Bugs in Savannah?
 

I just read something in a tour book about lots of biting gnats in Savannah, GA. What gives??

Huh? Been to Savannah many times. Never heard of such a thing. Maybe the writer had fleas?

I grew up in the Savannah area. In the hot, humid summer there are these little bugs that you can hardly see called gnats that swarm around you, particularly your face. It's just a fact of life and as hard as we try to figure out how to keep them away, they are always there. I usually hold my hand above my head much like a soldier would to salute (I'm really not kidding about this!) as they seem to swarm toward the highest point. Some say using an Avon product (is it Skin-So-Soft?) helps to repel them. I've never been aware of them biting. But they are as obnoxious as all get-out!

There are the swarming gnats, which is what Polly just described, and then there are the biting gnats. In much of the south we call them "no see-ums" because they are almost impossible to see or feel until they bite you. They are pesky little critters, but they don't leave a big itchy whelp like a mosquito does. It's just one of the things we southerners have to endure to live in our paradise.

Question for pollyvw and Wayne. Are these bugs you encounter in your yard trying to have a picnic or at the beach, or would a person walking around downtown seeing the historic sites be bothered by them too? That's all I've done in Savannah and never encountered them, that's why I ask.

I have been to Savannah several times - in spring and late summer. Only was in historic district. No bothersome bugs. Also, was surprised not to see big nasty crawly bugs either as I have in other warm places (even in college dorms - don't want to know how much insecticide they use!)

The kind of southern gnats mentioned above I have dealt with in other places by wearing a wide-brim hat and spraying the hat liberally with bug repellant.

Never been bit by a gnat in Savannah.

Don't they have those huge Palmetto bugs down South? ((b))

Yes, we have palmetto bugs. Nasty huge flying things.

But they are just in Charleston, not Savannah.

Skin-So-Soft is not an insect repellent and will attract bugs not deter them.

Tell me more about the Palmetto bugs?
PLEASE!!!

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=palmetto+bug ((b))

lauralee, they look like giant cockroaches and they fly.

Unfortunately, they are part of life in the southeast. I usually (luckily) don't ever see one until one of my cats kill it.

They get into the cleanest and nicest places so if you see one, know that they are NOT a sign of filth.

First time in Savannah one year in May, did a walking garden tour. The tour guide passed around a spray bottle of insect repellant before the walk started, which he claimed was a must. Might depend on time of year -- usually I now go late fall or earlier spring and haven't noticed anything either.

Thanks for your imput! I live in south Florida, so believe me, I KNOW BUGS!!! Anyway, I will be in Savannah the 2nd of May. I will take some bug repellant, just to be on the safe side. I have a ton of the stuff, since you can't be without it in Florida!

Palmetto bugs are really giant cockroaches, some varieties fly. The polite culture of the South will not admit to having something as northern and urban as cockroaches, so they have been renamed Palmetto bugs.

Palmetto bugs are about the size of Volkswagons and have an unusual arrogance about them - most bugs will at least attempt to run away. Palmetto bugs just sit there and glare at you. In Florida, I think even the gators are afraid of them.

Well, I'm sorry but I didn't know about the little guys. Tell me they won't be out in early April in Savannah or Charleston...somebody? I don't think I'm going to like this..how do you put up with them if you don't like bugs?
Is it best or does it help not to have your hotel windows open--maybe not be on the ground floor? Any words of advice?

gail you owe me a new computer monitor! I just spit diet Mountain Dew out all over mine!

That is so true of Palmetto Bugs! They do stare you down and gators probably are afraid of them.

lauralee, you probably will not see a Palmetto Bug. Being on an upper floor does absolutely no good, they fly. Neither does keeping your windows closed. My house is on pillings 14 feet off the ground and I see them. Ditto for my familys house in Pawleys Island and it is 22 feet off the ground!

OMG, the first time I saw one of those palmetto bugs, I nearly jumped off the balcony at the condo we were staying at! They are ugly creatures and the south's best kept secret from us northerners :)

Marcia, gnats should not be a problem that time of year. Dog days of summer is when they become an issue.

