usvi-on-line
Bugs
Bugs
Hi all, I'm new to this forum and have not been to St John yet. I am thinking of going this year. Maybe October. I was wondering how bad the bugs are. I see that people keep going back every year and love it there. How bad can the bugs be if everyone keeps going back and can't wait to get there? Please feel free to educate me.
Thanks Gary
Thanks Gary
sort of demands on where you are and the rain! -- if it's been super wet (or super dry then wet... ) you can be in for a bug fest--
i have been there times when the bugs were VERY bad..... couldn't sit on certain beaches. other times, not worries... early and late/dusk parts of the day tend to be buggier windy days , less so (for the obvious reasons)
i have been there times when the bugs were VERY bad..... couldn't sit on certain beaches. other times, not worries... early and late/dusk parts of the day tend to be buggier windy days , less so (for the obvious reasons)
< leaving on the 22nd of march...but too lame to figure out the ticker thing again!>
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Florida Girl
- Posts: 307
- Joined: Tue Sep 27, 2011 7:31 pm
- Location: Fort Myers
Hi Gary, welcome to the forum!
There are lots of bugs on St. John, but they're usually not bothersome. If you are there within a week after a good rain, the mosquitoes can be EPIC, but not usually. Avoid the beach at dusk to avoid the worst of the mosquitos and be sure to take bug repellent.
There are spiders and scorpions, but I haven't seen them very often. I found a teensy scorpion in the bathroom sink at one villa and just washed him down the drain, and once we found a scorpion in a baking pan in the cupboard in the kitchen of another villa. Just be sure you don't leave your clothes on the floor and shake them out before you put them on anyway, this goes for your shoes too.
A lot of people have seen tarantulas, but they're not dangerous, just creepy-looking...catch & release is a good method with them or other spiders. Remember, spiders eat mosquitos!
I've never really been bothered too much by bugs, so, personally, I don't consider them a big problem. Remember, you're in the tropics and spiders and such come with the territory wherever you may go.
There are lots of bugs on St. John, but they're usually not bothersome. If you are there within a week after a good rain, the mosquitoes can be EPIC, but not usually. Avoid the beach at dusk to avoid the worst of the mosquitos and be sure to take bug repellent.
There are spiders and scorpions, but I haven't seen them very often. I found a teensy scorpion in the bathroom sink at one villa and just washed him down the drain, and once we found a scorpion in a baking pan in the cupboard in the kitchen of another villa. Just be sure you don't leave your clothes on the floor and shake them out before you put them on anyway, this goes for your shoes too.
A lot of people have seen tarantulas, but they're not dangerous, just creepy-looking...catch & release is a good method with them or other spiders. Remember, spiders eat mosquitos!
I've never really been bothered too much by bugs, so, personally, I don't consider them a big problem. Remember, you're in the tropics and spiders and such come with the territory wherever you may go.
Bugs are bugs, no-see's, that kinda stuff are no big deal. Watch daybreak, sunset, and use some spray. My thing was the first time I saw a trantula checking me out on the pad outside the laundry...oh boy. I would like to think I do ok with kind of stuff...but I still don't do spiders...no way...no how...my wife tells the story that I screamed like a girl...I don't quite remember that but oh well...
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Teresa_Rae
- Posts: 2053
- Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 5:44 pm
- Location: Downstate IL
The only thing I hate about STJ are the bugs.
Unfortunately I am a bug magnet, I can get 100 bites before my husband gets 1.
On our first trip I got several hundred noseeum bites; then we learned that they can fit through the holes in screens and that as long as we slept with the windows shut at night I got bit a lot less.
The beauty of STJ outweighs the bugs, I guess that's all there is to it.
Unfortunately I am a bug magnet, I can get 100 bites before my husband gets 1.
On our first trip I got several hundred noseeum bites; then we learned that they can fit through the holes in screens and that as long as we slept with the windows shut at night I got bit a lot less.
The beauty of STJ outweighs the bugs, I guess that's all there is to it.
Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.
- Mark Twain
- Mark Twain
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snorkelqueen
- Posts: 432
- Joined: Tue May 29, 2007 12:33 pm
- Location: california
I get EATEN UP every year but that's because I love sitting on the deck watching the sunset. Last year I bought the Viateek Mosquito Bands and they really helped. I am terrified of spiders and have only seen one huge spider in all the years of going to St John. All in all, so much to love about the island don't really worry too much about several hundred bits.
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bebackinaminute
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2012 6:29 pm
- Location: LKN
Spray yourself and wear a bug band or two. the no-see-ums.....you truly don't know they exist until you are covered in red dots that can itch. You don't see um, hear um, feel um, smell um, nothing! My 11 yr old daughter got 100 bites. She counted them. They are mostly on her forearms, legs and face.....the areas that were uncovered. So if you can stand to wear long sleeves at those times mentioned by others as more prone to bugs, then it would surely help.