They are small, they are kinda pretty. They have arrow shaped wings that are mainly yellow. They have an almost cute way of hovering around you, like they are sniffing you. It is kind of like what a cat will do if they smell something new on you. It looks cute and you watch as finally they land. They stare as if they can find the their own fate in the pattern of your skin. Their "hands" are in prayer fashion and they bow their heads.
Holy F'N Chr---!!!!
I went camping this last week and if I ever saw these critters at a prior time in my life... I totally blocked it out of my memory. I am, and always have been, the kind of person that bugs will avoid entire crowds to get to. I was also the type of person to scoff at torture scenes that involved people breaking after hearing certain sounds for too very long. It all just seemed so... weak. How do these two things find enough similarity to join in a paragraph? Read on.
The first day, there were a few of these cute yellow looking bugs. I ignored them mostly. One bit me and I just plugged them into my Mosquito category. Quick and easy, Kill On Sight, category. Not much thought involved in doing this. It was a small annoyance, nothing major. I mean seriously, it wasn't like we had been invaded by rabid alligators or anything. Ignore the small bugs and enjoy better Karma for it, right?
From there can we skip to day 4? Just assume that it got exponentially worse as the days went by. We were digging for crystals, but that is a different blog entirely, and I was going insane. We had showers, so we were pretty sure that we weren't just getting more rankly delicious to the bugs as the days went by. As one of us dug, I sat above them and counted as I killed the flies. 19....20... 21.... yeah, about 23 in only an hour. That wasn't the last of them by the end of the day, but it was the end of our digging attempts. It was also about the time that I stopped believing that sound was unable to drive someone insane, because the flies were a constant buzz around my head and the stings that they had given me already were itching enough to alone drive me insane.
Back at camp the smoke of the fire was flowing freely and we thought we were safe. 25, 26, 27...." They kept going for my hands for some reason. Now please, don't try telling me to put bug spray on. I didn't have any skin left to put the stuff on. 28, 29..... I found out at some point that it was a great hair spray and also that the bugs were smart enough to get the back of your elbows when you had covered your ankles up. I can't do anything. Every time I pic up my cross stitching, or my writing or my book, they are there to land. It got to the point that I nearly swatted myself with a pair of scissors to make them go away. Screaming had become an option and I was ready to spend the rest of my time in the tent just to avoid them.
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Really, you don't know annoyance until this happens to you.
Day 5 is mainly pack up and run. Thank god because as much as I did truly enjoy the time around the flies, I was covered in bites and could no longer wear skirts for fear of my husband being accused of abuse. Seriously the fly bites are that bad.
As soon as we are home with internet I start searching for ways to avoid them.
Avoid wearing blue. Great. Blue is a default color for me.
Use Deet sprays. Yeah.... I am not sure that would be better than the bugs. I happen to be allergic to the stuff so I have to use Deet Free stuff, like Badger Balm and other stuff from walmart. They REALLY do work against normal non cybernetic bugs of killing design. Mosquitoes actually leave me alone while wearing the stuff. These flies just seemed to think that it was some kind of pheromone.
Put a feather in your hat. What? Apparently, as seen by me and noted by others online, they like to hover right behind your head. Putting the feat in your hat makes them think your head is higher than it actually is. They hover around the feather instead of your ears and Presto! No flies. I will be attempting this during our next camping trip.
Fly tape. Now this is just wrong. I might take it anyway, but hanging this from the trees in the forest seems to be defeating a few purposes of camping. I will try it anyway because seriously, throwing my arms up and running screaming through the woods had become an option at one time.
Unfortunately a lot of the burnable items on the market seem to be keyed for mosquitoes instead of flies. I had tried a couple of them anyway, but while they did make the mosquitoes go away, they did nothing for the flies.
Now there had been a lot of fun to be had, and this whole escapade has led to a few story ideas, but I still cant show my arms or legs in public.
