Rash decisions.

I have the hide of a rhino, the concept of bruising is alien to me.  Biting insects avoid me for more suitable fayre, perhaps the nearest house brick.

Imagine my surprise when a rash appeared on both my legs below the knee recently.  At first this was of no particular concern, I don’t get rashes so this was not a rash.

Itch, itch itch, followed by moments of relief as I scratched, followed by more itching, scratching, followed by raw patches, followed quickly by bleeding.  Time to admit it, evolution had caught up with me and I was dinner for some insect.

I was totally unprepared physically or emotionally for such an assault.  It is not so problematic that I have actually done anything about it other than curse but most certainly vegetation over ankle height is now looked upon with new found respect.

And there is a lot of vegetation currently which fits that description and I spend a good deal of my time involved in it.   We are enjoying a prolonged hotspell in the SE bit of England after rather a late start.  This seems to have compressed the growing/hatching season somewhat and everything is making up for lost time.

The most likely culprit for my rash is a caterpillar which is covered in hairs which are a considerable irritant to many a person.  Never had any problems with them before but this year they appear to be about in rather higher numbers.  In one area I counted over a dozen of them within a 1 metre square of where I stood.  I was not even making a study of them, they were just there in plain sight.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1189685/Plague-hairy-caterpillars-cause-rashes-headaches-breathing-problems-invades-Britain.html

This is a report about the type of thing from a newspaper report last year.  While the more alarmist reports would have us all in NBC suits I have to admit its damn annoying if a weakness has been discovered in my constitution.