Last week, this writer began writing the weekly column with the intent of delving into two insect pests that make things miserable every spring. My plan was to write about both ticks and black flies, but there was so much information about the health concerns created by ticks when whitetail deer numbers become too high that there was no room to write about black flies.
So, anyone who has ventured outside at all during the last couple weeks realizes that this is a very bad year for black flies. Also called black gnats or buffalo gnats, these tiny swarming bugs are flying around us looking for a blood meal that the females, the only ones that bite, need for egg production. They are found near water, preferably clear flowing water, and their scissor-like mouth parts cut the skin and cause painful, itchy bites that often swell up uncomfortably.
Every visit to White Pond over the past few weeks has resulted in itchy welts as they always manage to get in a bite or two in despite my flailing arms. They are attracted to the CO2 you exhale. You can repel them with DEET and reduce your attraction by wearing light-colored protective clothing over your skin and avoiding areas near water.
In truth, my turkey hunting lately has been curtailed by the threat of these pesky little buggers as my go-to black fly remedy, Therma Cell devices, are somewhere put away and my searching has not revealed them. When turkey hunting, you wear a face mask and gloves, but black flies somehow figure out that they can bite through the holes, get my ears, enter the mask, or crawl up the gloves and bite me. Without Thermacell, the swarms of black flies can drive a man crazy as you attempt to sit quietly without moving in the turkey woods, so the birds have been spared.
Then, this week, a larger and more destructive visitor dropped by. One morning at 4:30, my usual departure time during turkey season, the dogs began to bark. They bark at trains and sometimes to let me know that they are ready to start their day and yours truly was already awake, so it was not investigated. Later, it became obvious that serious destruction had resulted from a marauding black bear.
The black oil sunflower seed bird feeders had been taken in weeks ago, but three specialty feeders remained. A hummingbird feeder to dispense clear sugar water was hung and had been visited by some of the tiny little fliers that are so much fun to watch.
Another favorite returnee is the Baltimore oriole, whose bright orange shows up against the foliage and a feeder with oranges and grape jelly was out to provide the energy these migrants need to fortify after returning from the south. The high sugar content gives them nutrition they know they need as nesting season commences.
A third feeder dispenses meal worms supposedly for the bluebirds that are such a joy to see after they were gone from the local scene for so many years.
My assumption that bears would not bother with these feeders, which were located a distance from where the sunflower feeders were set up, was clearly wrong. The bluebird and oriole feeders were both pulled down to the lawn while the hummingbird feeder was still up.
More bothersome was the fact that the bluebird house, which has been actively used by bluebirds, was down on the ground. Last spring, what must have been the same bear knocked down the same house, smashed it, and ate the hatchlings. Over the winter, it was rebuilt and the fact that it was being used again was uplifting.
Adding insult to injury, the bear had knocked down and broken the bowl of a birdbath which had stood for 20 years and attracted lots of attention. So the morning was spent putting the feeders back together and resetting bluebird house. Who knows if they will reoccupy it. Yes, bears will be bears, but it still is bothersome.
This is the last week of turkey hunting in Massachusetts. New Hampshire’s spring season is open until the end of May and there is one hunt there that, for sentimental reasons, may lure me to Lyme, New Hampshire, for a day or two.
The target area is where Ben Killam has created a sanctuary for orphaned bear cubs from across New England and the habitat work has proven to be a boon for bears, deer, turkeys and a variety of songbirds and other wildlife. It is on my May list, as is trout fishing and a striped bass flyfishing trip, but the spring changeover to the pond and getting the boat ready and in the water is also on that schedule.
Hopefully, you are all involved in the many things that spring brings with it and will not allow the pests to deter you.
Mike Roche is a retired teacher who has been involved in conservation and wildlife issues his entire life. He has written the Sportsman’s Corner since 1984 and has served as advisor to the Mahar Fish’N Game Club, counselor and director of the Massachusetts Conservation Camp, former Connecticut Valley District representative on the Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife Board, a Massachusetts Hunter Education Instructor and is a licensed New York hunting guide. He can be reached at mikeroche3@msn.com.