Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Chiggers, Black Bears, and Assorted Creepy Crawlies

Someone the other day complained about a little red bug they'd found in their bed. I believe to my soul it was a chigger. Yep, at up to one-twentieth of an inch, some of those little red boogers are big enough to see. They don't actually suck your blood or burrow under your skin, though. What they really do is latch onto your socks, crawl up and find a warm, comfortable spot, insert a straw, and proceed to liquefy your skin cells, which they will then suck for about four days. And you will itch like a dog in a flea factory. Nice. And everyone who visits asks if they will see a bear. But someone I met last week was scared of a squirrel. Oh, come on! Now, you can come to North Georgia and complain about chiggers. We'll grant you that. And gnats... that's a given. Black bears? I don't blame you. But being a-skeered of a lil old squirrel? How chicken is chicken?

So be forewarned... If it flies, itches, sucks blood, latches onto your underpants, crawls into your bed uninvited, or bites off your head and spits it out ~ it is native to North Georgia and you will very likely meet one here... Welcome to the mountains!

1 comment:

Susan Tidwell said...

You got that right! All these tourists this time of year might see much more than pretty leaves!