Author Topic: Midges in Scotland – night time?  (Read 8552 times)

Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #25 on: 24 May, 2018, 05:58:08 am »
A personal experience

A trip to Aviemore in July, stayed near the town, not a single bite.

Following year, stayed in the forest, eaten alive.

They are a fact of life up there, I’m told more prevalent the further west you go.

A

Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #26 on: 25 May, 2018, 09:43:22 pm »
I've had a little success with taking a tastier friend. I still got a few bites but they much preferred him.
Hear all, see all, say nowt

Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #27 on: 30 May, 2018, 10:45:19 am »
I've been a cyclo camper for 20 odd years and my very unscientific opinion is that they are a menace at low sun angles especially with low wind and altitude, and based upon my getting out of the tent for a wee in the night time experience they largely go to sleep/ aren't so apparent ( they seem to bunk down in the grass, some will be re awakened if you disturb them but not a swarm) athwart those times. Having said that you can buy some midge netting to cover the bivvy head area for a £10 so why not do that ? Something like this..

https://www.profabrics.co.uk/products/insect-midge-net-fine?variant=6809888963

also if going for a midnight sprey make it 10 yds from the place of respite, so you can 'drop' the midges on the way back, and scent will let nighttime botherers like badgers, foxes, wild boar, scary deer etc know what you are and where you are
look down from t' hills across a land traversed..having known at least a route through, and written it in body and ascribed the mind to its ways

jane

  • Mad pie-hating female
Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #28 on: 31 May, 2018, 11:14:55 am »
A lifetimes experience and as someone who they seem to love tells me that they don’t like it too cold. Or too hot. The latter is rarely an issue, though. My last trip (just back) was a bit too early for them, but they were just beginning. The nights were still cold, and I could enjoy sunrise without them, as it was still chilly. But, as soon as the sun rose and warmed up the grass around my tent, a few began to appear. And my last stop, at a bothy north of Diabaig, saw the first clouds of them begin to appear as the sun began to drop, after an extremely hot day. Not surprising as Craig bothy sits in a bog, really. But easily avoided by climbing up a bit on to higher ground where there was a bit of breeze. They don’t like wind and will disappear as it rises.  I lit a fire in the firepit and that kept them away too.  Some areas are notorious for them. Like Glen Affric. Have seen huge clouds of them there, and had friends riding out on the track to the hostel there, pursued by them well after dark.  They love sheltered, damp, mild conditions. So it depends on where you are and what weather you’ve got. Just take lots of Smidge or Skin so Soft. 

jane

  • Mad pie-hating female
Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #29 on: 31 May, 2018, 11:25:31 am »
Just seen from one of your posts you’re planning to bivy around 1 till 4am. Even if it’s breezy the wind can suddenly drop and is often very still around 4am.If it’s not below about 4degrees, I think they’ll be out and about, so I’d use a midge net if I was bivvying. Also, my preferred wild camp after climbing the Bealach Na Ba from the Tornapress end would, I think,  be to carry on and find a coastal spot. I think the views are better on the Shieldaig road. I camped up the other side there a week or so ago and got mosquitoed. Which was nastier than getting midged.

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #30 on: 31 May, 2018, 11:38:16 am »
Smidge works, Skin so Soft had been changed, I believe and doesn't work so well.

The midges are definitely out now - we had a good attack last night.
It is simpler than it looks.

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #31 on: 05 June, 2018, 08:20:36 pm »
On Bernaray atm, just been on North and South Uist, heading to Harris and Lewis again. This year they are not keen (yet). I think I got one maybe two bites, where other years I would have been covered in bites, even with DEET. Wonder if winter was a bit too cold for the wee biting bastard's.
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #32 on: 06 June, 2018, 03:13:01 pm »
I dropped DEET because of the stink and disastrous impact on man made materials. I use two things in combination now for ticks and flying nasties and it works fine for me throughout England...... Picaridin rubbed onto exposed skin and permethrin sprayed onto my clothes to impregnate them. Sawyer manufacture both and you can get both via fleabay. The permethrin kills bugs that land on impregnated clothing and the picaridin is meant to be about as potent as full strength DEET but without any detectable smell, which for me is a huge plus. Both are still pretty nasty chemicals and you need to avoid getting the stuff in eyes or mouth (you’re meant to avoid getting permethrin sprayed onto exposed skin too, it’s just for clothes). Some manufacturers like Rohan (and Craghoppers?) sell clothes pre-impregnated with permethrin which they claim lasts 70 washes or the life of the garment in ,OST cases. I think i read somewhere that both these are US military chemicals, mainly on sale in the US, but one supplier does them on eBay in the UK. All I know is that I personally have not had a problem with bites since I started using the stuff in places where previously I had 340 midge bites on my legs in an hour (yes I scrupulously counted them!) albeit that was Pen Y Ghent, not Scotland. I have a bad allergic reaction to mossie bites causing cellulitis and large swellings all over, so this discovery has been a real blessing for me.


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woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #33 on: 06 June, 2018, 04:02:38 pm »
Ha! Clothing with anti biting stuff is as good as clothing with anti sun burn stuff applied for me. As in it works cause it covers you. Just like cotton did in the 70s before the dreamt up this silly idea, never got sunburned on skin that was covered by a t-shirt. That said any one layer clothing I have had the the wee bastard's manages to chew through, only stop of a fresh layer of DEET is applied.

My bite count in Scotland is three atm and we got three days left of two weeks holipops. And there has been used zero amount of DEET too. This is utterly unheard off I would normally, like you Spooner, count bites in the hundreds per night camped in midges, mozzie and sandfly country.

Maybe they are all waiting on Sky for a sneaky attack.
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #34 on: 06 June, 2018, 07:30:21 pm »
Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain

Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #35 on: 07 June, 2018, 07:17:02 am »
Hi Woolypigs, I agree clothing mainly acts as a physical barrier, however ticks can land on your clothing as you brush against the undergrowth and then crawl over it to get to the skin through gaps in the clothes at waist, ankles, wrist etc. and the same goes for some flying critters too. Treated clothing is meant to kill them before they can reach skin. Ticks are a real problem in parts, especially where deer roam. I camped in tick infested parts of the lakes last year and am currently in Exmoor which I’m told has a similar problem and I don’t fancy risking Lyme disease.


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woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Re: Midges in Scotland – night time?
« Reply #36 on: 07 June, 2018, 07:36:51 am »
Ha! So yesterday I told a lady on a ferry that we haven't found any ticks on the mutt this holiday. Seconds later I saw one crawling from mutt onto me, as mutt was laying on my lap, as that is the only way we can keep her calm on a ferry. A few hours later I found one attached to her.

This morning is our last on Lewis this holiday, and the sunrise is stunning. So I decided to go up the little hill behind us to take some snaps of the sunrise. I managed a whole pano and a few relaxing deep breaths.

And then the midges arrived!
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit