More on the AAF (Adirondack Air Force)

In mentioning the deer fly and black fly contingent of the Adirondack Air Force (AAF--stalwart defenders of the North Country) in last evening's post, I forgot to mention the evening and night time squadrons: no-see-ums and mosquitoes. I can not speak of strength of the forces of the skeeters for I stayed inside behind the defenses of the screened windows and sliding doors, but the no-see-ums! Oy!

The little buggers may be smaller than the head of a pin but that belies their ferociousness in the fight. They easily fit through the screen's mesh and are attracted by any light you may have on inside your abode. Once inside, they are stealth incarnate. You can't really see them unless you are totally focused upon every little dust mote that may be flittering about. You certainly can not hear them for their tiny wings make no sound recognizable to the human ear. Their weight is so slight that they go unnoticed when they land upon your skin. But boy oh boy can you feel them bite!

And bite they do! With all the subtlety of a chainsaw. Your first indication of their presence may be the sharp stinging sensation skin to a pair of needle nosed pliers being applied to your arm or neck. They are hard to dismiss. They don't take much blood when compared to the amount a deer fly, mosquito or even a black fly takes, but they leave behind an irritation all out of proportion to their size.

I'm fortunate enough that the bite of a deer fly, mosquito and even a no-see-um will cause a very short term itch and swelling. A little application of After Bite may, in fact, reduce the irritation long enough for it to disappear. Perhaps that's part of the value of six years of allergy shots I got when I was in my late 20's. (That and protection against the occasional bee/wasp sting that could have killed me.)

Black fly bites (which I managed to avoid yesterday some how) are a different story. They must not have been in the serum the doctor shot me up with on a weekly, then bi-weekly and finally monthly basis. Those bites last for weeks. And itch the entire time. If I'm foolish enough to scratch, then the scar really does last for ever. I've a few on my shins right above the sock line and on my arms to prove it.

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Why am I writing about the AAF at 7 AM? Because one of the countermeasures, a Phoebe, decided to serenade me at 5 AM with a loud and repetitive call that made sleep impossible. I'd go out and throttle the damn bird except it eats lots of deer flies. Perhaps it was just angry that I killed so many while cutting the lawn yesterday.

(As for the other major countermeasure, the Dragonfly, I saw far too few while walking the mower about yesterday. Now swallows around here, either. And bats? They have pretty much disappeared due to the white-nose fungus that hit the wintering colonies.)