It has been observed that the intensity of turbulence measured with a hot-wire anemometer close to the wall in a boundary layer can be substantially reduced by the presence of an obstacle nearby in a lateral direction. The obstacle in these experiments was another hot-wire probe. A brief survey was made of the positions of the two probes that could give a significant effect. However, the observation is reported mainly as an interesting phenomenon requiring further investigation. It is also of relevance to hot-wire anemometry; there may be a previously unsuspected and troublesome source of error due to a wire's own support.