Midges

Midges are apparently the menace of outdoor Ireland. They are an awful lot like mosquitos, coming out at during the morning and evening, and affected by strong winds. I was amazed at the lack of man-eating predators in Ireland - no wolves, no bears, no mountain lions, not even killers like rattlesnakes. But gosh, those midges are annoy. Like mosquitos, except they leave less of a mark, and hurt a lot more when they bite. Worse, unlike mosquitos they have managed something very smart - when a single midge bites you and verifies you are bloodfilled, they spray a phemone or something that attracts other midges to you.

Really quite the horrible pain. Apparently they are why Irish farmers farm during the middle of the day - less midges.

On the bright side, the truly sucky thing is if you are allergic to the midge bites - then instead of hurting and itching, the bites apparently swell up and are quite horrible, sometimes requiring specialized care for multiple bites. Fortunately I am not allergic, but it still seems like a worrisome prospect.

Just a few minutes ago, Edelweiss and I went and put up laundry, which the machine had just finished. It was about 10pm (past my bedtime, I know), and the midges were out in force. The cold was unpleasant, but the midges were just horrible. Even now my face still feels like they are biting it...