My GP was on television earlier this evening, warning Oxfordshire viewers that the Glyme and Cherwell valleys are going to have an infestation of Blandford flies this year. These apparently have a vicious bite, worse than a mosquito's, and they are more prone to infection. My flat is right next to the Glyme; I am advised not to wear a T-shirt or shorts as it's best to minimise the chances of infection. Nothing about a face mask or gloves, however.
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Posted by: Марья (
 dreiviertel) Posted at: April 29th, 2004 03:22 am (UTC)
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This is what I love about this country - you get stung by a wasp, and next day it's in the paper! :)))
Seriously though, how bad are those fly things? Can they give you a bad itch or something worse than that? I am used to crowds (and I mean crowds) of mosquitoes, but am not sure about flies. Living on the Cherwell, as well...
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Posted by: parrot_knight (
parrot_knight) Posted at: April 29th, 2004 07:51 am (UTC)
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The flies are said to have bites that are 'deeper' than mosquito bites, and their bites are more prone to infection. Looks as if I will have to have a lot of antiseptic cream to hand...
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Posted by: parrot_knight (
parrot_knight) Posted at: April 30th, 2004 02:37 am (UTC)
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I've just realised that I unconsciously repeated most of my post proper in that reply...
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Posted by: Pellegrina (
pellegrina) Posted at: April 29th, 2004 03:05 pm (UTC)
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But I like the sound of cicadas! Though I don't know if I've ever been in Illinois for the 13 + 17 year kinds. It's one of the things I always miss after visiting in the summer: the sounds of crickets and cicadas in the evenings.
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Posted by: Kargicq (
kargicq) Posted at: April 29th, 2004 03:25 pm (UTC)
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Yes, I like the sound too (quite startling when I first heard one, so used to them just being background for Westerns!) However, the 17-year plague is meant to see the sky black with the little dears: to the point where one drives with one's windscreen wipers on. (Blech.) Maybe my friends are playing scare-the-foreigner but several of them have told me this independently...
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Posted by: Pellegrina (
pellegrina) Posted at: April 30th, 2004 02:20 am (UTC)
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I'm sure I was in Illinois last time there was a 13 or 17 year infestation, and we hardly saw any. But then DeWitt County sprays insecticide vigorously against the mosquitos in the creek, and by the way there are hardly any fireflies compared to when I was little, it probably knocked out the cicadas, too.
Seeing as I don't drive anyway, I'm still erring on the side of envious...
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Is there any political capital to be made of the choice of "Blandford" as their name?
I read in yesterday's Guardian letters page that a man was stung by a wasp last week, while in bed, at 1 am. Is nowhere sacred???
Take care of yourself... in the States, they'd be spraying stuff.