Insect phobia / Dealing with mayfly season?

[Kleiner Angsthase]

Hi guys, sorry I feel like this is a really ridiculous post, but figured maybe I should ask anyway.

So I'm pretty scared of insects, and really just arthropods in general, but there's a few that I find way more frightening than others, and mayflies is one of them.

Unfortunately, whoever built the town I live in rather inconsiderately stuck a canal through the middle, so every May/June we're inundated with the things. I have to cross the canal to get into town, and I generally need to go into town most days.

Does anyone have any ideas for coping? I can get the bus into town, but it's often a bit of a wait, and the wait doesn't feel worth it for going literally 2 stops. Today I just resorted to breaking into a sprint and running until I got far enough away from the canal.

I'd look up mayfly behaviour so I could adapt my plans around them, but I suspect Google would bombard me with photos of the sodding things. There seems to be way more of them in the afternoon/evening though?

So yeah, does anyone have any ideas? And also yes I know this is super irrational and I'm sorry.

[HopeRises]

It isn't. I used to be terrified of daddy long legs (or the actual word for them? I feel it might be mayfly?) i don't know how I got past it but I had to constantly remind myself they couldn't actually hurt me. Would listening to music help distract you at all?

[eye]

you are not alone I am scared of anything that flies near me....my way of dealing with it is to not wear bright colors and sort of blend in to the environment....like a stealthy ninja I guess. In all seriousness though I try to avoid anywhere that has flying things around like alleyways. My fiance usually drags me through them anyways.

[Elmer]

What about insect repellent?
This certainly isn't ridiculous, if it helps I am fairly terrified of balloons =P

[Kleiner Angsthase]

Ah gosh thank you for all the replies <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by HopeRises

It isn't. I used to be terrified of daddy long legs (or the actual word for them? I feel it might be mayfly?) i don't know how I got past it but I had to constantly remind myself they couldn't actually hurt me. Would listening to music help distract you at all?

I think daddy long legs are cranefly, but I'm also not a big fan of those :P I'm glad you got past it though! I know they can't hurt me, I just really don't want them to touch me, mostly. And I tend to listen to music whenever I'm outside and alone already, but I might try actually focusing on the music more?

Quote:

Originally Posted by eye

you are not alone I am scared of anything that flies near me....my way of dealing with it is to not wear bright colors and sort of blend in to the environment....like a stealthy ninja I guess. In all seriousness though I try to avoid anywhere that has flying things around like alleyways. My fiance usually drags me through them anyways.

I'm glad I'm not alone, but also sorry you have to deal with this too. Yeah I don't like things flying near me either, though at the moment because of the mayfly situation it feels like I'm on hyper alert, so if so much as a leaf flies near me I'm all "NOPE". Stealthy ninja mode seems like a good idea though, as yeah I hadn't thought about how bright colours might attract them, thanks!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elmer

What about insect repellent?
This certainly isn't ridiculous, if it helps I am fairly terrified of balloons =P

Oh does insect repellent work on all insects? For some reason I thought it was just the bitey kinds, haha :P And I'm also pretty scared of balloons too!! They just feel like a sudden loud noise waiting to happen.