We, too, had glorious weather for the whole trip and not a sign of a midge. It was a great holiday- but spoiled our subsequent Irish Wild Atlantic Way trip last year which was nowhere near as impressive. Best to camp on a windward shore, or second best, a glen parallel to the wind, so you have a breeze most of the time. Use anti-midge stuff like ozzies use a bucket of suncream on their veranda 4. And slap it on under your hat and over your hat.
And in your hair if you have got any. And over your clothes. And dae nae forgoat yer sporran. Keep a smoke ring burning at the tent door subject to usual safety precautions 6. Sensored 7.
Sensored 8. Sensored 9. Knock back half a tumbler of single malt and maintain the same blood-alcohol ratio till you are South of the border. They cant abide the stuff despite their bloodline.
It's a good idea to opt for full-length trousers and long-sleeved tops. Your very own midge trap. Keep materials lightweight and breathable if you're hiking in the summer. Midges tend to stay near the ground in low winds and where there's lots of brush. If you're climbing hills and mountains over m, it's unlikely you'll encounter them. Plus, we promise that the views are worth the hike pretty much anywhere in the Scottish Highlands.
Scottish midges are most active during low-light conditions. If you can, stay indoors at these times. If you're a hardcore great outdoors fan and you're camping, slather yourself in plenty of insect repellent before the sun starts going down. If you're stopping for a snack or a break, make sure to do so out of damp, long grasses or wet shrubs where there might be swarms of biting midges. Trust us, it's worth walking that extra kilometre to find bare ground. At your wit's end?
Here are some more… unconventional methods to rid yourself of midges. Bog myrtle is a plant found throughout the Highlands which is apparently effective at repelling midges. Tie it to your hat for maximum protection but don't tell anyone else what you're doing, just own it.
Midges don't like fire. If you're camping and it's safe to do so, light a small bonfire. Bonus: campfire sausages. I'm beginning to think there should be an LNT drinking game with a shot downed for every time it's mentioned in our articles Now back to midges! Just like us, midges also have their foodie preferences.
Slather this yeasty spread on your breakfast and suddenly midges won't find your blood so tasty anymore. Vitamin B tablets are said to have the same effect if you're not keen on Marmite, as is chewing garlic no snogging for you.
Believe it or not, there's actually a midge forecast. It will give you an idea of how many midges are expected to be around on certain days. You can browse the Scottish midge forecast by different locations to get a better idea of things for exactly where you plan to go. If you have the option of heading out on a few different days, checking the midge forecast can mean the difference between a pleasant day out and an infuriating bout of midge wars. Sometimes though you just won't have an option and you'll have to grab your midge repellent and get out there whatever the forecast.
In that case, use the tools and tactics in this guide to do your best to keep things from getting out of hand. Unfortunately, midges are just one of a motley crew of insects who can prove a bit of a bother on Scottish adventures. Here's a quick run-down to help you tackle them before they get a nibble in. Bigger than midges and more stealthy, clegs often land on the back of your arms or legs and can take a bite before you even know they're there.
They love warm days, so that's when they're most active. Luckily, there are fewer of them than midges, and insect repellents like the Smidge spray are just as effective against them. While clegs and midges are annoying enough to probably elicit a few expletives, ticks are a bit more of a serious issue. They look like little spiders, and once they're filled up with blood they bloat to about the size of a pea.
A small amount of ticks carry Lyme disease, which is potentially very serious. Don't let that put you off, though. Contracting something nasty from a tick is rare, and there are plenty of ways to avoid ticks. When hiking in Scotland — particularly in long vegetation and around bracken — carefully inspect your skin and clothing afterwards. Take extra care to check any furry friends! We reckon a tick-remover deserves its place in your pack, so you can safely get rid of the little pests before they've had too much contact with your skin.
As long as you've put a bit of thought into packing your essentials and know how to avoid midges, they're unlikely to cause you too much of an issue. Armed with this guide and your midge repellent or Avon Skin Soft , you're now ready to take off into the wilds of Scotland and face any little critter that crosses your path. Although midges, clegs and the like might be a nuisance, they definitely shouldn't put you off exploring the rugged wilderness that is the Scottish Highlands.
