Even though there are lots of deer around here in the woods beginning back of the house, I haven't picked up a tick for a couple of years. It used to be something that would invariably happen now and then. I even went to the doctor once about 25 years ago when I discovered a tick on my belly, which resulted in one of those bullseye rashes. But nothing came of it. Anyway, it's very curious that I haven't picked one up lately. I haven't done anything different and I don't generally use insect repellant, which I've never been sure is worth doing.
On that note, given that I've done a fair amount of nude hiking, I have never been bothered very much with insects when I've been in the woods, nude. There are insects in abundance, to be sure, but I've never been troubled by them. They're still real pests, though, and I use the word troubled relatively. When I've gone somewhere for long hikes in warm weather, there are sometimes clouds of gnats hanging around the parking lots but they stay there and don't follow me down the trail. In sunny spots along the trail, there are sometimes horseflies, which can be vicious. There can be ticks, too, but if you avoid brushing up against foliage, you probably won't pick one up. I haven't been anywhere there are many mosquitos but there are plenty around the house. Of all of those, gnats are the most irritating, with their habit of trying to fly into your mouth, your eyes and so on around your head. They don't seem to bite, at least. Sometimes when I mow the lawn, there are clouds of an even smaller insect that behave like gnats. I doubt whether it makes any difference at all whether one is nude or not, given that most hikers don't wear very much to begin with, with shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.
