Midgification

Normally the wind on this breezy hillside croft is enough to keep the worst of the Highland Midges at bay.

Not so this summer. These tiny insects, with the needle-sharp biting teeth of Satan, have been in full swarm on many days recently. It’s midge-geddon out there!

They’re at their worst, it seems, during early mornings or late evenings before the temperatures of the day and the winds rise. We’ve been seeing vast clouds of them in the last month.

They’re difficult to catch on camera as they’re so imperceptibly small, but once there are enough of them airborne you can start to get a sense of the horror that is a midge swarm.

The only thing to do is to retreat indoors until the swarm passes. And remember to keep your windows closed! They’re dispersed by any wind over 6mph or temperatures that are too high or low, so thankfully it’s not a long wait as we can usually rely on the winds to kick in.

If you must venture outside, keep as covered as possible and use a midge hat complete with netting. We also use natural repellants, such as Smidge, although I’m not sure how effective these really are.

Thank goodness we don’t live in a more sheltered area. There are advantages to being perched on the top of a wind-scoured hill!