UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Perusing the thread of the 'The Outer Hebrides' there was mention of a problem concerning midges in Northern Scotland, which got me thinking....
Now for about 6 months of the year mosquitoes are a real nuisance where I live.
So I told my wife that we don't have mosquitoes in the UK, that the only real annoyance were gnats and wasps.
Was I right to tell her we don't have mosquitoes in the UK?
To be honest, I don't ever recall being bitten by them whilst living there.
Are midges and gnats the same?
Apart from getting stung by a wasp and stingy nettles (numerous times), I never encountered any unpleasantness thrown up by Mother-Nature in the UK.
Never seen an adder, never mind about being bitten by one.
I have never been stung by a bee either.
I hadn't stepped on a weaver fish, or hooked a stingray (I used to enjoy sea fishing) and suffered a strike by its poisonous barb.
Anyone got any experiences to share (UK only)?
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Ah, I should have included the dreaded horsefly!
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
And ticks in some areas.
There are mossies in the uk but they must be a different lot from the malaria carrying ones.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
I got bitten by "something" in the UK about 20 years ago.
Slight itch at the time, but next day I had an allergic reaction and my entire body was swollen and sensitive. Took a few days to go down with some strong antihistamines.
And yes, we do get mossies here, but they tend to only give an isolated itch, nothing dangerous.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
While bee and wasp stings are painful, horse fly bites are worse IMO as they become inflamed and sometimes get infected. I saw a false widow spider in our garden last year. Didn't get bitten. They're definitely not deadly but I've read their bite variously described as like a wasp sting to excruciating. We go to Scotland a few times a year as my son lives there but so far haven't been bothered by midges despite sending a lot of time in the countryside. They do appear to be a real menace though. We're quite lucky in this country to have so few creatures which can do us harm. I always check my legs for ticks these days if we've been walking in long grass etc. Not sure if they're more common these days but I was only vaguely aware if them when younger.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
I was in the North East a few years back, Blyth area, and the place was swarming with what the locals called corn flies. I’d never heard of them, apparently they emerge in the reaping season in agricultural areas. No bites but what a nuisance.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Robin Friday's Ghost
While bee and wasp stings are painful, horse fly bites are worse IMO as they become inflamed and sometimes get infected. I saw a false widow spider in our garden last year. Didn't get bitten. They're definitely not deadly but I've read their bite variously described as like a wasp sting to excruciating. We go to Scotland a few times a year as my son lives there but so far haven't been bothered by midges despite sending a lot of time in the countryside. They do appear to be a real menace though. We're quite lucky in this country to have so few creatures which can do us harm. I always check my legs for ticks these days if we've been walking in long grass etc. Not sure if they're more common these days but I was only vaguely aware if them when younger.
Agree with you about the horsefly bites. They often get infected.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
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Originally Posted by
Rock_Flock_of_Five
Agree with you about the horsefly bites. They often get infected.
Bit once,its more like a rip in your skin and it does bleed.
Painful as hell.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Wood spider bite is nasty
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rock_Flock_of_Five
Agree with you about the horsefly bites. They often get infected.
Until a few years ago my only experience of horse flies was in France (lower Alps) and they were bastards. But maybe two summers back I started to see them in Derbyshire, and got bitten once. Not as bad as the French cousins - but not nice.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
I got bitten on my calf by a horsefly about 10 years ago. What started as a painful itch ended up infected and I went to the GP who gave me antibiotics; a day later I couldn't put any weight on my leg and couldn't walk for three days! 10 years later I still have a red 'pea size' lump on my calf from the little bastard.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
When on holiday in North Wales, we came across a swarm of sandfly when walking to Rhyl, luckily neither my wife or I got bitten. Aswell as getting bitten by the midges in Scotland, I ended up with a tick in my leg. My wife managed to remove all of it with tweezers, otherwise it could have caused a problem, such as Lyme disease. I was bitten a few times by horse flies,when I was a golfist, but they just caused slight irritation.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Fishing up Pontstic Reservoir (up the valley from Merthyr) if you don't put on any mosquito repellent in the summer, you will be bitten all over. Painless of course, but you will itch for a couple of days.
The most painful of bites I had had were from ants. I was helping a friend fix his trailer tent (I was on my back underneath it) and I had some very painful bites that stung for days. I have been bitten by mozzies in Canada/ Belize and Hong Kong, but nothing as painful as those ants in the UK. (not sure what type they were, but they were red and the largest I have seen in the UK.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
I got bitten by something while working in the stadium memorial garden a month or two ago at top of calf and also right in the hinge at the back of the knee. It was just like a horse fly sting but don't think it was one of them. It was while weeding around the lavender, i looked around and only saw ladybirds. Swollen and red the next day and came to a head and took about a week to go away.
Spedger
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
I got bit by what I think was a horsefly. Happened at Craven Cottage in 2013 as we beat Fulham to go above Man Utd in the fledgling Premier League Table.
My leg went as red as a Vincent Tan home kit.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Horseflys actually cut into our bodies, they've got this thing attached to their backside that looks and works like a saw. They're after blood, and it's the females that do the cutting.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Horseflys actually cut into our bodies, they've got this thing attached to their backside that looks and works like a saw. They're after blood, and it's the females that do the cutting.
Posted this earlier cut into my skin.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jeepster
Posted this earlier cut into my skin.
Yup, vicious little buggers. :thumbup:
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Citizen's Nephew
They sell these in the Fulham store with the badge too (name on back extra).
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Citizen's Nephew
They sell these in the Fulham store with the badge too (name on back extra).
Surely you mean Brentford?
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Surely you mean Brentford?
I f*cked up the post. It was meant to be a reply to Mike who was done by a horsefly at Craven Cottage. But you do make a good point! 👍🤣
Re: UK wildlife: bites & stings etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Citizen's Nephew
I f*cked up the post. It was meant to be a reply to Mike who was done by a horsefly at Craven Cottage. But you do make a good point! 👍🤣
It's the only time someone has been 'Done' at Craven Cottage, and it was a mob of Horseflys. Too close to the river.
