Help! Biting Black flies in Maine

[hopefulhiker]

I am planning to do a flip flop in June from Katadin . I just read about how horrible the Black flies are in June in Maine.. What can I do about this? Never really had this problem down South.. don't really have much experience with swarms of blood letting flies.....

[rickb]

Depends. If you are O Positive you can resupply in Monson.

[Singletrack]

Have hiked Maine twice in June. Have yet to see my first Black Fly. There are plenty of Mosquitoes though, especially at lower elevations. Have plenty of deet, bug head net, long pants, and shirt. Make sure you have a tent or bug bivy to sleep in.

[RITBlake]

crush up 5 or 6 match heads and swallow the powder w/ some water or gatorade. The next day you'll sweat and smell like sh()t but the bugs will leave you alone.

This works.

[RITBlake]

This is off topic, but since you doing a flip flop in June (like we are) why not consider starting in Harpers Ferry and going North. Then fliping back to HF and going South. Get to hike w/ nice weather and water and what not. The AMC site calls it a 'head-start' hike

[Newb]

there's this newfangled invention called insect repellent.

[Peter Mossberg]

The black flies can be terrible in late may through the begining of July in Maine & NH.

1) Black Flies can NOT bite through fabric (like mosquitos), use a light long-sleeve shirt to protect your arms

2) Black flies also do NOT bite after dark. We hikes katahdin on June 1, and they stopped biting precisely at 8:35 P.M.

3) BLack flies also do not bite in cold drizzly weather, or when raining.

4) D.E.E.T. is effective against black flies.

5) Bug nets also work.

[RITBlake]

is the black fly similar/the same as a horse fly?

[jlb2012]

is the black fly similar/the same as a horse fly?
basically speaking no - they are quite different - black flies are "small, gray or black flies, various species ranging from 1/16 to slightly over 1/8 inch long; strong fliers" and horse flies and deer flies are "horse flies 5/16 to 1 inch long, deer flies ¼ to 3/8 inch; horse fly species range from solid black to patterns of gray, brown, black, greenish, and yellow with eyes horizontally striped with iridescent greens, blues, and violet (eyes of a few species are solid green); deer flies are brown to black with yellow to pale brown markings and large spots on wings, eyes green with red spots"

a good link about black flies : Black Fly Info (http://www.mainenature.org/blackfly/blackflyinfo.html)

[PKH]

Well, blackflies eat you alive right on the spot, while a half dozen horseflies can pick you up and carry you away.

Deet, Deet, and more Deet. Most fanatical anti-deet hikers, (and there are some) just haven't been exposed a of mob black flies with "the hunger" upon it. For people live outside blackfly regions, these little bastards can be an awful shock. Sadly, in Canada we can only get the 28% concentration now, which quite frankly is distressingly ineffective.

Protect yourself.

Cheers,

PKH

[Lucy Lulu]

In 98 I hiked south from katahdin from the beginning of June through August. I was joined by 10,138 black flies. I survived with plenty of DEET and a good head net.

[Smile]

And how about those who have DEET allergies, suggestions? Garlic? B12 ( this works wonders on ticks) Suggestions?

[Kembo]

When I was in Maine I came across two black flies that had just killed a moose. The were discussing wether to eat it there or drag it into the bushes. They decided to drag it into the bushes so that the big boys wouldn't take it away from them.

[tlbj6142]

Black flies (sometimes called biting flies) in Michigan's UP are rather slow and very easy to kill. They don't give up if you just swat at them. And, for the most part, you can easily out walk them. Those in ME might prove to be a bit more aggressive.

Those found in MI look like smaller houseflies, but are slow and single focused. You can easily kill 20+ of them in a minute or so if you sit still. They seem to love calves more than any other part of the body.

[The Solemates]

I am planning to do a flip flop in June from Katadin . I just read about how horrible the Black flies are in June in Maine.. What can I do about this? Never really had this problem down South.. don't really have much experience with swarms of blood letting flies.....

We were in ME in June on our NOBO thru and it was cool enough to put on your raingear at night. Add a headnet to this, and you have total protection except for your hands. (Although they can bite through raingear, but its enough to stop the majority of them). Personally, we found the mosquitos much more obnoxious than the black flies.