Nikon Camera Totin' Skeeters

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Did I tell you about the mosquito ("skeeter") in Great Smoky Mountains National Park that was soooo big that it tried to take my Nikon D7000 away from me? I'm still shaking when I think about it. I've not even been able to take any good handheld pictures since then. I'm too shaky from remembering the incident.

I found out later that there is a species of mosquito in the Smokies that basically collects cameras. A ranger found quite a cache of Nikons in a hollow tree the other day. They're auctioning them off to benefit Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There were no other brands of camera found besides Nikon. At least they have good taste.

A .45 caliber pistol is the only effective repellent for these dudes. Even Smoky Bear runs from them. You may have seen some of them in the movie Jumanji; you remember, the one with Robin Williams and the weird game. They had captured a couple dozen of them for the movie and trained them. It didn't work out so well, though, 'cause the skeeters stole a car and went on a wild rampage, smashing buildings, other cars, houses, and such. In fact, some of the wreckage in the movie Jumanji was real. They said, what the heck, we might as well film what the skeeters did, since we'll have to pay for it anyway.

Be very careful in the Smokies if you are carrying a Nikon, especially digital. They seem extra interested in the digitals. Maybe it's the EM radiation from the CMOS and CCD imaging sensor chips. And, no matter what, don't come wearing any concoction containing DEET (skeeter nerve agent found in many repellent sprays). These skeeters drink the stuff like soda pop and are quite addicted to it. They'll break your car window to get to the bottle of skeeter repellent.

They seem to hang out around the Tremont area and the middle prong of the Little Pigeon River. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen many of the little pigeons around the river these days!

Keep on capturing time...
Darrell Young