​by T. Duren Jones
​

I’ve Got You Under My Skin
 I found out that everything in this state wants to bite, sting, pinch or burrow into you. 
 PictureTo Texas, with bugs
I was recently in Texas for a short work stint and family visit. Of course, I had to go on a trail hike. I found out that everything in this state wants to bite, sting, pinch or burrow into you. No wonder residents (except the most hardcore hikers or fat-tire bikers) spend most of their time in the air-conditioned, hermetically sealed shopping malls.

Day One, even before I ventured out into the wilderness, I had so many mosquito bites I looked to be in the advanced stages of chicken pox. The evil little suckers must have sensed new out-of-town blood. They attacked with stealth and showed no mercy. I’m surprised I didn’t need a blood transfusion by week’s end.

Before my hike in Big Cedar Wilderness Trails (BCWT) with family, they warned me of other crawling and flying nuisances. I was advised to use bug spray liberally. I might encounter biting flies, ticks, fire ants, wasps, chiggers (which, I learned with great consternation, go for the moist, dark places and dig in under the skin), rattlesnakes and the dreaded “No-See-Ums” (yes, says it right on the bug spray can label). Wait, what? There are such things? And you can’t even see them?

No-See-Ums, or Ceratopogonidae, are a gnat-like fly, smaller than fleas, barely visible to the naked eye, and are also known as biting midges, sand flies, punkies or, as I called them, “vicious little buggers from the depths of hell.” Google the bite photos, if you dare. They are so small they can get through screens on windows and doors. Their bite is painful, causing welts that last for days, and they can get up into a person’s mouth, nose, eyes and ears. I sprayed bug spray all over myself like a fire hose … and then did it again.

Big Cedar Wilderness Trails, just outside Dallas, is located atop one of the most breathtaking bluffs in North Texas. The multi-use, 21-mile trail system winds through cedar and hardwood forests and descends into a valley with a striking elevation change. The valley consists mostly of mesquite trees and cacti. BCWT has ten trail loops ranging from beginner to advanced. They all come off and return to the main trail with easy access to the parking lot.

I really enjoyed these hiking trails, so far away and so different from those in my home state of Colorado. And any concerns about biting, stinging, blistering insects turned out to be not much of an issue. Our bigger concern was about mountain bikers flying past us at 90 miles per hour, and “hitchhiking” burs and stickers covering our boots, socks, shorts and shirts. At least they were not bugs.

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