The men quickly cooked it before retreating to their tent to eat. For the rest of the night, they watched the bugs crawl over the tent looking for a way to get inside. Some people could make the argument that Schlapfer was lucky. At least he could see the enemy. There are bugs you never know are there until you feel them chewing.
Punkies resemble a small mosquito.
Their size allows them to bite you in places you would never suspect, like under the rim of your hat. They leave a diffuse welt about 20 times their size, making it even tougher to pinpoint them. Roman Dial, a professor of environmental science at Alaska Pacific University and a former outdoors writer, recalls his encounter with these pests while on assignment. He spent several days in the Brooks Range shooting pictures for a story on hiking. Before he embarked, he bought a tent that was guaranteed to keep out bugs.