familiar with black flies, they are small biting flies that literally chew a hole in your skin to suck blood out of you. They like to crawl before they bite, so they will land on you and then proceed to crawl up your arms and legs (inside your shirt sleeves and pant legs) and then bite. They especially like to crawl up into your hair a little ways and bite you on your scalp. The bites itch tremendously, and readily bleed. Sometimes a swarm of them can hover around you and quite literally drive you nuts.
They are only active during daylight hours, and a good wind will blow them away.

Black Flies can be a major factor in your visit to this region. Black flies are most plentiful first thing in the spring, right after the snow melts. There's usually a few days to a week or two before they really get going in the spring. They will be most plentiful in June and July. You may or may not see a lot of them in May -- it depends on the weather, how warm it is, etc. They gradually decline in numbers throughout the summer. Sometimes they are mostly gone by August, but sometimes they last into September. It all depends on the weather conditions.

Insect repellent is necessary for most people to stay outside in the summer. Tucking your pant legs into your socks can sometimes be effective. Also wear a hat (but they will bite you along the edge of your hat where it contacts your scalp). Bug hats with netting and so-called "bug shirts" can be effective as well. Part of the strategy of dealing with black flies is to not be annoyed with their buzzing about your head. If you can deal with that, then you can focus your attention on the ones that are actually trying to bite you. As well, try to be out in open areas where there is some breeze.

I have been up in this area in July and been unable to stay outside for more than 20-30 minutes before they drove me back into my car. And on another trip in early September I found them to be still plentiful enough to cause me some discomfort.

Mosquitoes are mainly out during the evening, during dusk. Most of them usually land during the day and in the dark of night. However, there seem to be almost always some flying about 24x7.

Mosquitoes fly slower than blackflies and are larger. Thus they are easier to swat. However, they do not crawl up your sleeves and into your clothing the way that blackflies love to do, so they are always visible.

Mosquitoes will promptly land when it's windy. So a windy day is a real blessing to travelers in the far north. One of the unforeseen drawbacks of this characteristic is when your car gets invaded by the little beasts. Usually simply driving off with open windows will blow any insects flying about the car out the windows. But when mosquitoes sense a wind, they promptly land in a sheltered place. Which in a car with the windows open means down low in the area around your legs and ankles. And then they sometimes proceed to bite you there while your driving!

Bears

Generally speaking, you simply need to be properly careful, that's all.

• Don't ever leave food out.
• Keep a very clean campsite, and always put everything away as soon as you're done with it.
• Don't eat in your tent.
• Always put food away in your car when you're not actually eating.
• Don't leave a cooler with food in it outside of your car.
• If you're not travelling by car (such as by bicycle), hang your food up by rope from a tree. It should be at least 10 feet off the ground, and away from the trunk.
• Don't approach bears - they are wild animals capable of killing you should they choose to do so. Fortunately 99.9% of the time they don't want to have anything to do with you.
• Be aware of mother bears with cubs. If you see cubs stay away. Be extra cautious.
• Don't camp in dirty campsites (ie, where there's garbage about).

Remember that most of the time, wild animals want to get as far away from you as possible. Most wild animals fear humans and want nothing to do with you. This is especially true the farther away you are from "civilisation".

Bottom line is ... be properly careful with your food and other things, be aware of bear sign and mothers with young, and stay away from bears when encountered.

There's plenty of books and advice on the internet about how to deal with bears. I won't repeat all that here. But do remember that in this area there only occur the (usually) non-aggressive black bears. There are no grizzly or polar bears here.

-- These other websites may also interest you --

Ontario Wildflowers   Ontario Trees & Shrubs   Ontario Ferns   Ontario Grasses   Ontario Insects
Mumart   World of Mosses   Wild Ontario   Trans-Labrador Hwy   James Bay Road   Rupert River   Moped Trip
Wildwood Survival   Wildwood Tracking   Leatherwood Trail   Tracker Trail   Earth Caretaker   Wildwood Canada

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