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June 28, 2001 - Invasion of the mighty mitesSuffolk Times • June 28, 2001 Invasion of the miLyhtv mites Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh If you know a wet area where this four- to six -foot -tall bush grows with its creamy -colored, lantem- shaped blossoms, keep it In mind, for you have found where the tasty blueberries grow. I'VE BEEN SCRATCHING THREE red spots on my arm. The itch is maddening. There can only be one culprit that would itch like that, and that's chiggers, and so my article for this week begins. Years ago when we were kids, we always knew where the blueberries grew. In some places, we can still find blueberries growing here on the East End. Just look in any piece of woodland with its under - story of bushes, and you are bound to find "low bush blueberries" growing. They aren't like the big [iced for us kids. We'd always stop along the path to the beach to pick a handful of Focus berries, toss them in our mouths, and we'd be off on ON some youthful adventures. NATURE Then there would be times when we'd actually go out by Paul blueberry picking and, being Stoutenburgh kids, we'd get down on our hands and knees and work our way through the bushes, picking here and there. The bushes were about a foot high and scrubby - looking compared to the "high bush blueberries" you'd find in wet areas, particularly along the Peconic River. These high bush blueberries grow four, six or even eight feet high. They are related to the commercial blueberries that we buy in the store. The berries are twice the size of the low bush blueberries. But back to the picking of our small local blueber- ries. Often after having been out picking blueber- ries, we'd come home and find we'd been attacked by chiggers or what we always called "jiggers." In some parts of the country they are called "red bugs." They are tiny mites that get under your skin and cause an intense itch. They cause a red spot about a quarter of an inch in diameter where they've burrowed, and man, you can't keep your hands from scratching them. These chiggers are a real discomfort, for they seem to get mostly around your waist where your clothing is tight, or around your legs and ankles. Chiggers are so small that they can work their way through cloth- ing. They are smaller than a pin head and you never see them. I can remember getting 10 or 15 of these intense itches on my legs after blueberry picking. Barbara remembers they used to get them after blueberry picking at her grandfather's bungalow down on the creek. Then she says they would go into the salt water to try to get rid of them. She doesn't remember if that did any good, but I guess it proba- bly made them feel better anyway. Nat always chiggers around Yet, most of the time you can go out in the field or walk through the woods and not get a bite. It seems the mite clings to vegetation and unless you brush against, you'll be free of chiggers. Some say there is relief in some of these new sting sprays that are available, but no matter what, you're going to be itching. Mites are common in the natural world. There is a whole range of them out there and chiggers are just one of the more noticeable varieties. Animals and birds get mites and even my chickens will get them, for I see them dust bathing. They will lie on their side and work the ground until it is fluffy and dry. Then they'll work the dust in through their wing feathers, work it over their backs and onto their skin. This somehow seems to clear the mites out. We know this dust bathing works, for we can see the chickens actually picking the mites up as they fluff the dirt away. We also see pheasants and quail doing the same thing; even the little English sparrow or house sparrow will find a dusty spot and give itself a dust bath to rid itself of mites. It might not be the (chigger mite but one of the many other mites that look for a free meal on a warm body. i nere is an interesting phenomenon related to mites that has been noticed where bluejays, crows and other birds will pick up ants and work them intc their feathers. Sometimes they will find an ant hill and squat over it and fluff the ants up into their feathers that way. It is thought that perhaps the toxic formic acid in the ants acts as an insecticide, ridding the bird of its mites. At least that's the theo- ry behind this unusual activity. Some people who observe our wildlife on the Easi End occasionally see a shaggy fox, that is, a fox with hardly any fur on it. This is caused by a mange mite that takes over some animals, including, occasional- ly, your pet dog. It can be disastrous if left untreat- ed. This could be one reason why we have highs and lows in the fox population and some will actually >uccumb to mange. This also occurs in raccoons wnere we see an upsurge and then a gradual decrease in their numbers; again the animal is affected by these mange mites. I can remember once as a kid finding a birds' nest with young that were covered with mites. Eventually the birds were done in my these tiny lit- tle devils. So you see, mites are part of the system. Usually the animal or bird can overcome this pest, but there are those who are weaker and they can't stand that extra drain and they die. It's interesting to see that mites are everywhere. The ones I am most familiar with are the ones that come to us as chiggers, and if you've experienced them, you know what I mean by a real itch. Just an interesting note about the box turtles I wrote about last week. I had a neighbor of mine call me, not knowing that I had already written about turtles for the paper, which hadn't come out yet. He told me of a box turtle that had dug its nest and laid its eggs in his yard. Evidently his yard had all the elements of a good nesting site. They even watched the turtle drop its eggs in it shallow underground nest. Then they watched the turtle use its hind legs to cover over the eggs and walk away, never to come back and care for the young or ever see her offspring. I told him to cover the nest with a wire mesh, otherwise Mr. Raccoon, with his sensitive nose, will surely feast on the eggs. He also told me that he saw a pair of turtles mat- ing, one on top of the other in the most awkward position imaginable. So with a little careful observa- tion of what goes on in your own back yard, you, too, might just come up with some amazing sights.