In the news today......

[Toddy]

Midgies, ye gods and little fishes, but look at the midgies !

Thousands of midges swarm outside window in skin-crawling video

Iain Martainn spotted the tiny insects outside his home in Stornoway.

news.stv.tv

We've been relatively lucky this year and only the berry bugs have really had a munch at us, but when you can't even breath but you're breathing in midgies, now that's misery.

M

 

[JonathanD]

Not too keen on being out in that lot. Blimey.

 

[Toddy]

I spoke too soon
I've been clearing out the greenhouse, and it's calm and still out there just next to the treeline with the burn just over the path. I've been eaten alive by the midgies in the ten minutes it took me to clear up. My hands and forearms are a mess, and one of the blighters has gotten me right next to my eye too.

Times I really, really hate midgies.

M

 

[PoppyD]

I have never seen midges. They sound annoying.

 

[Toddy]

I have never seen midges. They sound annoying.

You lucky, lucky lady

They are the no-see-um's of the UK. Miniscule wee black flies that overwhelm and leave folks driven to despair with the itch of the bites.

 

[PoppyD]

Never ever seen them. Dad told me about them in Scotland, but I haven’t been there yet. And never seen them in Wales or Cornwall or England. Are they just bad in Scotland? I have seen ticks and mosquitoes and horseflies and all the other stuff but they don’t really bite me much.

 

[Toddy]

I don't know if they do live in Southern England. I know they're in some places in Wales though; the blighters got me there too.
The East coast isn't anywhere near as bad as the West up here, they don't like wind and they don't like full on Sunshine either. Still, humid mornings and evenings and they're ravenous. Like tonight.

I have overly reactive skin, so insect bites are a particular misery for me, but the rare few people who are immune to the midge are incredibly fortunate.

I hope you never have to thole them, I really do.

M

 

[Toddy]

Found a nice link

Midges - Smidge

All about the Midge Everything you ever wanted to know about midges (but were afraid to ask) The Gaelic name for midge ismeanbh-chuileagmeaning 'tiny' or

www.smidgeup.com

 

[Trencakey]

Poppy I can promise you we have them in Cornwall ! The little sods love me.

 

[PoppyD]

Maybe they don’t like the taste of Poppy’s.

 

[JonathanD]

More like the sound of them

 

[CLEM]

Midges gnats same thing yes???

 

[Toddy]

Gnats to us are more fruit flies or fungus flies that don't bite.

 

[oldtimer]

The Folland Midge was the forerunner to the Gnat used by the Red Arrows.

 

[CLEM]

The Folland Midge was the forerunner to the Gnat used by the Red Arrows.

This is correct

 

[JonathanD]

Midges gnats same thing yes???

Oh no. You would go nuts with midges. Imagine a million mozzies the size of a full stop buzzing around and biting you. They get in your ears nose and everywhere.

 

[Nice65]

I don't know if they do live in Southern England. I know they're in some places in Wales though; the blighters got me there too.
The East coast isn't anywhere near as bad as the West up here, they don't like wind and they don't like full on Sunshine either. Still, humid mornings and evenings and they're ravenous. Like tonight.

I have overly reactive skin, so insect bites are a particular misery for me, but the rare few people who are immune to the midge are incredibly fortunate.

I hope you never have to thole them, I really do.

M

We do get them here in Sussex, but not too pesky. When we camp in one of our favourite places near Amberley on the River Arun there are always a couple of hours early evening when they pile in and have their itchy supper. That’s when we light the fire, open a beer, and sit in the smoke. Then they’re gone for the night.

I still have about half a tin of the Stupidly Simple pine tar midge repellant left, that stuff works a treat for the minor problem we have here.

 

[Winnet]

I was up the West Coast to Cape Wrath in August and they were annoying then and a nightmare. I use Smidge but need to get more Simply Stupid. My ex-wife used to remind me to get some by saying "simply stupid" every time she saw me.

G

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[Billy-o]

What is the name of that skin conditioner that works well as bug repellent? I hve been using it this Summer to good effect, but I chucked the empty bottle last week and can't remember the name now. Is it still even gettable?

EDIT - Skn So Soft - I remembered. $60 for two bottles on Amazon. Double you tee eff. I gues it must be discontinued stock.

 

[Paul_B]

Poppy, tell me where you live and I'll find some for you. Just need me to visit. If there's any there they'll find me. You'll probably be OK though.

If I walked past the window in that link photo I can guarantee the window would clear!

I once walked through great langdale to the pub and the midges started to annoy me some. My mate next to me said they weren't bothering him. I ran forward then looked back. There was a 5m high swirl of the little biters trailing back from where in had been with a rare few looking lost above my mate.

We carried on along the path and up ahead we saw a black cloud of them. I said a rude f word that and found the road. Getting hit by the crazy drivers up there or eaten alive by that midge cloud, well you have a chance of survival with an RTA right?!

In my whole 48 years of life I'd seen only one tick until this spring when I got two in a week. Before that I had picked one up for the ride in the lakes but it crawled down my arm at home and onto the sofa without feeding. It was tiny, definitely hadn't fed despite having the opportunity. I reckon you're midge or tick food magnet but rarely both!

BTW poppy, are you sure your mossies aren't midges? We have midges more often than mossies in the UK I thought. Although I've heard people call the midge mossies or mosquitoes before.

BTW I bought Wilma 's nordic summer as a midge repellent after a bad reaction to artificial/chemical derived repellent. It really worked well for me. Even if they landed then they didn't bite but they really didn't want to be near me with it on! I still have a tin but it's welded itself shut and I really can't prise the lid off. It's a new tin too! Can't find it anywhere now.