And Gotravel...maybe I got the name wrong. There is some product that Avon makes (not for the purpose of repelling insects) that some people claim IS a good insect repellant. I'm just like those beauty shop gossips! :-) Repeating what I heard and having no foundation for whether it is truth or fable! :-) But, whatever it is, I have a friend who uses it for that purpose religiously. I repeated it here because I thought someone would remember the name.

pollyw, for years it was Urban Legend that Skin-So-Soft was a great insect repellent. In 1993 Consumer Reports did a test and found out that SSS did nothing to repel bugs. Shortly afterwards Avon started adding Citronella to their SSS line.

The bottom line is that Citronella basically does very little to help repel bugs for more than 15 minutes at most. You need to use something containing DEET to repel bugs.

The bottom line is those old home remedies you hear about really do not work.

Consumer Reports report or not, outdoorsmen (and women) still swear by Skin-so-soft. At an outdoor theatre in Louisana they put sample bottles on the dinner tables and folks delicately dabbed it on their neck and arms.

I went shrimping with a friend's family off the coast of GA. I'd heard the "research" that SSS does not work. I can assure you that by the time we got back I had SSS slathered all over my face, arms AND hair.

You can always try my dad's approach to keep chiggers off before he went into a blackberry patch. A shot of vinegar turns your sweat to something those little buggers don't want to have anything to do with (no scientific report on that either - it just works).

In any case, I've never needed insect repellent as I walked the streets of Savannah and have rarely stumbled over a Palmetto bug.

Oh, by the way, don't gather the Spanish moss off the trees either. Full of chiggers. First auto recall = Model T's. Car upolstery stuffed with Spanish moss = very bad (and itchy) idea.

starrsville, I'm just giving you facts. Skin-So-Soft only contains citronella which is basically ineffective as insect repellent.

From the New England Journal of Medicine:

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/347/1/13

"In their study, Comparative Efficacy of Insect Repellents Against Mosquito Bites, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, 347:13-18, July 4th, 2002, Fradin and Day evaluate the comparative efficacy of a number of products currently available. Using a method of standard exposure involving 15 human volunteers, they tested 7 botanical products, (6 containing citronella, and one with 2%soybean oil), 4 concentrations of DEET from 5 to 24%, and a new product IR3535. They found that only the higher concentrations of DEET, 20-24%, gave significant protection for more than 4 hours. Lower concentrations of DEET 5-7% protected for 1-2 hours. None of the “natural products” or IR3535 gave more than a few minutes protection, with the exception of the 2% soybean oil which was effective for 90 minutes, the same length of time as the lowest concentration of DEET tested. The three wristbands that were tested were completely ineffective. A skin product that is said to have repellent properties, Skin-So-Soft bath oil, was totally ineffective."

While it may not seem like a big deal to us, those people in countries where an insect bite can mean the difference between life and death, this does matter. Diseases such as Marlaria and Dunge are transmitted by mosquito bites.

Again, these are just facts I'm stating.

I understand. And, I understood the first time.

Scientific research or reports aside, folks still use SSS (the old bath oil formulation and not the newer insect repellent formulation) to deter bugs and their unscientific and undocumented findings are that SSS is effective for them.

Please don't tell me this. I just finished renting a house on Isle of Palms for July. My kids and myself will absolutely freak out if we see a Palmetto bug and forget it if it flies. We already had a bad experience in Panama where we were constantly paranoid. The bugs were so bad, they would fly right into you and get in your hair. UUUGGH. Anyhow, please tell me I don't have to bring the insect spray (forget SSS or even repellant, I'll bring Raid and the like) and use it like pepper spray.

lia, bugs won't bother you on the beach. The ocean breeze keeps them at bay.

I can tell you for a fact that in the 20 years I've lived on the beach, I've never been bitten by a mosquito at my home.

Insect repellent does nothing for Palmetto bugs. Don't worry, you will not see one.

You are much more likely to see a gator than a bug.

Oh my gosh, my first trip to Charleston in a couple of weeks and now I read about Palmetto Bugs. I have heard of them but until this thread never really knew what they were.

Thanks all, I think I could have lived without this info, LOL. Well if my friend finds me going hysterical at least she will know what the problem is!

Palmettos..Last summer after one of the hurricanes, a live oak across the street fell over. The street was full of Palmettos afterwards. The neighbors told me that the bugs live in the trees.Needless to say- I try never to go under a live oak now.
We were in Savannah last June and there were no gnats or biting insects in the 3 days that we were there.