what is attacking me this month

[mikebeattie1]

hi all
i think i need to start match the hatch so to speak ...ok all summer i put up with the ticks and the midges .. last month i survived the clegs (one bad day in shorts never again ) so this month i've no idea what they are can anyone help they are like craps with wings ..they have two forward legs that are like claws i say this because they can really hold on and not easily flicked off .. they have four back legs a set of wings and are brown in colour .. although i haven't been bitten or stung by them you can feel them crawl about you .. anyone know what they are called

[auldal]

Could be the keds coming out, though I've never had the pleasure myself

[jmarkb]

Yes, sounds like deer keds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipoptena_cervi

[Coop]

Could be the cousins of Aragog

[mikebeattie1]

thats exactly what they keds ..thanks for the link i never new they could be so nasty ..here is hoping ive not been bitten
thanks all

[Old Bill]

I was 'accompanied' by literally 100s or 1000s of these on me up Meall Bhuide, as I wrote at the time: https://anicewalk.wordpress.com/2015/01/02/skye-and-knoydart-september-4014-4/#6

"As mentioned the keds had been constant all the way up and although tedious and irritating they weren’t a real problem and I’d almost got used to them. But on the top here there was nothing less than a swarm of them. Suddenly I had dozens and dozens of them all over me, a plague of Biblical proportions! Sort of. On my arms, chest, face, in my hair, in my ears, in my mouth when I opened it to curse them… I’d never seen so many things on me all at one time. I wouldn’t have been surprised if there were hundreds of them. And they were coming back as quickly as I was frantically brushing them off. No place for a rest then and after stopping for less than a minute I was forced to carry on. I felt like a cartoon character being chased by bees running off to the nearest pond! By now I was not a fan of these little blighters."

Thankfully though, I believe they're only interested in deer. If these had been biters I don't think I would made back alive!

[BlackPanther]

Thankfully though, I believe they're only interested in deer. If these had been biters I don't think I would made back alive!

Generally, they PREFER deer. And thank God they do. I had encountered them many times when on the hills and they were just annoying, wriggling into hair, ears etc. Never got bitten. But two weeks ago when descending a local Graham, Carn na Coinnich (Glen Strathconon), we were attacked by a swarm of keds and I was bitten twice on my arm. Ended up with two red and very itchy lumps for about a week, treated them with antihistamine cream and eventually they disappeared. So it looks like keds do bite humans (and panthers ), just not very often...

[rgallie]

Encountered loads of these in the Fannichs, I found rolling them off with the palm of my hand worked best.

[Old Bill]

Thankfully though, I believe they're only interested in deer. If these had been biters I don't think I would made back alive!

Generally, they PREFER deer. And thank God they do. I had encountered them many times when on the hills and they were just annoying, wriggling into hair, ears etc. Never got bitten. But two weeks ago when descending a local Graham, Carn na Coinnich (Glen Strathconon), we were attacked by a swarm of keds and I was bitten twice on my arm. Ended up with two red and very itchy lumps for about a week, treated them with antihistamine cream and eventually they disappeared. So it looks like keds do bite humans (and panthers ), just not very often...

Ahh - I was just going off on what the ranger at the Long Beach campsite on Knoydart told me when I got back. Along with a "hmmmm they're out early this year...." !
But Ouch! I bet they can really nip if they want to. Hopefully word won't get round that humans are easier to bite then deer!

[Old Bill]

Encountered loads of these in the Fannichs, I found rolling them off with the palm of my hand worked best.

Amazing what rough treatment they can survive though!