May's Ferocious Flying Visitors

May you be a half hour outdoors before the bugs know you are there!

The past month has been great for the black flies and mosquitoes. The black flies love the cooler temperatures and have been thriving. Mosquitoes turned up in April but didn't really go after us until May. Our daytime temps have fluctuated between 3 degrees in the early morning, to 10 degrees during the day. Last weekend it warmed up some, and cleared up by the time the tourists had to go home. This is bad for business! So many residents rely on the tourist industry for their livelihood.

The cat sits on the deck and eats a bug a minute. A bug a minute eats me and my husband. We have to keep moving and stay in the sun. The mosquitoes are pesky, and come out in the warmer weather. The black flies go away if I work in the sun shine, then come back the moment a wispy cloud comes between me and the warmth of the day. Last night the cats were pleased with the warm evening and took off. By 1:00 a.m. I was worried about our kitten and went outdoors to find him. There were no black flies, but a few mosquitoes bzzzzing around. I kept moving and calling and made it in the house without being taken away by these wicked little beasts. I have to put salve on the black fly bites, though. Big chunks of flesh torn out and a large lump remaining. They get in behind eye glasses and if your hands are dirty you risk much. One of them bit a chunk out of me just beyond the outside corner of my eye. I look bruised, my eye is swollen and have to assure all that I am OK.

There are those who say we only have three seasons in central Ontario: construction, bugs and snow. In the past few days we have felt 20 degrees celsius, and a welcome break from the coolness of the previous days. It helps of you refrain from perfumes, hair products, and other body lotions. Staying in the sun helps, if you cannot abide long sleeves, pants and hats. I still find that Skin-So-Soft works well on a normal day. This isn't normal, though. They swarm the moment you leave the sanctuary of the house. Starving, voracious little breeders, they need blood to survive. (Think of the mother bear defending her cubs!)

I know that the warmth and eventual heat of June and July will kill of the merciless little beasts who like to take a chunk out of skin. The mosquitoes circles around, often indoors, and drive the sleep deprived nuts as they try to kill the last bug keeping them awake. Next it will be the ants that come in for a break. I can't wait.

I pity the wildlife in the forest. There is nothing as irritating as that sound of the dreaded bugs. Some nights I hide under the blankets if we have been slow at closing doors. (The cats help indoors as well: often trucking nimbly after a flying insect.) Moose run across the forest floor trying to escape. The birds by the shore seem as unfazed as the cats. Although the geese and ducks have an elaborate bath ritual. Perhaps I was mistaken and they are trying to get rid of the flying bugs, not crawling ones!

Of course, the 'good' bugs are out, too: bees and hummingbird moths spread pollen. The dragonflies eat up the bugs, too.