BUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Riley Smith]

Mississippi is the bug capital of the entire world. We have EVERYTHING! Every creepy-crawly bloodthirsty biting thing in existence. And right now mosquitoes are top of the market after monsoon rains. It's the worst infestation I've seen in many years. You can't go outside without some kind of chemical screen to keep the bloody leeches from latching on you. We went upstate where there hadn't been as much rain today to get away from them. The other night we pulled up and opened the doors to the car and those monsters BOILED into the car. You could see them reflecting the interior lights. We RAN!!!

Look, I'm used to mosquitoes. Those little tiny Asian Tigers. The regular whatever they are that live here. And those big swamp buzzards that look like a 747 flying around. I've killed them as big as a dime and almost as tiny as the dot at the end of this sentence. Usually, if you keep moving or find a little breeze somewhere, they not that big a deal. ONE mosquito buzzing around is nothing.

 A HUNDRED is something!!!

 And don't EVEN get me to mentioning fleas. And flies. It IS an El Nino year, and that increases the vermin. I just hope we don't get any cross contamination from places that still have malaria!!! I'm ready to bring back DDT. For real, the county does spray. It is of absolutely no use whatsoever. It might make them pause for a short time. A few hours. Then it's business as usual the next day. There are a million little pools of water in the adjacent square mile and every one of them is breeding bugs. Bugs that LOVE blood. I'm serious as a heart attack, right now were you to get stranded in the swamp or shoreline, you'd be drained in a few hours. The Chinese should have named this year The Year of the Mosquito.

[Doug SC]

I am well aware of how bad they can be from hunting in the swamps of FL for wild turkeys to camping on undeveloped
barrier islands surrounded by both salt and freshwater marshes here in SC. Those big ones are called gallinippers and you immediately know when one of them sticks its nose in you. I carry a Thermacell (sometimes 2), mosquito coils, citronella candles, DEET, no-see-um mesh head nets, and sometimes a mesh bug jacket. For chiggers and ticks I spray my pants and bug jacket with Sawyer premium insect repellent for clothing gear and tents. I will most likely spray the exterior of my canvas tent for the Scamp. The primary ingredient is Permethrin and kills any insect that comes in contact with it. I like that!! A stiff onshore wind is a blessing. Don't make the mistake of heading into the bushes when they are bad. Y'all have my deepest sympathy!

[Riley Smith]

Yeah, I sorta live in the bushes!!!       On that note I'm am well and perfectly screwed. Give me a cigarette!!!

The dragon flies are getting more numerous though. I cheer for those little Apache helicopters!!! And should my sorry butt MOW, it might give those little fighters a clear shot at all the vermin! I'm trying to stay well from the sinus attacks to get cataract on my OTHER eye done next Friday, and all these allergies to everything blooming are making it difficult. Mowing seems like a  bad idea. I still like the blooms though, and there are several rare things blooming at the moment including ginger and Brazilian Plume.

And to empathize all this about bugs, I was out and saw a gigantic bug flying around. I have never seen one similar; it was about three inches long, big eyes, and ugly. No not a cicada, either. Long and slim, not fat and big. I went for the camera but it was gone when I returned. Drat! It wasn't as big as a giant water bug but it was also big around and not flat.

https://passtheflamingo.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/img_74411.jpg

[noelH]

Great year for wood ticks, but zilch for mossies or bitting flies.  Too dry until yesterday.  Finally some rain v. maybe a sprinkle once in awhile.  +5cm/2" yesterday with another ~1" overnight up at the house.  Headed into town yesterday to drop off some library material. Rivers of water running downhill on the sidewalks and streets to the Lake. NWS noted the storm the last storm line that blew through over the night traversed L. Superior.  Sound of howling wind (+40kt) ripping through the woods and the crack of a tree somewhere in the forest woke me for a moment.  Today... Uggg.  Humidity was more than high at sunrise. Temps low 70s and dead calm.  Noon temps hit 90F, but the RH has dropped to mid 50s.  The bad. Bitting flies hatched overnight. Not a good day to be drifting out on L. Superior. Like you would be today.  Glassy surface with a few lines of ripples here and there.  The buggers seem to find you if sailing within a couple miles of any shoreline. 

[pgandw]

I was complaining about our yellow flies, which are horrible this year. I get bit everyday, and they leave welts. A friend said to try posting a few artificial dragon flies around (the beautiful dragons eat mosquitoes and yellow flies, so are much loved in these parts). Says it actually works.

Fred W
Stuart (ODay) Mariner 19 Sweet P
the swamps of NE North Carolina