Quote Originally Posted by Jock Scot View Post
I notice you and others in hiking mode, in the wonderful kilted "hiking around the Canada/USA" type pictures, are not wearing hose. Do you have no midgies,ticks,leeches,etc. to bother you? I would just never consider going hiking without hose,of course I know your sort of heat must be a consideration of which I know little.Great pictures and I am also glad we don't "do" rattlers!
While we have some midges in Ontario they aren't a pest on the same scale as in Britain. Ticks are also not a big problem here although a few years ago there were a host of stories about the growing frequency of lyme disease.

What we do have are mosquitoes and black flies. Mosquitoes are around all summer. They are a nuisance but their bite isn't that bad. DEET is an effective deterent for them. Black flies on the other hand, are downright nasty. They don't sting - they actually bite and you don't typically feel it until it's too late. They're only active in some areas and only for a couple of months. I don't hike when black flies are active.