Point of this? Beyond a rant? No matter how hot the weather promises to be, bring a long sleeved shirt and pants when you go camping.
Those beautiful little yellow flies are truly something special. The problem is, buck shot is just a little to bi
Holy F'N Chr---!!!!
I went camping this last week and if I ever saw these critters at a prior time in my life... I totally blocked it out of my memory. I am, and always have been, the kind of person that bugs will avoid entire crowds to get to. I was also the type of person to scoff at torture scenes that involved people breaking after hearing certain sounds for too very long. It all just seemed so... weak. How do these two things find enough similarity to join in a paragraph? Read on.
The first day, there were a few of these cute yellow looking bugs. I ignored them mostly. One bit me and I just plugged them into my Mosquito category. Quick and easy, Kill On Sight, category. Not much thought involved in doing this. It was a small annoyance, nothing major. I mean seriously, it wasn't like we had been invaded by rabid alligators or anything. Ignore the small bugs and enjoy better Karma for it, right?
From there can we skip to day 4? Just assume that it got exponentially worse as the days went by. We were digging for crystals, but that is a different blog entirely, and I was going insane. We had showers, so we were pretty sure that we weren't just getting more rankly delicious to the bugs as the days went by. As one of us dug, I sat above them and counted as I killed the flies. 19....20... 21.... yeah, about 23 in only an hour. That wasn't the last of them by the end of the day, but it was the end of our digging attempts. It was also about the time that I stopped believing that sound was unable to drive someone insane, because the flies were a constant buzz around my head and the stings that they had given me already were itching enough to alone drive me insane.
Back at camp the smoke of the fire was flowing freely and we thought we were safe. 25, 26, 27...." They kept going for my hands for some reason. Now please, don't try telling me to put bug spray on. I didn't have any skin left to put the stuff on. 28, 29..... I found out at some point that it was a great hair spray and also that the bugs were smart enough to get the back of your elbows when you had covered your ankles up. I can't do anything. Every time I pic up my cross stitching, or my writing or my book, they are there to land. It got to the point that I nearly swatted myself with a pair of scissors to make them go away. Screaming had become an option and I was ready to spend the rest of my time in the tent just to avoid them.
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Really, you don't know annoyance until this happens to you.
Day 5 is mainly pack up and run. Thank god because as much as I did truly enjoy the time around the flies, I was covered in bites and could no longer wear skirts for fear of my husband being accused of abuse. Seriously the fly bites are that bad.
As soon as we are home with internet I start searching for ways to avoid them.
Avoid wearing blue. Great. Blue is a default color for me.
Use Deet sprays. Yeah.... I am not sure that would be better than the bugs. I happen to be allergic to the stuff so I have to use Deet Free stuff, like Badger Balm and other stuff from walmart. They REALLY do work against normal non cybernetic bugs of killing design. Mosquitoes actually leave me alone while wearing the stuff. These flies just seemed to think that it was some kind of pheromone.
Put a feather in your hat. What? Apparently, as seen by me and noted by others online, they like to hover right behind your head. Putting the feat in your hat makes them think your head is higher than it actually is. They hover around the feather instead of your ears and Presto! No flies. I will be attempting this during our next camping trip.
Fly tape. Now this is just wrong. I might take it anyway, but hanging this from the trees in the forest seems to be defeating a few purposes of camping. I will try it anyway because seriously, throwing my arms up and running screaming through the woods had become an option at one time.
Unfortunately a lot of the burnable items on the market seem to be keyed for mosquitoes instead of flies. I had tried a couple of them anyway, but while they did make the mosquitoes go away, they did nothing for the flies.
Now there had been a lot of fun to be had, and this whole escapade has led to a few story ideas, but I still cant show my arms or legs in public.
Point of this? Beyond a rant? No matter how hot the weather promises to be, bring a long sleeved shirt and pants when you go camping.
Those beautiful little yellow flies are truly something special. The problem is, buck shot is just a little to bi