UKC

In 40 years of hill-going I have never known them so bad. Was on Beinn a Chapuill and Beinn Sgritheall on Saturday and they were a complete nightmare. Went up from Glen Beag. Anyone else anything to report on the ked front?

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

Not far from you on the forcan ridge on Saturday and they pretty much followed us up and then all the way round the adjoining tops.
I was still picking them off my clothes hours later.

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

Bad in glen etive too.

I had thought them to be ticks but they looked much more like these wee things.

In reply to Stevie989:


Had a couple land on me on the walk in to the Etive Slabs yesterday but none whilst we were climbing thankfully. I guess the breeze kept them away.

The little gits seem to *really* like me

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

Everyday a school day. Had no idea these existed

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

More in Ardgour than I can remember before (2 days ago)

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

I was on Spidean Mialach at the weekend , it was horrific , you could see swarms of them rising up from the ground as you passed . At one point I could feel them trying to crawl into my ears, eyes and mouth simultaneously . When I got home I opened my rucksack and found several happily snuggled up in a fleece , nice . Spidean Mialach translates as 'Lousy Peak ' , I wonder does that refer to these delightful wee beasties ?

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

Heinous on Skye.

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

Just back from Jura - I was wondering what had caused multiple (20+) of the most hideous itchy scabby lumps on my legs, now I know.

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

Ah, thanks for identifying them. I've never noticed them before but they were constant companions for 3 days in Knoydart last week.
At one point, in exasperation, i sprayed my whole head with 50% DEET but that just seemed to spur them on to be even more annoying.

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

There were quite a few in the woods on the way up Cnoc Coinnich (south of Arrochar) last weekend.

Horrible wee things, principally because of how they seem to be almost indestructible while they harass you - but at least they go away after biting, and don't even always bite. Ticks bother me more.

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

This buggers have been really prevalent on the scottish hills the past couple of months, never seen it this bad. As annoying as they are, they don't tend to bite and I have not been bitten by them although the midges have been up to their usual tricks.

Was up forcan ridge 3 weeks ago and up doing the loch treig munros last weekend and there were loads of them landing on me and in my hair, not sure whats made them so bad this year!

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

They were so bad that when I got near the top of Beinn a chapuill I jumped into the first lochan I came to. Interestingly not quite so bad thereafter - maybe the result of being less sweaty? I had never been bitten by them before but today am sporting a couple of dozen bite marks. Roll on the first frost!

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

I didn't know about these things in 40 years of Scottish hill-going ... but now I think I know what the lump on my arm and the one on my chin a few weeks ago were, and have suitably informed myself from Wiki. Any prevention recommendations?

In reply to Richard Baynes:

Wish I knew, as they had not bothered me previously. I wasn't even aware they bit humans. Cover up as much skin as possible and keep moving as fast as you can. Real problem is the almost completely windless conditions in the west at the moment. Looks like staying the same for the next week or more. Have noticed more deer than normal at lower levels for the time of year - looks like they are suffering too!

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

Glad it's not just me!

Been aware of them for years but it's only this year I've come across them in the flesh (or rather on my flesh).

Had a few of them on me a few weeks back on the blackmount, but there were swarms of them up Glen Tilt last Tuesday. No bites thankfully.

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

In 40+ years of hill going I first heard the K word in Glencoe / Glen Etive this weekend.

Not as cunning or brutal as clegs or midgies, but seem to have developed to be hard to remove when they get into your hair or eyebrows.

Swarming about your head on the evenings but no problem with liberal application of repellent.

Enjoyed ( sadly ) watching a fly eat 4 midges in less than a minute from the safety of the driving seat.

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

I don't seem to have any bites but I may have inadvertently transported some home as the missus appears to have a few suspect bites.

Doesn't seem to have bothered the dug though.

In reply to The Watch of Barrisdale:

Can confirm they were bad on lower slopes around Ben Lomond last week too - which was a bit unexpected seeing as keds are traditionally considered to be most numerous around deer wallowing and rubbing areas - and Red Deer numbers are relatively low around Lomond now.

So perhaps they're more associated with the Roe population skulking in the forestry surrounding the area here. Whatever - no escape anywhere!