Sand Fly Defense

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By Captain Scott Fratcher

New Zealand, Canada and many other countries abound with the world's finest natural scenery. They have glaciers, lakes, mountains, rivers, stunning harbors and a healthy population of sandflies.

For those that have yet to meet the sandfly they are a small black gnat like creature with a humped back. Traveler blogs refer to the sandfly as "hated, filthy, and annoying." Scientists often downgrade the sandfly to a "nuisance" category only because it is rare for anyone to die from a sandfly attack. Still some medical literature refers to sandfly bites as causing-

* ÷ Acute discomfort,

* ÷ Irritation, and

* ÷ Severe local reactions

In the last few years many advancements have been made in managing travel in sandfly prone areas. With a little forethought and planning we can fully enjoy the natural environment while living in harmony with the infamous sandfly.

Sandfly attack

Sandflies typically arrive one or two at a time. They quickly build to a swarm encircling the victim. They seek exposed skin where the female saws a hole through the outer derma with a mouth shaped like a bread knife. Bleeding begins and a collection of blood is formed.

The sandfly drools while it laps up the blood pool. This drool contains a powerful anti coagulant called histamine that preve ...

For the rest of the free article and photos see-

http://www.tongacharter.com/sandfly.htm