…and other myths debunked in time for summer fun.

Everything Grandma Fern and Uncle Al told you … Maybe not true.

You know Uncle Al’s always seemed a bit wily.

We take a crack at some of the popular myths and wives’ tales passed down through the generations just in time for summer.

Beware the jellyfish and anyone who wants to whiz on your hand, and go ahead, take a dip after that PB&J.

Give Smokey the ‘ol zig-zag treatment?

Myth: Trying to outrun a black bear? Take lots of right turns. They have so much bulk they can’t change direction quickly.

Verdict: “AHHHHHH!!!!” (Sound of someone who poked a bear and tried this.)

Black bears can book it at up to 30 mph.

“They’re incredibly agile and very coordinated,” said Mark Latti, Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife spokesman. Outrunning them is out, so is out-climbing and out-swimming.

“The one thing they don’t do, generally, is attack,” he said. “If someone startles a bear or has cornered a bear, that bear might lash out at them” – i.e. a couple menacing jaw snaps – “and run up to them, but they don’t give chase.”

What then?

“You want to stand your ground, wave your arms, look big,” said Jennifer Vachon, IFW bear biologist. Then slowly back away.

Sick tick ick

Myth: Use detergent/a hot match/nail polish/Vaseline to remove a tick.

Verdict: Sure. If you want to risk all kinds of nastiness and tick off the tick.

Don’t traumatize it with chemical irritants, said Jim Dill, pest management specialist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. “You don’t want the tick to regurgitate its contents into the wound.”

Don’t kill the tick while it’s still attached to your – or your pets’ – skin either, said his cohort, insect diagnostician Clay Kirby. Once dead, the tick’s body is brittle and more likely to leave parts behind when you get it out.

They recommend tweezers or forceps. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull gently and steadily until it releases its grip.

Black flies have you reaching for the alcohol?

Myth: Treat a black fly bite with rubbing alcohol to get rid of the itch.

Verdict: Ow.

“The stinging (of the alcohol) will make it feel like it’s not itching for about three minutes,” said Dr. Paul Davis, a family physician at St. Mary’s Court Street Family Practice.

He doesn’t recommend it or calamine lotion. (Especially avoid topical calamine with benadryl – caladryl – because it’ll make itching worse.)

Best is hydrocortisone cream or prescription steroid cream

Salt + Sun = Sunburn?

Myth: You sunburn faster in saltwater than freshwater.

Verdict: True, but not for the reasons you might think.

“Saltwater sensitizes people’s skin to UV light. People’s threshold for getting burnt is lower,” Davis said. “It’s even after you’re out of the saltwater, at least for a period of time, your skin is more sensitive.”

Grub and blub?

Myth: You need to wait an hour after eating before swimming.

Verdict: So false.

Erin Swenson, aquatics director at Auburn-Lewiston YMCA, tells her lifeguards:

“If you’re going to have a turkey dinner, you should probably wait to swim. If you’re going to have a turkey sandwich, you’re probably OK to swim.”

“It’s completely a wives’ tale,” she said. “Everybody’s got to have lunch.”

Jellyfish bite a pisser?

Myth: Peeing on the wound soothes a jellyfish sting.

Verdict: Sometimes. Sometimes, pee makes it worse.

“Most of the authorities say it doesn’t help, it might hurt, but there’s no evidence it will end the pain,” Davis said.

The best treatment is vinegar, an acid that deactivates stingers that haven’t released toxin yet. Depending on the type of jellyfish, alkaline (like baking soda or urine) can deactivate stingers, too.

The downside: Sometimes alkaline activates toxin. Good chance of making your situation worse.

New England jellyfish have a mild sting, aren’t dangerous and wounds typically feel better within an hour, Davis said.

Cuban DEET?

Myth: Smoking cigars wards off mosquitoes.

Verdict: Maybe true.

“Nicotine for years has been used as an insecticide, so it does make some sense,” Kirby said. “A number of people say when they light up a pipe or a big fat cigar when they’re out canoeing they notice the black flies and mosquitoes keep their distance.”

Also maybe true: Mosquitoes are attracted to perfume or scented shampoo. If you’re gardening or going to an outdoor party, skip the pleasant smells just in case. Mosquitoes are attracted to CO2, so maybe breath less, too?

Just bee done with it

Myth: Bees die after stinging you.

Verdict: Only honeybees.

Other bees and wasps will keep stinging victims over and over, even after their venom has run out.

Err on the side of caution, Kirby said. “Don’t go biking with baggy shorts.”

Does plaster work faster?

Myth: Put mud on a bee sting.

Verdict: Surprisingly, true.

“Mud tends to be alkaline, so it neutralizes the stinger acid,” Davis said.

Any plaster, like mud or baking soda, sucks up the toxin as it dries and brings the stinger to the surface.

Buggin’: Getting an earful

Myth: Earwigs want to crawl in your ear.

Verdict: Feel free to squirm: There’s more chance of a cockroach getting in there.

“Earwigs do not do that type of thing. We’ll get people asking about that,” Dill said.

Cockroaches, on the other hand, seek out dark, moist places.

Land O’ Lakes or Country Crock?

Myth: Treat a sunburn with butter/mayonnaise/vinegar.

Verdict: Very temporary, very messy/smelly with mostly temporary results.

“There are probably as many homemade therapies as there are grandmothers,” Davis said.

Butter is cool as it dries, but messy. Mayonnaise will feel cool and moisturize skin, except there’s the risk developing a skin infection.

“Eggs in mayonnaise are a good culture medium for bacteria, particularly strep and staph,” he said. “Regarding the vinegar, it has also been advocated for use. It is cooling, and also has anti-microbial properties, and works well on a variety of skin problems, so it would probably work, so long as you don’t mind the smell.”

For pain relief, he recommends aloe, Tylenol or aspirin and a numbing cream like Solarcaine.

Leave the butter for the corn on the cob.

Holes in the moth theory

Myth: Moths flitting around the porch light are dying to nibble on your sweater.

Verdict: Sorry.

“These outdoor moths have no interest in eating people’s clothes,” Kirby said. The kind that do are a bit more clandestine and do the most damage in the larval stage.

Darn them dragonflies?

Myth: Dragonflies, alternately nicknamed darning needles, can sew a child’s mouth shut.

Verdict: What?

“You’re laughing but there was probably many a child that saw a dragonfly and ran the other way,” Dill said.

That myth may have gotten started after seeing dragonflies flit around people’s faces, going after black flies. (Absolutely true that dragonflies eat other insects, even houseflies, but there isn’t anything you can do to encourage them to live by your house.)

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