Althouse: In the Kettle Moraine.

६ ऑगस्ट, २०१०

In the Kettle Moraine.

It's very pretty here, but the mosquitoes are insane.

३४ टिप्पण्या:

Original Mike म्हणाले...: The mosquitoes are not insane. They know exactly what they are doing.; ६/८/१०, ५:३७ PM
chickelit म्हणाले...: Isn't this Garage Mahal's favorite spot on earth?

Are you pandering to him now?; ६/८/१०, ५:३९ PM
Phil 314 म्हणाले...: Do we have to go over the Wisconsin and mountains thing again?

PS Mosquitos,don't miss 'em.; ६/८/१०, ५:४१ PM
Fred4Pres म्हणाले...: Piney woods!; ६/८/१०, ५:४३ PM
Irene म्हणाले...: I'll bet the mosquitoes are as big as turkeys! Probably harder to photograph, though.; ६/८/१०, ६:०८ PM
Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...: I bet mosquitoes are on the side of building the mosque in NYC ;); ६/८/१०, ६:२४ PM
Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...: tough crowd.; ६/८/१०, ६:२६ PM
Chip Ahoy म्हणाले...: What you need is some protection.; ६/८/१०, ६:२७ PM
Unknown म्हणाले...: That really is magnificent, Madame.

PS How many sane mosquitoes do you know?; ६/८/१०, ६:३४ PM
chickelit म्हणाले...: Lem wrote: I bet mosquitoes are on the side of building the mosque in NYC ;)

@Lem: Doesn't mosquito mean little fly in Spanish?

BTW, what's so fly about "Spanish Fly"?; ६/८/१०, ६:४७ PM
Phil 314 म्हणाले...: Ok the mosquitos are bad but what about the deer flies ?; ६/८/१०, ६:४७ PM
knox म्हणाले...: Mosquitos? Dealbreaker.; ६/८/१०, ६:५५ PM
knox म्हणाले...: Irene!

We love our goldendoodle. She started out black when we got her in May, and she's already silver, more white than black, really. But she's a great, low-maintenance puppy. Housetrained, not destructive. Good with the kids.; ६/८/१०, ६:५६ PM
Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...: you are right Pollo.. as usual ;)

what's so fly about "Spanish Fly"?

a fly ball? a song by Engelbert Humperdinck?

i have no idea..

oh wait the Hump song is Spanish eyes!; ६/८/१०, ७:०१ PM
Irene म्हणाले...: Knox! I am so delighted to hear the good news. Perhaps her color is similar the shade called "blue."

I have never had a destructive poodle, and I am so pleased by your report.; ६/८/१०, ७:०१ PM
Meade म्हणाले...: Hey, knox got a goldendoodle!
Meade got puppyenvy.; ६/८/१०, ७:०३ PM
Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...: The Sox lead the Yanks 4 to 2..

Please nobody tell Trooper until is over.; ६/८/१०, ७:०३ PM
Meade म्हणाले...: And let me tell you about those Kettle Moraine Mosquitoes. Never have I seen anything like it. Clouds, I tell you, CLOUDS of mosquitoes enveloped us as we hiked. So we hiked super fast!; ६/८/१०, ७:०६ PM
chickelit म्हणाले...: ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.; ६/८/१०, ७:३० PM
chickelit म्हणाले...: Clouds, I tell you, CLOUDS of mosquitoes enveloped us as we hiked. So we hiked super fast!

I found myself in that situation in Colorado once. I was hiking up Mt Richtofen once which is ca 10 or 12k feet if I recall correctly. We had ascended up through a sparsely vegetated pathway and hadn't noticed any bugs at all.

On the way down, we decided to go through a forested pathway because we had caught site of a roadway which would take us back to where we wanted to end up.

Hiking down a thousand feet or so, we noticed that mosquitoes were getting more and more numerous. Soon it was unbearable and we had to keep moving faster and faster. Even that wasn't enough and we decided to split up and start running downhill
"See you at the bottom"

I started running through the wild forest, dodging trees and little brooklets (it was springtime). Tiny ravines and fallen trees became just obstacles instead of things to look at.

Then suddenly, breaking through some brush and bramble, I came face-to-face with an enormous female elk- 10 or 15 feet away tops--she froze as did I. I'm glad it wasn't a bear or a predator. The mosquitoes enveloped me again and I had to part ways with that elk after just a few seconds. I left her instead of the other way around.; ६/८/१०, ७:३४ PM
Michael Haz म्हणाले...: The Scuppernong Trail is my favorite. Good hiking trail; great skiing trail.