Trust us — the views of misty Loch Katrine from the rugged Ben A'an are more than worth a midge bite or two. If you're keen to get out and about why not join us on one of our Scottish adventures? How about summit Ben Nevis and learn winter mountain skills? Given the time of year this trip runs, there's not a midge in sight. Leave your Skin so Soft at home and bring your ice axe instead or you can just borrow one for the weekend.
Midge season Scotland usually runs from April to September the summer months but depends on the temperature and so can come a bit sooner or last a bit later.
There's usually a first generation or wave and a second generation of midges. In the early autumn midge numbers are on the decrease, which is why September and October are great hiking months in Scotland. Lowland areas with consistent wind and away from water are your best chances for midge free areas in Scotland. Coastal areas West Coast beaches, we're looking at you can often be midge free. Scotland's great outdoors is vast and expansive, so you should be able to find somewhere in the summer that's midge-free.
Wet, boggy, sheltered highland areas are the worst places for midges in Scotland. October, November, December, January, February, and March early autumn and early spring are usually midge free months in Scotland because the weather is too cold for them Note these figures are for imperial or US measurement midges. Metric midges will be different. Actually, instead of making your own anti-midge hat, you should take a look at this wide-brimmed sun hat — fraction of the cost of a Tilley! According to some comments on forums that discuss this question, portable battery fans have a role to play in your anti-midge armoury.
Now, some biology. Species of midge that have a taste for us belong to the genus Culicoides. There are more than 30 Culicoides species of midges in Scotland. The biting species vary with habitat. The species C. Pictured here Midges landing on my hat in quite big numbers, near Shieldaig, Wester Ross. So anywhere with a good growth of plant species such as sphagnum moss, various rushes or damp-loving grasses will be a potential midge breeding ground.
A patch of ground about 6ft x 6ft, ie around 2 metre square, could hatch about half a million of them in a season. That adds up to a Scottish midge population estimated at , trillion. Yes, the good news. Only half the Highland midge population actually bites. The other half is male and feeds on flowers. Basically, the female reaches the adult state with enough reserves to lay one batch of eggs.
After that, if she comes over all broody again and she will then she needs a blood meal. She needs the protein in the blood to develop the yolk in her eggs. A fine day in the north-west Highlands, with Suilven on the left and Cul Mor on the right. These are the names of the mountains in the background, by the way, not the women in the foreground.
There is a wealth of advice available on how to avoid being bitten by midges in Scotland, much of it lovingly distilled down and appearing on this page which has all you need to know.
Midges like to fly, and hence bite, near the ground and seldom attack more than 10ft 3m above it. So, you could learn to stilt walk.
Midges are attracted to dark clothing, so wear light colours and cover up. I like to think that some kind of Casper the Friendly Ghost outfit, plus the stilts, might make you practically invulnerable, though a little conspicuous if travelling in a group.
On the subject of what to wear; because midges have very shallow biting jaws, attacks are confined to bare skin. They home in on their prey by detecting the higher than normal levels of the carbon dioxide that we exhale. They are equally happy to feed from cattle, deer, sheep, dogs, cats, rabbits or mice. You could choose one of these as a decoy species and let it accompany you on your Highland travels.
Highland hoteliers rely on this to keep guests in the bar when they might otherwise be taking a romantic walk to watch the sunset. Midges, therefore, are an important element in the Highland economy. Midges do not like it hot and dry. If weather conditions are favourable, then midge eggs hatch early in summer, with a second wave end July and into August. The even worse news is that sometimes there is a third wave in late summer or early autumn.
That explains why, for example, we were so badly bitten at Glenfinnan in October one year. As ever, climate change is making this third wave even more likely. A failure, as they kill the bats that feed on midges. Still, they have two advantages: they also produce clean electricity but, even more important for the Scots, they really annoyed Donald Trump. Take to the water — go cruising.
Not a midge bothered us on that lovely autumn afternoon out on the loch. Come to think of it, the fact that it was early October may have helped a little, though I had been eaten alive while photographing the Glenfinnan Viaduct just a few days earlier, on an equally sunny day.
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