After retreating from the West Coast a day early at the weekend as a result of the worst midge conditions I’ve had the misfortune to experience, even having been brought up in midgey hell around Fort William, we were debating the consequent impact that wiping them entirely would have on the food chain.

Any thoughts?

Swallows are the main predator of midges. Kill the midges, swallows die off – hence no summer. Are you willing to take that chance?

“I want napalm on that treeline, if i say it’s safe to ride this beach it’s safe to ride this beach”

If we managed to keep at least a couple of Swallows alive we’d be alright then…

So Swallows would get it first then? What lives off Swallows?

Bats eat loads of midges
Gotta keep the bats!

Staple for trout in some areas too.

Ok,… so apart from the swallows, the bats and the trout…. 😉

midges i can put up with. Clegs on the otherhand ( horseflies, not the politician ) i just cant handle.

But clegs don’t attack en masse and get up your nose, in your ears and in your mouth or through your clothes. You can swat the odd cleg away quite easily. Their bites, I’ll acknowledge, are nasty, but avoidance is at least feasible.

Bats need friends. a bat eats 1/3 of its bodyweight in midges each night. what we need is 10kg bats

fisha – midges are the worst pest I have ever encountered and I was bitten by a black widow. Just horrible.

Can we set the highland biting midge on the London rioters?

2 birds with one stone?

Can we import bigger bats?

Native UK bats are clearly not up to the job or are just plain lazy.

What is the STW stance on foreign bats coming over here and taking the UK bats jobs?

🙂

Discussed this last week … I rrckon its the only thing stopping lager louts and such like spoilling west coast wild camping spots !