Mosquitos? Sheesh. It's summer in Wisconsin. They aren't unexpected.

Get rid of all perfumes in your soap, shampoo, cream, deodorant, hairspray, detergent and dryer sheets. Wear mosquito net hats, long pants and sleeves, and spritz with deet as necessary. Not difficult to deal with.; ६/८/१०, ७:४९ PM
chickelit म्हणाले...: Haz: I was 18 at the time and probably hadn't bathed in a day or two. "Soap, shampoo, cream, deodorant, hairspray, detergent and dryer sheets" weren't a factor in my encounter. Maybe BO, sweat and CO2 were. Those mosquitoes were just hungry!; ६/८/१०, ८:०२ PM
Tyrone Slothrop म्हणाले...: My gee whiz mosquito story was up the Taku River about thirty miles from Juneau. I was nineteen. This was birchy, aldery, marshy, beaver pond country. As long as we stayed in the skiff on the river we were OK, but when we pulled over to explore we got eaten alive. We three stood in a circle and beat the mosquitoes off each others' backs. That night we stayed in a Forest Service cabin and got massacred. In the morning we discovered we hadn't closed the cabin's window screen.; ६/८/१०, ८:१९ PM
Meade म्हणाले...: Easy for you with your extraordinarily low pH to say, Michael. We happen to be naturally sweet. So sweet that the little vampires pierce right through the Deet. And we never use soap, shampoo, or deodorant.

sheesh!

El Pollo: Great story. You Really Shouldn't Be Alive!; ६/८/१०, ८:२५ PM
kjbe म्हणाले...: I just talked to a friend who's biked Kettle Moraine recently (I don't know if it was North or South). He said the mosquitos were just terrible - so bad I think they said they've closed some trails. It sounded like you couldn't even out run them on a bike.; ६/८/१०, ८:३० PM
Ann Althouse म्हणाले...: "Get rid of all perfumes in your soap, shampoo, cream, deodorant, hairspray, detergent and dryer sheets."

What about sunscreen???

"Wear mosquito net hats, long pants and sleeves, and spritz with deet as necessary. Not difficult to deal with."

We used DEET. That's the thing. Didn't really get bitten, but it's disturbing to have them swarming all around.

I would simply pick a different hike! Go to Kettle Moraine some other time.

Also the foliage blocked the good views.; ६/८/१०, ८:३२ PM
knox म्हणाले...: Irene, if you want, email me at the address on my profile and I'll send you photos.; ६/८/१०, ८:३८ PM
Irene म्हणाले...: Thanks, Knox.; ६/८/१०, ९:०७ PM
Unknown म्हणाले...: Meade said...

And let me tell you about those Kettle Moraine Mosquitoes. Never have I seen anything like it. Clouds, I tell you, CLOUDS of mosquitoes enveloped us as we hiked. So we hiked super fast!

Try up above the line in Canada. The skeeters there are fearsome. Louis L'Amour related some of the experiences of the Metis, who saw the bugs all but suck the life out of oxen.; ६/८/१०, ९:२७ PM
Meade म्हणाले...: Hey, Lem, did I hear right? Is it possible that the Red Sox have actually Pulled Within Five Games of the Yankees?; ६/८/१०, १०:५६ PM
Lem Vibe Bandit म्हणाले...: Yes they have Meade.

We pulled off a squeaker tonight. the yanks had the tying run on the on deck circle.

we are playing against them 3 more times so theoretically we still have a shot at this thing.; ६/८/१०, ११:०२ PM
Omaha1 म्हणाले...: The skeeters are bad throughout the midwest this year. Widespread flooding has given them a lot of extra wetlands in which to reproduce. DEET is the only answer, although I do like Chip's idea.; ७/८/१०, ६:५० AM
Wince म्हणाले...: I wish the mosquitoes were rational.

I've always fantasized that it'd be much easier to offer the mosquitoes, as a group, a pool of donated blood at the beginning of the summer, in exchange for them leaving us alone.

Kind of like the Obama foreign policy, minus the obsequiousness and bowing.; ७/८/१०, ११:१९ AM
The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...: "It's very pretty here, but the mosquitoes are insane."

Shit, that's how I feel about this blog.; ७/८/१०, ११:४४ PM