Years ago, as a young hunter, I often quenched my thirst in a mountain stream or a shady spring hole. It always tasted good, cool and wet. I never got sick from this habit. I guess I was lucky. Not so many years ago, after discovering a classic woods spring near my trapper’s shack in a remote North Woods location, I decided to have the water tested. The water from this spring, which tasted wonderful, was, as the University of Maine concluded, “not potable.” In fact, it carried a rather high E-coli count.

That was a lesson. Just because the water is clear, cold and free flowing, that doesn’t make it safe. These days, when hiking or hunting, all of my drinking water in the wilds is first filtered well before consumption.

The danger, of course, when you drink untested water is Giardia, the medical name for a parasitic intestinal infection often referred to as “beaver fever.” As Maine wildlife biologist Rich Hoppe wrote this past month in the official newsletter of the Maine Professional Guides Association (MPGA), Giardia has become recognized as one of the most common causes of waterborne disease in humans in the United States and throughout the world. If you drink bad water and get infected, you should know that something’s wrong within seven to 10 days. Symptoms from the infection are diarrhea, abdominal pain, cramping, bloating, nausea, vomiting, malaise and fatigue. Fever is unusual. For most people, the symptoms last from 2-4 weeks, although others have experienced long-term symptoms without the benefit of medical attention.

As Hoppe notes in his articles, beavers are getting a bad rap. They don’t deserve all the blame as carriers. In fact, muskrats are far more common carriers of Giardia cysts than beavers. Humans aren’t off the hook, either. Contamination of waterways, inhabited by beaver and muskrats, by human-originating fecal material containing Giardia poses the principal health problem.

Biologist Hoppe says that he contracted Giardia without actually drinking any bad water. While duck hunting at Portage Lake, he licked his lips after having had lake water sprayed on his face!

Some other ways that Giardia might be spread are: Putting something in your mouth that has come in contact with a person or animal infected with Giardia. Swallowing recreational water from a swimming pool or hot tub. Eating uncooked food contaminated with Giardia.

Hoppe advises the following prevention measures to guard against Giardia:

1. Practice good hygiene by washing hands with soap and clean water.

2. Avoid swallowing recreational water.

3. Avoid drinking untreated water.

4. If you are unable to avoid drinking or using water that might be contaminated, then treat the water by: heating water to a rolling boil for at least one minute, or using a filter that has absolute pore size of at least one micron or one that is rated for cyst removal.

If you are a camper looking for a “water solution,” there are many options. Iodine tablets get the job done, but, ugh, the taste. There are some good filter water bottles on the market. If you are a serious camper and hiker, it might be worth your health and peace of mind to buy a good pump filtering unit. During an elk hunt out West, we drank lots of water from dubious sources using a Katadyn Hiker Pro pump filter. There were no ill effects from the water. These units sell today for about $80.00.

 For me, the filter bottle doesn’t cut it. The filtered water is good, but it comes in drops. Sort of like sucking threw a bent straw. Not satisfying when you are sweaty and thirsty and trying to stay hydrated.

The author is editor of the Northwoods Sporting Journal. He is also a Maine Guide, co-host of a weekly radio program “Maine Outdoors” heard Sundays at 7 p.m. on The Voice of Maine News-Talk Network (WVOM-FM 103.9, WQVM-FM 101.3) and former information officer for the Maine Dept. of Fish and Wildlife. His e-mail address is [email protected] and his new book is “A Maine Deer Hunter’s Logbook.”