Insects and critters

[Pow Pow]

I don’t recall reading anything about needing bug spray or defending angainst critters. Do any of these exist on the Playa?

[Elderberry]

Not very many. Most, if not all, are brought in on the cars and trucks and die off in a few days.

[Perpetual Burn]

There are quite a few...







But you're gonna Love them...

[Savannah]

I don’t recall reading anything about needing bug spray or defending angainst critters. Do any of these exist on the Playa?

Not usually. It's too harsh an environment on the lakebed itself, although you will find suicidal jackrabbits and whatnot in the approach to the playa. My campmate once got attacked by dozens of biting flies near a river in CA on the way in once, also. She had to borrow a tube of cortisone from another Burner.

Occasionally there will be an anomaly like this one in 2015:
https://journal.burningman.org/2015/08/ ... hose-bugs/

The bugs disappeared by the time the gates opened, but they plagued the Department of Public Works pretty harshly that year.

I highly recommend joining the JackRabbit Speaks newsletter so as to receive timely bulletins about all sorts of things, including unusual conditions like those.

https://burningman.org/culture/stories/jrs/

.

[666isMONEY]

After five or six days there will be flies

[Just_Joe]

If you go right now (April/May), and stay anywhere near the shoreline, you will encounter no-see-ums.
Little tiny gnats, they buzz around in your face, more of a nuisance than anything until several hours later when you realize those little suckers bit you. They're way worse than mosquito bites. They itch like the dickens and break out into sores whether you scratch them or not. I've spent a good part of the spring up there and have bites on top of bites. Locals (and my wife) wear nets over their faces. I try to cover myself with DEET but invariably forget.

But yeah, open playa in August is safe, unless you fear the occasional praying mantis or butterfly.

[Ratty]

Savanah, Thank you for posting that. I remember the article but did you read the comments at the bottom! Ha. Here's just a taste.


"I just read a report in the New England Journal of Medicine that the spiders currently found on the playa are the type that lay their eggs inside the skin of their hosts (often human hosts). The incubation period is very short, likely resulting in a hatch through a pustule in the host’s skin. The resultant release of up to a thousand young offspring will provide quick physical relief from the wound site, however the risk of infection is still of great concern.

The article goes on to say that in almost every documented case, the host is female. The most potent antidote is….get this…ingesting human sperm! Heaven help the fairer sex."

It was all snark and poking fun.

[Captain Goddammit]

There are quite a few...







But you're gonna Love them...

Actually there won’t even be those.
The first two are “art cars”, which aren’t allowed in BRC (the VW was grandfathered in on a historical basis but has since been destroyed).

[Sham]

There are quite a few...







But you're gonna Love them...

Actually there won’t even be those.
The first two are “art cars”, which aren’t allowed in BRC (the VW was grandfathered in on a historical basis but has since been destroyed).

Artcars are allowed as long as they're mutated beyond recognition. The two above would be ones that would be accepted. The VW, "Oh My God", was demolished in an accident on the way to BRC last year. The owner was banged up pretty good and still has trouble driving. This year he's planning on bringing a wrought iron Beetle. That should be good for the dust.
I am planning on mine as well this year and I hope your boat will be sailing the lake.

[gaminwench]

Golden Mean (the snail) has taken on a new life in Oakland. She is street legal and has become the Mayor's parade ride. She also visits schools regularly. She hasn't been to the playa in several years, sadly.
Her crew is now working on Empire, a spaceship.

[Captain Goddammit]

Nope... only that snail would get licensed.
The other two are clearly recognizable cars and trucks.
The only reason Harrod’s VW got licensed was because it was considered a Burning Man historical piece, grandfathered in.
That mantis thing is an ‘80s Chevy C60 flatbed, you can see it clear as day.
The “Oh My Gawd” is extremely clearly a VW Beetle.
If you can look at a rig and pinpoint it like that, it doesn’t meet DMV guidelines.
They would get a polite letter explaining why they were not going to be invited to the playa and licensed.

[Savannah]

Savanah, Thank you for posting that. I remember the article but did you read the comments at the bottom! Ha. Here's just a taste.


"I just read a report in the New England Journal of Medicine that the spiders currently found on the playa are the type that lay their eggs inside the skin of their hosts (often human hosts). The incubation period is very short, likely resulting in a hatch through a pustule in the host’s skin. The resultant release of up to a thousand young offspring will provide quick physical relief from the wound site, however the risk of infection is still of great concern.

The article goes on to say that in almost every documented case, the host is female. The most potent antidote is….get this…ingesting human sperm! Heaven help the fairer sex."

It was all snark and poking fun.

I didn't see that!

Thank you.