So what do folks like us do?  I don't have the financial means to give property away, but I do have the means to share my property with those who want to experience a piece of the great outdoors.  Agritourism is a growing trend and is supported by many local and state organizations in a variety of ways.

So what exactly is agritourism?

Virginia law, for example, defines agritourism as “any activity carried out on a farm or ranch that allows members of the general public, for recreational, entertainment, or educational purposes, to view or enjoy rural activities, including farming, wineries, ranching, historical, cultural, harvest-your-own activities, or natural activities and attractions. An activity is an agritourism activity whether or not the participant paid to participate in the activity.”

Most folks think of visiting a working farm when they think of agritourism and in many cases, they are correct.  Working farms have made up a large part of early agritourism, but there is so much more anyone interested in "sharing" their property can do.   Depending on your geographic location, the amount of acres you own, and what you personally enjoy, agritourism can include the following:

• Barn dances
• Bed and breakfast accommodations
• Biking trails
• Bird watching
• Birthday parties
• Campfires (don’t forget the marshmallows)
• Camping
• Canoeing
• Corn mazes
• Corporate and group events
• Farm scavenger hunts
• Farm vacations (a day or a week on the farm: living, working, enjoying)
• Fee-fishing pond (fishing, cleaning, and cooking)
• Hay wagon rides
• Herb walks
• Hiking paths (walking, identifying vegetation, determining a tree’s age, picnicking)
• Historic reenactments
• “How-to” clinics such as jam and jelly making, how to shear sheep, quilting, canning,
• Hunting
• Pony and horseback riding
• Pumpkin patch (picking, painting, carving, and buying)
• Snow sledding
• Sorghum milling
• Stargazing and moonlight activities
• Storytelling/story swaps
• Weddings
• Wineries

How To Get Started?

According to the our friends at the Virginia Cooperative Extension .......

* Create a plan. What farm experience can you offer the public that will make your operation unique, in compliance with all local ordinances and codes, and profitable?

* Plan to grow your business. After developing the initial plan to establish an agritourism business, you need to consider how to continually create new adventures to attract new guests and entice those who have already visited the farm to return. When considering growth, assess space limitations, availability of parking, maximum number of people who can be safely transported, time required to travel around the activity area, and seating capacity for activities.

* Understand your liability. When visitors arrive on your property, liability increases. Identify risk-management issues, implement safety plans to prevent identified risks, and obtain the necessary insurance coverage for your specific operation. Wise agritourism entrepreneurs consult their attorneys and insurance agents prior to opening their doors to guests.

* Develop partnerships. Talk to neighbors about your plans and ask for their support. Inform your economic development office and Chamber of Commerce about your plans to open a new business enterprise. Review road signage and confirm that directions to the farm are clearly marked.

* Inventory existing attractions. Ask the local tourism office to provide assistance in reviewing your publicity plan and linking to other local activities. Determine if other farms in the region are engaged in agritourism activities and explore the idea of all the farms developing a publicity partnership.

* Visit other agritourism farms.

* Add your operation to tourism websites. Most state websites have a place to add your operation to their listings of attractions.  For example, in Virginia you can contact the Virginia Tourism Corporation at www.virginia.org, and scroll to the bottom of the page to select “Add/Update a Listing.”

* Know your customers. Long-time agritourism entrepreneurs know that their customers want to slow down, relax, and truly enjoy a farm experience.

* Set guiding rules for all farm visitors and communicate them clearly. You will want to make the visit a wonderful experience for each guest. However, guests must follow the rules for handling animals, traveling through open fields, and avoiding areas that are not visitor-safe.

Already operating a agritourism business?  Let us hear from you so we can share you story with our community!

But how could I have gotten lost on one of the world’s longest marked continual footpath ? I had been following the same “white blazes” that mark the AT from Georgia to Maine. Many people don’t know this, but volunteers mark trees or rocks with rectangular “blazes” of white paint to help people find their way. So I decided to turn around and backtrack to where I had crossed the road just in case I somehow missed the trail. When I returned to the road-crossing I met a local hiker who told me that the trail was actually up the road about 100 yards from where I had originally crossed. He went on to tell me that the white paint splotches I had been following are boundary markers that the state of Pennsylvania uses to notify hunters that they are within 300’ of the trail.

Lesson learned.

A few years after I finished hiking the trail, a neighbor stopped by the house and told us that he had recently purchased some property in the North Carolina mountains at a great deal. While he was out exploring his new property he ran into some strange white paint markings on some of the trees. He was just a few feet away from his property line. After some research he discovered that his property backed up to the Appalachian Trail. He was very excited…that is until he found out that he couldn’t build his vacation cabin where he originally wanted to, due to laws about building proximities along National Scenic Trails.

Lesson learned.

