Not sure whether this should have been posted here or under Fauna and Flora!
I developed a strange rash and a couple of blood blisters on the calf a few weeks ago. It wasn't especially painful but I had no idea what had caused it. I wondered if I may have snagged myself on some plant, got an insect bite or even if it was a side effect of medication. As it healed up with no further problem I thought no morel about it.
Last week, my wife was at the doctor's and noticed a pamphlet pinned up warning that Blandford Blackfly was active in our area and that it seemed the likely culprit for my rash. I had never heard of it before, but a web-search revealed that it is named after Blandford as it is prevalent in Dorset. It is also found in Oxfordshire along the banks of rivers. As I live at the conjunction of the Ray and Cherwell outside Oxford, circumstantial evidence points to Blandford Blackfly as the guilty party. (This way of thinking is probably the result of living in the territory of Morse, Lewis and Barnaby.)
Apparently there are no serious complications following a bite and I guess it's yet another of those annoying side issues of being outdoors. Any Scots reading this must be wondering about the fuss given the menagerie of winged wee monsters they have to put up with. What tickled my fancy about the BBF was that the female has a hearty blood meal before going out to mate. Reminds me of a few bloodsucking encounters in my far distant past before I found the right woman.
I developed a strange rash and a couple of blood blisters on the calf a few weeks ago. It wasn't especially painful but I had no idea what had caused it. I wondered if I may have snagged myself on some plant, got an insect bite or even if it was a side effect of medication. As it healed up with no further problem I thought no morel about it.
Last week, my wife was at the doctor's and noticed a pamphlet pinned up warning that Blandford Blackfly was active in our area and that it seemed the likely culprit for my rash. I had never heard of it before, but a web-search revealed that it is named after Blandford as it is prevalent in Dorset. It is also found in Oxfordshire along the banks of rivers. As I live at the conjunction of the Ray and Cherwell outside Oxford, circumstantial evidence points to Blandford Blackfly as the guilty party. (This way of thinking is probably the result of living in the territory of Morse, Lewis and Barnaby.)
Apparently there are no serious complications following a bite and I guess it's yet another of those annoying side issues of being outdoors. Any Scots reading this must be wondering about the fuss given the menagerie of winged wee monsters they have to put up with. What tickled my fancy about the BBF was that the female has a hearty blood meal before going out to mate. Reminds me of a few bloodsucking encounters in my far distant past before I found the right woman.
