No Gnats No Wasps - No Problem?

Spouse cleaned up our patio area in our upstate NY back yard yesterday, and did a little backyard gardening work, taking advantage of a break in the hot weather.

Midway through dragging the hose around, spouse noticed that he wasn't being followed by gnats.

Gnats are an everyday problem here but - come to think about it, we haven't seen any lately.

And, in cleaning up the overhang over our patio area, spouse took special care to avoid the paper wasps who like to build nests in the rafters.

Except there weren't any wasps, nor were there any nests.

So strange, just like the strange winter and spring we've had.  Almost no snow.  Trees blooming in March.  Crickets chirping in May. 

You would think:  yippee!  Gnats are such an annoyance.  Wasps are dangerous, not just a nuisance.

So why should we miss gnats and wasps?  Well, because their absence is an indication of something out of balance.

In the meantime, we have more than enough of certain other creatures.  Like whatever is eating our community garden crops.  Like the bears sighted not too many miles from us.  Like the ants we've been getting.  Normally, sometime in the spring, we get one invasion of ants.  We've had at least three this year, including some teeny tiny ants we've never seen before inside our house.

Everyone's allergies have been horrid this year.  Mold is off the charts.  People are suffering from hives.

Was all this due to the flood of last September?  The mild winter?  Global warming?  All of the above?

Makes you a little anxious about the upcoming fall and winter. Will the imbalance get worse?  Or will nature straighten itself out?

Meanwhile, this morning - some rumbles of thunder, some rain.  Must be a warm front.  The hot weather is returning.