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During our last few visits to KNP we have seen a couple of these put up by campers at Lower Sabie & Skukuza....aren't insects also part of the wildlife we are trying to conserve? And people who put out poison round their caravans and tents......

Sticky one. Where the people in bungalows have mosquito netting the campers are usually pretty vulnerable. And we all know the saying 'like moths to a flame'. I dont think its too unreasonable to zap a couple of them. I used a particular nasty repellent when we went. Its called Milol or something. Horrid stuff.. It doesn't kill anything but just keeps them out of your way. The problem was that one could never judge how much to spray. And for a good couple of minutes it 'rained' on you which was particularly annoying because you couldn't open your eyes or your mouth. Next time I'm taking Tabard.Period.
I must add we never heard or saw one mosquito while in the park, but I promise you the night we got back home we were attacked. Go figure!

Rather a few dead insects then me getting malaria...

We have also made use of a Candle in a Bucket.. You buy it from the Supermarket, and the scent used to keep the insects away.

I won't use one of those shockers, but I suppose if you had malaria previously, you would do anything to keep those mozzies off you.

Burning coils, tabard and mefliam is what I use.

Please please please please dont use the electric killers to try and get rid of mosquitoes! they just dont work!!! Scientific studies show that the electric killers only get about 1-2% kill rate of nuisance insects. that means a 98-99% kill rate of NON nuisance insects!! especially dung beetles!!

Mosquitoes use your carbon dioxide emissions and heat signature to find you.... so they are not bothered by a UV light trap.... so if its mozzies that are the problem use a repellant! please dont just slaughter millions of bugs for no reason

bugs is beautiful!!! pick them up and have a close look at them. look at them with a magnifying glass, study them. sit and watch them.... then they become less of a nuisance...

I agree, to kill hundreds of other insects just becasue of the mozzies would be terrible. Rather prevent the mozzies from biting you. They don't live that long in any case!

Also please don't kill the spiders. They eat stuff like mozzies.

I never have to use mossie repelant as Im so full of garlic, the taste of me (to the mossie's, not humans) makes them sick.
Im sorry wildtuinman Im "@#%it scared of spiders. but its a funny thing in the bush they dont bother me, but hell at home, they bother me all the time. I dont go to them they come to me. Im sorry I pay the bills not them

I cant agree with your sentiments David! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say! Bugs just dont do it for me.. But I try to spare them when I can, especially at Kruger where I'll use repellant rather than anything that wipes out all and sundry. At home its a different story though.

I think we should live and let live but there are some nasty little critters out there.

I also like the bug soap for bathing and for laundry it works great for kids as well as the citronella spray Mike Mozzie - nice smell and non toxic. Good for grown ups too.

My husband was attacked by a dung beetle while driving (stop it now - he got a big fright, not to mention the split lip and dented ego!) So we are vigilent for "preditor" bugs.

I agree with WTM - mefliam for the whole family

For the natural solution, try to entice a bat into your tent or bungalow - they'll chow those critters all night long. No mozzies, no guilty conscience about the unnatural death of creatures in the wild. Of course, no sleep either, but at least you'll be first out the gate in morning.

Take some time to 'get to know them' and to read up about them and suddenly all those 'nasty' creepy-crawlies become not only very interesting but you will (hopefully) appreciate how much they contribute (positively) to the environment and to your lives - and how important they are in the Bigger Picture.....

Take wasps for example - in South Africa some of them parisitise those spiders which you detest so much - while in Europe they do the same with our house flies, dirty nasty creatures? But even house flies have their uses, as detrivores. They clear up the dog poop in our parks in the same way as dung beetles utilise waste products from the parks in SA.
I cannot, here, even begin to mention the enormous value of spiders to both environment and to people.

I could go on and on on this subject but would probably bore you all to death!

I agree 100% Tabs,

As soon as you know more about them you'll start to like them. They are very much part of the bigger picture, even more so than we'll ever know!

We have started taking desktop fans with us as no bug comes near us when there is a fan blowing full tilt on us. We also buy Citronella oil and add this to wet wipes which when done with wiping your extremeties is then used to scent your pillow.
I am allergic to the medicine that is taken for Malaria and my Doctors advice was to drink Gin&Tonic (Good Doctor)

I am 'bumping this topic up' because it is something that really worries me.

When we camped at Satara a few weeks ago, I walked passed a gent who had just emptied nearly a whole can of insect poison around his caravan steadies. I could smell it a mile off. He told me it was to kill the ants that had invaded his caravan.

A site or two away from the one we camped on was piles of white powder - another type of insect poison I presume.

My question is - should one be using poison in this way? Does it not affect the other creatures that eat the insects that have died from this poisoning? We are in a conservation area - should we not be conserving all the creatures? (Obviously I don’t mean conserve the mozzies - what one should do to/with them is a whole other debate I suppose as they too are part of the food chain.)

I refuse to use any type of poison - even in my home.

Find it strange that u can use these kinds, and these amounts
of poison in Kruger