I have wild blackberry canes on the fenceline between me and the neighbors. The blackberries are starting to come in so I went to check them Thursday afternoon.

This morning I found myself eat up with chiggers, including one that latched on right where my butt cheek meets my leg. I haven't had this many on me since I was a kid roaming thru fields and woods every day in summer.

And I got only a handful of berries! 😠

Wikipedia says one name for chiggers is "berry bug". I believe it.

 

...and then there's the cryin' chiggers...

Randy C.

 

Now I Know ...

Berry bugs

Chiggers are the immature stage of certain mites belonging to the family Trombiculidae. More closely related to spiders than to insects, chiggers belong to the class Arachinida, along with scorpions and ticks. In Texas, the term “chigger” commonly is used to describe the parasitic larval stage of mites in the genus Eutrombicula. These common mites cause most of the itchy, summertime bites that occur after walking outdoors through grassy or brushy areas.

Chiggers hitch rides on people who walk through infested vegetation. They grab onto shoes or clothing and typically explore a host for several hours before choosing a place to feed. Chigger bites are most common in areas where clothing is tight or where skin is thinnest. Bites are most common at sites around sock lines on the ankles where socks fit tightly, around the waist and near the groin. Bites also may occur in other areas, including behind the knee and under the armpit.

 

Oh my goodness I so get it. This time last year I trimmed my Dad's low as in short evergreens. I scooped up the trimmings with my arms. Lesson learned. Holy crap worst experience ever. Mites. They covered me. I looked like a leper. You can't even begin to imagine the itch. Twenty four hours a day. It was one of the worst painful experience's of my life. Damn those little bugs.

 

Glenn, sorry to hear of the chigger experience. Especially since it partially spoiled your blackberry experience.

I think kids in chigger country eventually don't react to the bites. That protection probably wanes after not getting bit for a few years (or a few decades).

My ex and I moved to S. Texas from the chigger-free Yankee north country when we were late teens. On July 4th we sat on the grass with some new Texas friends to watch the fireworks. The next day we discovered we each had over 200 chigger bites. Our friends? Zero bites.

Gary

 

I've made two wild blackberry cobblers already this year. We are fortunate to have the bushes at the edge of our property line that fronts the Corp property line which is in a natural state. Speaking of blackberries, I suspect there is a bumper crop of them this year as we saw so many while cycling this morning. I know the plants at our house have produced more fruit this season than any prior season I can remember.

On another note, a friend visiting for the 4th arrived at my front door yesterday with a half-bushel of Edgefield, SC grown freestone peaches, another important cobbler ingredient......

 

Maybe I'm too far north, but I've never got chiggers that I know of, and I pick a lot of berries. The black raspberries are out now and the black berries are turning red. They will be ready here in about 2 weeks. I guess you lower state guys are already getting fresh corn. Ours is just starting. Sure hope I never get the chiggers. Sounds like no fun.

 

😋 That means we'll soon have South Cackalacky peaches up here too! A local country store usually goes after a load of them when they come in. Fine eating!🍑

With the advantage of not having to go in the weeds where the chiggers are to get them!

 

Growing up mostly in Texas, we called them red bugs because if you ever see a bug that looks like a piece of red velvet, that is a wad of chiggers clustered together. Picking wild plums, wild grapes, muskedynes, or any wild fruit or berry will always get you a good batch of bites.

 

picked wild berris this am, wife did dozen jars of jam. no bugs on me,but boy have i got the cuts from the thorns

 

I just had black raspberry cobbler homemade by my aunt. She gets her berries the old fashioned way; she buys them from the Amish.