This is a story about creepy crawly bird mites. You've probably never had to give thought to these members of the arthropod family. Lucky you.
First, you're unlikely to ever encounter these exquisitely tiny semi-transparent spider-related creatures. Bird mites should in no way affect your interest in or affection for birds.
With that out of the way, here are two mite stories.
I once lived in an apartment with its own entrance. Above that door, on the outside of the building, was a porch light. A pair of Barn Swallows built a nest there.
One evening, dressed for a date, I noticed the now-empty nest. I poked at it with my hand to bring it down. I watched, mesmerized, as a thick cloud of mites floated to me. I was so taken with this unexpected exodus that I stood there until covered with almost invisible bugs.
I showered directly and thoroughly. I put the clothes in was wearing in a plastic bag for later attention. I used a hose to clean the light, the door, the stoop – everything.
Barb, a reader of these pages, wrote recently to ask where she might locate a bird-nesting platform so it would not allow entry to her home by mites. There is only one reason to ask that question.
The mites on her deck, in her kitchen, and on her and her husband came, she believes, from the nest of a phoebe. The bird was using a nesting platform attached to the understructure of their deck.
