Hiking

[emily_in_nc]

It's not only ticks, though, for me. On the last couple of hikes we've done, the spiderwebs have started to be much more noticeable than in the spring. If you are the first hikers on a particular trail for that day, you can get a faceful of spiderwebs. I just really hate that sensation. And flies. Lots of flies following and plaguing us relentlessly (deer flies, house flies, etc). We've used DEET, and some trails/forests have been worse than others for insects, but coupled with heat, it's just not that pleasant to hike unless you get lucky with the early morning temps and can get out at a decent time. I do agree that the woods are cooler, and I love them, but....

I'm hoping we still get to some places we can hike this summer without some of these issues. The farther west we get, the more likelihood of that there is, I suspect.

[Catrin]

Interesting Emily! I've never seen spiderwebs crossing the path or flies on trails in Indiana and I've been to a lot of them. Ticks, gnats, and a few other flying insects when close to water. I DO try to not think about rattlesnakes, but that's avoidable and while I know they are around, I've yet to actually SEE, or hear, one. What state are you currently in? I'm just curious. Hopefully Shelob isn't lurking back in your woods...

[emily_in_nc]

We are in Missouri at present, but we dealt with spiderwebs on hiking trails in NC all the time. It's mostly a hot summer phenomenon. If you are on trails that get a lot of use, it's much less common since the first hikers of the day will clear them all out just by walking through them. We encountered them on a hike we did in Hot Springs, Arkansas recently, but only on the first few miles, where we were on a trail early in the morning, and no one else had hiked it that day, obviously. It was pretty overgrown and full of webs. Whoever is in front bears the brunt of those. We had flies mostly on southern hikes, even back in the spring. Alabama was particularly bad for flies, as I recall, and we've had some deer flies and house flies here in MO. Could be that the further north you get, the less these problems occur, or maybe it's a matter of how urban you are. We have been in some very rural areas, lots of farms around, etc.

Rattle snakes I never worry about except out west, as that is the only place I've ever heard or seen one. But there are copperheads in the south, and water snakes as well, if hiking near a river. I always watch where I step! I've seen a couple of black snakes on the trail this spring, but they get moving pretty fast if they sense you approaching!