France in Focus

Is it just me, or are they really bad this year? I am a gardener by trade, so spend a lot of time crouched down in lawns, tending to flowerbeds etc. Even roaming around at home, wielding a hedgetrimmer around cutting down bracken to clear under electric fencing etc. I don't remember being munched this much - it's enough to drive you nuts!

I do try to smother myself in lemon-scented moisturiser as a deterrent, and have an assortment of ointments for after treatment. Now thinking of getting those all-in-one paper suits to seal myself into!

We don't seem to get them here fortunately and this year despite it being damper than usual, we've had remarkably few mozzies and midges.

Never had so many of the critters as this year, midges and mossies also. as usual in vg weather all windows are open with shutters closed on the sunny side, have to spray round before going to bed or get eaten alive.

Had to Google Chiggers as an unknown species to me, thankfully haven't experienced them either.

As far as we know chiggers are harvest mites, aoutat.

I was in bed checking our surveillance cameras the other night & the garden picture was so obscured I thought there must be a fire somewhere.
Having got up look out of the window it transpired there were gazillions of tiny insects flying around & the bats were having a heyday.
No idea what the insects were mind you.

Spardo wrote: ↑Tue Oct 12, 2021 12:23 pm Had to Google Chiggers as an unknown species to me, thankfully haven't experienced them either.

Ditto!

[mention]Spardo[/mention]
[mention]MAD87[/mention]

I guess it's a collective term for all those little b*stards that live in the grass ready to munch on us if we loiter too long!

L Austin France wrote: ↑Tue Oct 12, 2021 1:08 pm OkHaving got up look out of the window it transpired there were gazillions of tiny insects flying around & the bats were having a heyday.
No idea what the insects were mind you.

Couple of warm evenings we had thousands of flying ants leaving nests in the back garden. An amazing but worrying site as we prayed they wouldn't come in the direction of the terrace, thankfully they didn't. Apparently they are off to do the business then they pop off - What a life

No chiggers here but a load of little black flying jobs dived into my Jameson's earlier