[va-bird] DEET, Off, Robins & Phoebes

    I think 23% DEET is way too high. I don't think you don't need nearly that 
much. I use Off Skintastic (essentially, Off for kids), which is less than 7% 
DEET, and have found it to be equally effective as full-strength Off. I have 
also used Off Botanicals and found it just as effective as DEET. I don't know 
about repelling Deer Flies, but it seems to keep horseflies away, as well as 
mosquitoes (both Offs).
    Just so this has something about birds in it, we have an American Robin 
nest as camp in Goochland this year. The parents built it on a beam under one 
of the shelters, about 20 feet up. The babies hatched this week and I believe 
there are three of them. I've noticed that they'll stick up their heads with 
their beaks open for long periods of time but are silent, as opposed to other 
nestlings who chirp quite often. I thought for a while that only the female was 
taking care of the young, but today we (the kids and I) saw the male and the 
female as the nest simultaneously, and the male had what looked like worms in 
his beak.
    I've also noticed that if anyone is directly under the nest or within about 
10 feet of it, the parents won't come near, but beyond that 10 feet they'll 
come  - cautiously, but they'll come. According to Stokes, Robins fledge in 
about 14 - 16 days, so I'm guessing next Monday. Some other birds tried to 
build a next not too far and apparently stayed with it for a while before 
abandoning it. I say this because the nest is incomplete, yet there are 
"drippings of droppings" on both sides of the beam. There have been (recently 
knocked down) wasp nests near the Robin's, but they seem unbothered by each 
other's presence.
    We also have an Eastern Phoebe that has built a nest in the same place as 
the nest it had last year (I'm assuming it's the same Phoebe), which I removed 
at the end of the Summer.
 
Michael Shapiro
Richmond/Henrico
sc.tanager@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Martin, Janet 
  To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Friday, June 27, 2003 2:00 PM
  Subject: [va-bird] Alternative to Deet


  All: A friend of mine who is pregnant was looking for a deet alternative and
  found Off Botanicals which was tested by Good Housekeeping and found to be
  rather effective.  Neither she nor I have tested but...it might be worth a
  shot.  I have also seen another product that did not have Deet but I can't
  remember the name - it had eucalyptus and some other natural ingredients and
  the guy who was using it liked it very much.  He was using it in Alaska
  against the state bird and it seemed to be effective (and trust me - those
  suckers were out in droves!).  

  What this tells me is there are alternatives to deet - we just need to go
  out and look for them.

  Happy de-bugging :-)

  Cheers, Janet Martin


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