Midges in Scotland ?

[alan_d]

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/why-is-lyme-disease-not-just-tick-borne-anymore.html

Lyme disease has recently received a new definition. It now refers to illnesses transferred by insects, as opposed to simply a tick-borne disease. Mosquitoes can carry Lyme disease and many other serious infections, as can spiders, fleas and mites.

http://www.lymedisease.org.au/transmission/

Modes other than ticks :
• Blood-sucking insects, such as mosquitoes, flies, fleas and mites

..........................................http://www.lymedisease.org.au/transmission/#bloodsuckers

• Transplacental transmission
• Contact with infected urine and other bodily fluids from infected animals
• Transmission via blood, tissue and organ donation
• Sexual transmission

Thank you.

The Care2 reference citing Dr Klinghardt is, in my judgement, nonsense on stilts. I particularly enjoyed

“One of my primary treatments for Lyme disease is to put people in protective clothing that shields them from incoming microwaves. We shield the bedside. We turn off the wireless internet at home. We put shielding paint on the houses. That has been a more successful strategy to treating Lyme disease and to get people neurologically well than any of the antibiotics or any of the antimicrobial compounds.”

The "new definition" you refer to is exclusively Dr. Klinghardt's. I was not surprised to see that Dr. K also has an interest in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The references from The Lyme Disease Association of Australia tell us that research into possible other modes of transmission is being carried out, not that any have been confirmed.

 

[snowleopard]

I would like to thank you all for your comments - tho to be honest they're really putting me off ! Some of them very funny though !

It's so beautiful - its full of midges - and, currently, its a helluva long way away. Had really thought about moving boat and house but am beginning to wonder ! Here on Exmoor we suffer about 4 months with lots of flies - especially in wooded areas and when there's little wind. Get them indoors too. But the midges sound worse.

So should we move boat/home to Scotland or will the midges win out ?

TIA
Penny

I've sailed the length of the Great Glen a couple of times and never been bothered by them. The only time they were a nuisance was when camping in Glen Brittle on Skye where it became necessary to smoke a pipe before zipping up the tent for the night.

As you say though, it's a **** of a long way. 51 hours motoring in a flat calm from Falmouth to Craobh.

 

[psp]

Also, I never really found out what the locals do or use to deter the little monsters. I'd heard about the Skin So Soft stuff that many swear by and tried it. While it does seem to kill the midges when they land on you, you end up with a lovely oily crust of dead ones all over your skin.

Not entirely sure that's any better.
We go to the pub.
Also also, I love the (no doubt apocryphal) tale of an execution in Ye Olde Days, when a villain was tied down, naked, on the moors and left to the midges. One of the worse ways to go I'd imagine

 

[Quandary]

Local legend, during WW2 there was a POW camp here, up between Cairnbaan and Dunardry, most of the prisoners were Italian and thought to be low risk. One warm still summers night a group decided to leave and took to the hills, the story is that they were all back by morning thanks to our friends.

 

[wully1]

PS - she had one on a nipple the other day. I just pulled it off with my finger nails - did not seem to bother the dog and all is fine

Mind was was starting to boggle until I got towards the end of that sentence...

 

[dylanwinter]

Mind was was starting to boggle until I got towards the end of that sentence...

apologies for over-sharing

D

 

[awol]

Try to watch this clip without scratching ......
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-37185160

 

[ex-Gladys]

There was something on Rip Off Britain where the ubiquitous scientist shoved his arm in a box full of mozzies with no protection, then after eating Marmite and garlic, some natural oil on the arm, and DEET. The mozzies ran off from DEET

 

[Kelpie]

We solved that one many years ago; we camped on Skye for a couple of weeks and took a couple of kayaks. Paddling for a couple of hours around the gloaming worked a treat, missing most of the midges.

The worst place we've found, though, was the coast around Kames/Tighnabruich .. nearly matched by the midges we encountered at a rally in Minard forest in the 1980s.

I grew up in Minard. I also grew up on a diet of Autan insect repellent!

 

[BruceM]

They can be brutal, but thankfully they don't seem to gorge on me as much as others. Maybe not enough blood in my alcohol system, but I've seen many people cut short holidays up here when they are really on form
Glad to say they are not that bad very often.

 

[Highland Bear]

Some of the most vicious midgies I've met were in the Peak District ... perhaps they are moving south.

Drat! There goes the house prices.......

 

[Sandy]

Personally I like trees - whenever we go round Start Pt I wish for one - don't ask me why Start does this - Portland doesn't

Its the Start of the sea?

 

[ffiill]

We have one rule-we do not open the Velux window in our bathroom.
On a more serious note as a kid on holiday up here they used to eat me alive.
Then many years ago as a young adult after a night of heavy drinking in the Sligachan Hotel on Skye having retired to my nearby tent I got up for a pee.
Yes everything got bitten BUT since that day whilst the bite still hurts there is no after effect whatsoever-no itch or spot..
I have since read that this is a traditional Scottish cure!