Thursday, May 20, 2010

Black Flies in Northern Ontario

We wait for lovely weather to enjoy all the outdoor activities we've missed for months. For anyone reading this blog that is not from Northern Ontario, you might be lucky enough to NOT know about blackflies. Teeny, tiny, little voracious insects that come out in May and must think they are related to vampires. They get in your hair, eyes, ears, inside your clothes and all the nether regions of your dogs. Depending on the weather, they may last from two to four weeks, and vary greatly from year to year in low to high numbers. You never know when to go out or stay inside. They can be almost non-existent one minute and ravage you five minutes later.
Gardening is really difficult, as are any dog activites. Each time the dogs come back inside, I have to run my fngers all over them and out the little 'buggers' fly. They then go into the windows and I squish them with a kleenex. This leaves blood all over the windows. We were told by an "expert" that they wouldn't be bad this year as it's been so dry....so far, the expert is wrong!