Tics

[Susie]

*As another aside, I think anti-clockwise is actually incorrect useage anyway and it should be counter-clockwise.

I understand 'anticlockwise' to be the normal British usage and 'counter-clockwise' the normal US equivalent. Both are listed in Chambers.

You use great words, Susie!

Guy

PS - purists prefer 'learnt'.

Thanks for the explanation Guy

I love words, I'm a philologist* in the true sense, some words are as fascinating and beautiful as precious-stones.

*also known as an anorak

[Roger Gibbons]

Philologist. Amy Farrah-Fowler would approve. Very mellifluous, maybe it should be the word of the day?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lpY0Kt4 ... re=related

[Lee Hurrell]

Bazinga!

[Susie]

Philologist. Amy Farrah-Fowler would approve. Very mellifluous, maybe it should be the word of the day?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lpY0Kt4 ... re=related

Love it! I do have trouble getting past the "giant intelligent beaver" part without cracking up though. Naked Gun has a lot to answer for.

Bazinga! Indeed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skQGve3XksU

[Zonda]

My favourite word is diarrhoea, mainly because nobody,,, except me, know how to spell it. Including most peeps that have suffered it.

I brought the tone down again,,, didn't i?

[Neil Hulme]

My favourite word is diarrhoea, mainly because nobody,,, except me, know how to spell it. Including most peeps that have suffered it.

I brought the tone down again,,, didn't i?

Yes, you have brought shame upon both yourself and the website Zonda.

Patient: "Doctor, doctor, I've got a heavy case of diarrhoea".
Doctor: "Well don't open it in here please".

Neil

[Zonda]

LOL

[Piers]

I do wonder what you lot do to get so covered in ticks. I've not had one so far.

So you say, sounds to me like you need a 'tick buddy'

[Zonda]

Maybe its a 'body heat' thing. I know for sure that i run hotter than the missus. I certainly get bitten by midges more than she does.

[millerd]

Perhaps some folk exude a natural insect repellent... No doubt someone will point out that ticks are not insects, but arachnids (but do they know that?).

At a slight tangent, are butterflies (very definitely insects) repelled by the various anti-mozzy preparations described elsewhere on this thread? I've always steered clear of using these just in case. No good creeping up on something interesting for it to whizz off holding its nose...

Dave

[Zonda]

Yes! I have often wondered, is my repellent making my insect photography a tad more difficult?. After last year, when i was 'clegged' twice, i wouldn't go anywhere without it . Insect repellents are valuable aids for the roving wildlife photographer, and maybe essential. Not so much for butterflies, but for most Dragonfly species that tend to frequent damp areas.

[Susie]

I do wonder what you lot do to get so covered in ticks. I've not had one so far.

So you say, sounds to me like you need a 'tick buddy'

Volunteering?

Mozzies are a different matter. They consider me to be a veritable banquet, the buggers. Grrrrrr.

[Rogerdodge]

Susie
If you ever have need of a Tick Buddy, you know where I am.
I would, of course, be doing it out of the goodness of my heart, and deriving no pleasure from it at all

[Gibster]

At a slight tangent, are butterflies (very definitely insects) repelled by the various anti-mozzy preparations described elsewhere on this thread? I've always steered clear of using these just in case. No good creeping up on something interesting for it to whizz off holding its nose...

Also at a slight tangent...can anybody tell me why wasps are SO attracted to blue hair? I looked uber cool (or so I thought back then...) but the wasps simply loved it too. I was a veritable Pied Piper of Waspdom

Simplest way to avoid biting insects/arachnids? Walk beside my friend Glen. The poor b*gger attracts horseflies ("Seth, you should see this fly's eyes...OWWW!!!"), ticks ("Doctor, I've got this fever...") through to leeches ("What the hell is THAT on my leg???") and mozzies ("just get me the hell outta here before I collapse of blood loss..") Guess it's something to do with his dashing good looks and blood type???

My own nemesis are Deer Flies. Harmless but absolutely horrid. Room 101 for you guys. Adios scummers!

Gibster.

[JohnR]

A handy insect repellent when you have forgotten the real thing, is crushed elderberry leaves rubbed on exposed parts. It certainly works for midges at dusk.

[Paul Wetton]

Bog Myrtle is a good natural mossie repellent. They hate it and don't foget the Avon Skin so Soft for mossies and for your skin.

I still only use DEET on my trouser legs just to stop the ticks from crawling up. Had one in my ear last year on Fontmell Down. That's from lying down in the grass taking photos.

I'll be interested to see what comes after me this year now I've given up the evil weed.

Yep Horse Flies. My Mrs thought she had a pretty moth landed on her hand till it took a bite. I hate clegs as they sneak up from behind. You get to know the sound of their buzz though. Scottish midges are the worst and will fight their way through most repellents just to get a bite of you. They're proper hard.

[ChrisC]

first tick of the season off the cat yesterday. until about 5 years ago i had never seen hide nor hair of a tick. then on the last day of a camping trip to devizes i cringed when my other half found one on her.the site owners were very helpful. it wasn't until i was driving home i found one on my thigh. when we got home i ended up removing 5 of the little so'n'so's from various parts. since moving to Dorset i probably average 2 a year. now on walks it isn't often i'm in shorts no matter what the weather. sinister little beggars they are. give me a wasp any day

Mossies..... if i hear one in the house then i'm not sitting down again until i find and dispose of it. no need for water boarding for torture, just stick me in a dark room with a load of hungry female mossies and i'll tell you whatever you want to know. the thing is it's not the bites themselves it's that high pitched whine they make. giving me goosebumps just thinking about it.

The one that shocked me most was getting stapped twice in the neck by an ichneumon, it was trapped in my clothing so i don't blame it. but until that happened i didn't even know they did it. oh the joys of moth trapping

[Susie]

Thanks Roger, I'll bear that in mind.

Back to mozzies, dunno if it's true but I read that they prefer the people who like marmite.

[Padfield]

I'd never heard the one about Marmite!! I love the stuff and don't get touched by mosquitoes so I don't think it can be a fixed rule. I do have hot curry almost every day, though, and have often wondered if chilli in my sweat might be the deterrent.

It doesn't deter the ticks. Had my season's first today.

Guy

[ChrisC]

i thought marmite was supposed to be a repellant. no idea how true it is though.

Chris