Olsina Lake
As
I was lying in bed the other night I watched a battle taking place
above my head. Mosquitoes that had escaped from the cellar when I
was fixing the pump now bounced over the ceiling. Whenever I turned
off the light, their whine came closer and closer as they homed in on
my scent. I knew I was in danger of waking with itchy red bites.
Fortunately the ceiling was being patrolled by a number of thin
legged spiders and harvestmen and I watched as they pounced on
passing mozzies, the predator become prey.
I
remembered evenings at Hannah's cottage next to Lake Olsina. I loved Hannah's
cottage. Its position was idyllic, with the lake encircled by the
steep hills and deep forest of the Boletice. But you always pay for
such divine pleasure and in Olsina you pay with blood. As evening
drew on there would be so many mosquitoes rising from the lake that the
sound was thunderous. There was another
danger at the cottage, horseflies. I remember Hannah commenting on
what a beautifully marked fly had landed on her trousers, only to
yelp as the fly's sharp mouth parts bit through the thick fabric.
The
forests have their own pesky insects, most dangerous of all being
ticks. These small insects, barely visible as they wander on your
clothes and skin, will swell up as they suck your blood and be buried
head first in your skin. As they can carry Lyme disease and
encephalitis, I always spray myself with DEET-based insect repellent.
I do that in the UK as well, as disease-bearing ticks have spread
there too. Another annoyance are the midges that rise in clouds and bite
any exposed skin. And finally there is a small black insect, which
looks like a spider but has wings. I have not been able to identify
it, but it has a sharp bite and is often a problem when I am
mushrooming. Any suggestions as to its identity are welcome.
Anyway
back to my bedroom ceiling, although the spiders were doing a good
job, the number of mozzies was too much for them, so I resorted to
chemical controls – sliding a tablet into the plug-in mosquito
killer. Turning off the light I settled down to an unbitten sleep.
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