midges in scotland in May

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notaclue 23 Sep 2015
How bad are the midges in May in highlands? Anyone know?
In reply to notaclue:

There are none.

Until, one day, sometime in the month, the gates of hell open and belch forth countless billions of the little sods.

The horror, the horror....

Which day that is? Well, that's the question.... The later in the month you leave it, the more likely it is that the day will arrive...

Cheers
Gregor
1
 GrahamD 23 Sep 2015
In reply to notaclue:

First half of May is about the best time of year to go. Usually not too bad at all. They start to get bad (generally) about end of May
 Captain Solo 23 Sep 2015
In reply to notaclue:

Beginning of May - non existent.
End of May - starting to nibble
 Flinticus 23 Sep 2015
In reply to notaclue:

If its a cold & snowy April and May doesn't heat up much, you will get away with it longer than after a warm Spring.

Still plan for the first half of May.
Gilad N 23 Sep 2015
In reply to notaclue:

I had non from mid May to the end - nothing at all.
Walked the whole length starting south to north and seen nothing.
 Simon Caldwell 23 Sep 2015
In reply to Gilad N:

This year we had almost none in a week late May/early June, and very few in early July. In other years, we've been forced off the camp site as early as mid May...
 CurlyStevo 23 Sep 2015
In reply to Simon Caldwell:
Most years I think even early May they will be mildly annoying if there is no breeze a few hours around sunset / sunrise..... By mid May quite annoying is the norm. Without sun - during the day too. That said I've camped for a week towards the end of June in the nw highlands with no issues before as the wind didn't drop all week.... Generally with sensible choices Scotland is always worth it
Post edited at 20:29
 Dave the Rave 23 Sep 2015
In reply to CurlyStevo:

More currently they were feckin evil in the Bridge of Orchy last week. Clouds of them. Had to put suncream on as I had no spray, but in five minutes I turned black. Hid in the car watching them slowly disappear as it got colder. My wing mirror spider loved it. I'm sure he was a few mm wider when we went home.
 CurlyStevo 23 Sep 2015
In reply to Dave the Rave:

Nw was horric off clachtoll beach campsite 3 weeks back but mostly bareable on there...,,
 Dave the Rave 23 Sep 2015
In reply to CurlyStevo:

Where do they go when it gets cold? Do they have special tunnels back to hell?
 d_b 23 Sep 2015
In reply to notaclue:

Off topic, but according to the wikipedia entry on the highland midge "These insects are also found in suitable habitat throughout the British Isles, Scandinavia, other regions of Europe, Russia and Northern China".

It just occured to me that the decent thing to do would be to spread the love and introduce them to suitable habitats in the americas and southern hemisphere as well. Why should we have all the fun? The inhabitants may interpret it as an act of war but I'm sure they will come to understand that building moral fibre is always worthwhile.
 Flinticus 24 Sep 2015
In reply to davidbeynon:

The problem is 'suitable habitats'. We first need to GM some to survive desert conditions: don't know about you but I'm sick of photos of cool summer camps with mountain backgrounds straight out of a Western. Instagram is littered with them. They need to suffer more.
 planetmarshall 24 Sep 2015
In reply to notaclue:

Check the midge forecast.

http://midgeforecast.co.uk/

I haven't been in Scotland much this summer, but I gather that the midge season has been 'late', ie more July-Sept than June-August. That correlates with what I've seen in the Peak.
Moley 24 Sep 2015
In reply to davidbeynon:
> It just occured to me that the decent thing to do would be to spread the love and introduce them to suitable habitats in the americas and southern hemisphere as well. Why should we have all the fun? The inhabitants may interpret it as an act of war but I'm sure they will come to understand that building moral fibre is always worthwhile.

Not so sure that's such a great idea. New Zealand would send us sand flies in return and Australia some random small but deadly poisonous spider. Believe me, sand flies would build moral fibre in the UK!

 d_b 24 Sep 2015
In reply to Flinticus:

As a side effect the modification required to make them survive in deserts would also make them immune to the car air conditioning trick.

Moral fibre for all!
llechwedd 24 Sep 2015
In reply to notaclue:

in 2012 they became bad on June 4.
 Joak 24 Sep 2015
In reply to llechwedd:

Clan Midge sent a large welcoming party to greet us in Glen Torridon for the lacing up of boots on Saturday morning 19th Sep 2015. They then had the good grace to leave us well alone for the remainder of the day
llechwedd 24 Sep 2015
In reply to Joak:

I like it, but I was being serious. That was my experience of when they started. I was out every day in the Scottish mountains that year, between 1 April and 25 July.



 Only a hill 24 Sep 2015
In reply to notaclue:

This year (while walking the Cape Wrath Trail) I saw hardly any midges until well into mid June.
drmarten 24 Sep 2015
In reply to planetmarshall:

> Check the midge forecast.


> I haven't been in Scotland much this summer, but I gather that the midge season has been 'late', ie more July-Sept than June-August. That correlates with what I've seen in the Peak.

Agreed, I've had hellish midges for the last couple of months whereas I hardly noticed them earlier than that, I've been hillwalking in the NW Highlands area each time. I do reckon they were noticeably less bothersome on Monday in Strathfarrar, I think we've passed the worst. That would mean it's time for October gales and storms.

 Kid Spatula 24 Sep 2015
In reply to notaclue:

They all appear to holiday in Wales in September. I have never been bitten so much as I was at Llyn Gwynant at the start of the month. Even worse than my hellish midge experience in Glen Etive.
 nufkin 24 Sep 2015
In reply to davidbeynon:

> It just occured to me that the decent thing to do would be to spread the love and introduce them to suitable habitats in the americas and southern hemisphere as well

They have 'no-see-ums' in America which perform a similar role (might even be a related species). And at least we don't get the clouds of mozzies that they do in Canada and Alaska

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