– I swallowed some flies, so there were some extra proteins that day.
A funny Pernille Frøskeland tells Dagbladet.
She was on a jogging trip to Skrovtind by Reipå in Nordland with her brother Roald Frøskeland, when they met a whole bunch of black flies.
It was NRK who first mentioned the case.
– It was cruel, says the energetic northerner to the canal.
– For a while I had to keep my mouth shut so that I would not breathe in flies, Frøskeland tells Dagbladet.
The small, black flies followed the siblings almost the entire jogging trip. There was simply no point in shaking them off.
– It was very uncomfortable and incredibly annoying. It was also not a good thing to get them in your mouth, she says.
– Do not drink straight from the can
Did not let go
Frøskeland describes the experience as claustrophobic.
– Both my brother and I have been to the mountains a lot before and met many flies, but there was nothing in relation to this. We had to move to keep the flies away from us, she says.
And all the running made her and her brother sweat in the summer heat. Unfortunately, the black fly is very attracted to the smell of sweat, so the worn-in flies would therefore not let go.
The siblings had several escape attempts behind them, which unfortunately gave disappointing results:
– We had hoped for wind when we got to the top of the mountain so that the flies would disappear with the wind, but they did not.
PURSUED: A swarm of black flies faithfully followed the sibling pair. Photo: Pernille Frøskeland / Private.
view more
– My brother also tried and asked from them. But it did not work either, says Frøskeland.
She estimates the flies were with them about seven to eight miles of the trip.
– When we got down from the mountain, it took a while before they let go. We walked past a farm, and then they ran off, probably to a kuruke or something, Frøskeland laughs.
– Is it tempting to go back right away?
– Not right now. It will probably be a few weeks until next time!
view more
–
High season for flies
The leader of the Norwegian Entomological Society and researcher at the Natural History Museum, Trude Magnussen, says that the black fly is worn on humans and other mammals due to sweat and smell.
– The adult flies are attracted to sweat because they drink it. In domestic animals such as cows, it also drinks tears, snot and saliva, says Magnussen to Dagbladet.
Heat wave in Finnmark attracts attention
Whether it is common for the flies to come in swarms depends on local conditions, such as precipitation and temperature, according to Magnussen.
She adds:
– These are factors that can affect when the larvae develop into adult flies. However, flies are not dangerous to humans, although they can be troublesome.
The sibling couple Frøskeland experienced this on a jogging trip.
– The fly can neither sting nor bite. It does not have mouth parts to bite with, or stings to stick with, she says.
Summer and early autumn are high season for flies. A good piece of advice to take care of yourself then, if you want to avoid the black fly, is to cover yourself in light clothes, says Magnussen.
–
