It's a buggy summer, no doubt due to the mild winter we all experienced here in New England. Yesterday our cottage guests called us over to see the baby spiders that had been born overnight. They rimmed the space between the wall and the ceiling. Hundreds of them. The guests were from the city. "I hate spiders," the woman declared with a shudder. Can't say as I'm too fond of spiders either, but I vacuumed them up. Still, we must expect critters here in the woods: ticks, spiders, flies, water beetles, gnats. The only insect that seems scarce so far is the mosquito. (In the past, my parents would use chemical bombs to kill the insects inside the cottage. Now we all know better: chemical residue all over the floors and furniture is worse than a few spider bites.) Guests have reported that there are lots of green-headed flies at the ocean beaches. I haven't experienced the flies myself, since I have not yet been to the beach. And, last week, my blog received this comment: "Can someone tell me what those TINY little pesty insects are on Cape Cod National Seashore beaches? They nip, but don't leave any marks. They tend to be around the dunes, not near the ocean, and when the wind kicks up, they are non-existant. How can we keep them at bay? After driving two hours to get to Coast Guard Beach, it's a downer to be pestered by them." What do you think this person is describing?
