Sunday, November 28, 2010

In Hiding

Let me tell you about a little thing called Sand Flies.

Reece and I have spent many a month debating which frequent pest on this trip is worse - mosquitos or flies. Mosquitos bite you. Flies love poop. Mosquitos carry malaria. Flies land in your food (after loving poop). Mosquitos sneak attack at night and require you to sleep under a net. Flies can't get enough of the open wound you get after picking the scab from the mosquito bite you have scratched way too much. Gross. I know.

Anyhow, little did we know that a horrendous hybrid exists. The SAND FLY. It looks and behaves like a large gnat. Only, rather than just annoy you, they also bite you. Hard. And those bites are ten times itchier than mosquito bites. The uncontrollable itch keeps you up at night. It distracts you so much that you have a hard time carrying on a conversation while furiously scratching the relentless little welts. Ugh.

And that's not even the worst part. Nope. The worst part, is that they are like heat seeking zombies that attack in droves. You step out of your car in a sand fly populated area, and within a minute there are a hundred of them surrounding you. Jump back inside in a panic, and they'll buzz against your windows just aching for a chance to get in and suck your blood. These guys seriously give me the creeps. And they live in just about every scenic spot on the west coast of New Zealand.

The locals have this charade going where they pretend like sand flies don't bother them. But I know better. Sand flies have been awarded the trophy or worst pest EVER. Which is why I am locked up in our van writing blogs instead of outside enjoying the sunshine. I hate you, Sand Fly.

1 comment:

  1. they have those damn sand flies in florida too! i got attacked by them one night and counted 47 bites! mother f'ersssss!

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