The unofficial state bird of Maine (NH and VT too): The Black Fly.
Oh
how I loathe them. They bite like a shovel and draw blood instantly.
They bite through clothes, and bugspray and buzz around your face when
you're trying not to fall off a mountain. They form clouds around your
head, that you can not help but inhale, and they burrow into your
ears.
So why defend them?
Simple; they're part of the natural order of things.
Oh
believe me, I'd like to not have to deal with them, but I simply cannot
defend the use of spraying to deplete them. The spray is bad for other
animals for one thing, and it smells bad. There is another more
bio-friendly way to deal with them that only attacks the larvae, that
the state is using, but I don't like that either.
You simply cannot remove an entire species from the food chain just because they are annoying to human beings.
If
the annoyed tourists yell loud enough, and the state complies, then
these silly people will wonder why the fish population is down, when
all the flies are gone because they starved. They'll panic and try
force stocking more fish which where they don't belong, or blaming it
on the birds eating too many. . . in short, it would just mess up the
balance of everything by trying to cater to one small part of the
chain.
The flies are a bane to any hiker's existence, but all
we have to do is wear a net, or OFF or something and we're just fine.
We don't need to destroy them all. Or if we really cannot stand them
even with these precautions, the we can simply stay out of the woods
for the three or four weeks each year that they are active. Silly
people think they own the planet.
Anyway, here are some
pictures from today's hike. We chose to go up old Monadnock again, on
our yearly pilgrimage to the most trod upon mountain in America. It
was perfect weather for hiking too. (Alas the flies liked it as well),
and the view was top notch.
I'm very tired, so I'm just going to post the pictures. :) (see if you can spot the flies) Enjoy:
For more see the FaceBook Gallery. (No flies
)
Oh
how I loathe them. They bite like a shovel and draw blood instantly.
They bite through clothes, and bugspray and buzz around your face when
you're trying not to fall off a mountain. They form clouds around your
head, that you can not help but inhale, and they burrow into your
ears.
So why defend them?
Simple; they're part of the natural order of things.
Oh
believe me, I'd like to not have to deal with them, but I simply cannot
defend the use of spraying to deplete them. The spray is bad for other
animals for one thing, and it smells bad. There is another more
bio-friendly way to deal with them that only attacks the larvae, that
the state is using, but I don't like that either.
You simply cannot remove an entire species from the food chain just because they are annoying to human beings.
If
the annoyed tourists yell loud enough, and the state complies, then
these silly people will wonder why the fish population is down, when
all the flies are gone because they starved. They'll panic and try
force stocking more fish which where they don't belong, or blaming it
on the birds eating too many. . . in short, it would just mess up the
balance of everything by trying to cater to one small part of the
chain.
The flies are a bane to any hiker's existence, but all
we have to do is wear a net, or OFF or something and we're just fine.
We don't need to destroy them all. Or if we really cannot stand them
even with these precautions, the we can simply stay out of the woods
for the three or four weeks each year that they are active. Silly
people think they own the planet.
Anyway, here are some
pictures from today's hike. We chose to go up old Monadnock again, on
our yearly pilgrimage to the most trod upon mountain in America. It
was perfect weather for hiking too. (Alas the flies liked it as well),
and the view was top notch.
I'm very tired, so I'm just going to post the pictures. :) (see if you can spot the flies) Enjoy:
For more see the FaceBook Gallery. (No flies
)
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