Midges can be found over much of the Highlands, if you want to avoid feeding the thousands, here is some advice:
Avoid the biting season - this coincides with the tourist season, so you can avoid them as well!
Only go to the Cairngorms - this side of Scotland is drier, and doesn't have much of a problem with midgies, however
the human biting niche is taken up by less abundant ticks, clegs and other nasties.
Cover yourself in a midge proof net - and look pretty stupid, especially when they come inside to shelter.
Only go out on windy days - they can't handle winds over 4 mph, but they can still lurk behind boulders and plants.
Move faster than 4 mph - if you work up a sweat as well, you might be able to drown them before they can bite.
Get some Bog Myrtle, and rub it all
over yourself. Stick a sprig behind each ear, and tourists will think you are mad, and leave you alone. The midgies don't
care though, they just bite the spots you missed.
Smother yourself in super concentrated DEET. If they come anywhere near, it will dissolve them (as well as your clothes
and your skin).
More On Bog Myrtle Bog myrtle (or sweet gale as it is otherwise known) is a distinctively sweet smelling shrub that grows in boggy areas in the Highlands, and other
parts of the country (particularly the New Forest). It usually grows to about knee high, and rarely more than waist high. In spring the smell is
concentrated in the buds, which burst out into the feathery shape shown here around April/May. The leaves soon follow (top picture), and remain until
mid autumn, when they change through yellow and brown before falling in late Autumn.
Besides repelling midges, the plant has been used in the production of heather ale. It is unclear whether drinking heather ale repels midges, but
I would be glad to do the research if funds are forthcoming.
More On Bog Myrtle