Prepare for the fight… many are called, but few are frozen!!

“At least one benefit has resulted from the worst winter to grip the Highlands in decades. Billions of midges have frozen to death hibernating in the ground, according to the world’s leading expert on the biting beastie.

so comprehensive is the big freeze that it is believed that the coming summer may be one of the best, midge-quiet Scottish summers on record. Better still, the harsh winter has followed last year’s record low recordings at the 15 official midge traps around the country. The cool spring of 2009, followed by a spell of hot summer weather and backed-up by strong winds at key hatching times helped to beat down numbers of the biting insect.”(Times Online)

Now, I am not usually very cynical… But I have lived on this earth for forty eight years, the first twenty on the Outer Hebrides, where, it is generally accepted that some of the most ferocious midges live… I have seen many winters worse than the one past, and I believe that it just p***es them off, and they will return, vengeful and determined in May…
Why do you think that a Scotsman wears nothing under his kilt… its to keep the midges off his Haggis!!…

However, help is at hand in the form of a recent interweb addition, the Scottish Midge Forecast
An excellent and useful website that gives you a regular forecast as well as tips and information about the wee beasties!!
The image above has less than fond memories of a day in Glen Etive, one of the few days, that, even succumbing to a less than trendy head net, I gave up and went home… only to find on the midge forecast, that rates them from 1-5 in intensity, had on this day, rated them as 6!!