A survival expert has shared a grim prognosis for two Canadian teens on the run from police - he says the bugs will eat them alive.
Kam McLeod, 19, and Bryer Schmegelsky, 18, are wanted for three murders along the Alaska Highway. The duo has evaded the law for 16 days despite an intensive manhunt.
- Canadian authorities still searching for teen killing spree suspects
- Police closing in on Canadian teens accused of murdering three people
But according to leading survival expert Dave Arama, capture is not all they have to worry about.
The sub-arctic forest around Gillam, Manitoba, where the pair was last sighted, is full of dangers.
Black bears, polar bears and wolves lurk around the trees, but the thing that's most likely to kill the teens?
Bugs. Blood sucking deer-flies, mosquitoes, sandflies and more.
"They eat you alive," Arama told AAP on Tuesday.
"They won't stop biting until your eyes close and you can't see no more. Or if you get enough bites you can go into anaphylaxis and then end up in a serious life-threatening reaction."
The water carries serious risk too says Arama.
"If they drink any water it is likely filled with parasites, giardia and they'd get sick as hell from that,"
He says all the experience in the world is unlikely to make it easier.
"I'll be honest. With 40 years of experience, if you threw me out there with no knife, no tin can, no flint to start a fire, no tarp, no nothing. I'd rather die."
McLeod and Schmegelsky are the primary suspects in the murders of Leonard Dyck, Chynna Deese and Lucas Fowler.
Newshub.