In the end, a little research on both of our parts would have helped our two different situations. As a hiker I could avoid being mistaken for Bambi, and our neighbor could have avoided getting his hopes up for the perfect cabin spot on property he bought for a steal.

Written by Ross Bonnewell, owner of TrailShuttles.com, a website dedicated to assisting hikers, bikers, and paddlers get to their next Western North Carolina adventure.

European Starlings

The European Starling is an exotic species that was introduced to North America in the 19th century. It's now a permanent resident across the United States and Canada, almost always near areas of human habitation and disturbance (cities, suburbs) or areas with a reliable food source (near barns or granaries).  The European Starling is considered a "problem" bird for several reasons:

• It competes fiercely for nesting cavities, ousting such native birds as bluebirds and various woodpeckers. It sometimes kills the original cavity-holding birds, and often destroys their eggs and young.
• It is aggressive at feeders, keeping smaller birds away and quickly exhausting birdseed supplies.
• Its enormous winter foraging flocks are considered pests in agricultural areas.
• Its huge winter roosts present hygiene challenges in human-inhabited areas.

Discouraging a flock of starlings from roosting around your house is difficult at best. Installing a plastic model hawk or owl in a tree is at best just a very short-term help—if that's all you do, the birds will quickly realize it poses no threat and ignore it. A predator decoy in combination with another bird deterrent, such as a recording of starling distress calls broadcast through a speaker, may help a bit longer, but very often the birds habituate to the sound before you and your neighbors do. Unexpected loud noises may flush bird flocks from your trees. Some people use fireworks, or clang pots and pans together. Sometimes even just clapping your hands is enough to flush a starling flock. But they usually return quickly.

If you are persistent, chasing them away every evening for a week or so, the flock may move to another roost. It’s easiest to deal with starlings when they’ve first discovered a new roost location than after they’ve settled in.

Woodpeckers hammering on house

A woodpecker may go to work on your house for one of three reasons: because it makes a satisfyingly loud noise that proclaims the bird's territory; because it wants to excavate a nesting or roosting hole, or because the bird is feeding on insects living in the siding. Researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are studying damage inflicted on property by woodpeckers. You can learn more about the birds, why they might have chosen your house, and some tactics you can try to deter them: Damage, Prevention, and Control.

Unwanted Birds at Feeders

Some people welcome any bird to their feeding station, regardless of its size or appetite. But others get frustrated when ravenous flocks of grackles, crows, pigeons, or starlings overrun their feeders, and some people don’t want the songbirds they attract serving as lunch for hawks.

To discourage larger birds from crowding out small birds at feeders, manufacturers have designed several innovative feeders. Some feeder ports automatically shut when a heavy bird or squirrel alights. Some feeders are enclosed by a wide mesh that excludes larger species while allowing small birds to enter. Some feeder perches are too small to support larger birds.

Hawks

Many people enjoy seeing magnificently wild raptors visiting their yards. But others don’t want to invite songbirds to their feeders only to be attacked. During migration, individual hawks may appear at a feeder for only a few minutes, and there’s little anyone can do to discourage them. During winter, a hawk may take up more permanent residence in a neighborhood, visiting a feeding station a few times every day or every week. During the breeding season, a pair of hawks may become even more regular visitors. If you wish to discourage a hawk from visiting your yard, you might try closing down your feeding station for a week or so in hopes that the raptor will develop a new feeding routine. But because these hungry predators are alert to hunting opportunities within a fairly large area, when songbirds discover that you’ve reopened your feeding station, the hawks may quickly return. If you can’t bear to lose your backyard chickadees to the local Merlin or Cooper’s Hawk, you might have to close down your feeding station for the season.

Aggressive hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are exceptionally territorial around feeding areas and often attack each other near food supplies. Very often a single hummingbird will defend even a large, multiple-perch feeder, making it difficult for others to share.

Placing several feeders in different parts of your yard, or separated by vegetation or other barriers, usually accommodates more hummingbirds than a single feeder.

Canada Geese

In recent decades, Canada Geese have become truly urbanized; huge populations of them now live in cities and suburbs, feeding on lawn turf and taking over ponds, streams, and wetlands. Ironically, when populations started becoming acclimated to urban areas, their offspring were intentionally introduced to some towns and cities, but in most places have outstayed their welcome. Canada Geese especially like expansive lawns; when turf can be replaced with taller native vegetation, they often go elsewhere, especially in early summer when they try to keep their goslings safe from hidden predators by feeding on manicured lawns. When a lawn is covered with plastic mesh, geese often leave, but that’s impractical for most spaces.

In the short-term, the best way to discourage geese is to employ a dog to chase them off. In the long-term, the wisest way to keep goose populations at more sustainable levels is to promote natural vegetation instead of lawns in as many areas as is practical.

Squirrels

Squirrels can be fun to watch, and some people accept that squirrels are part of the feeding station community. But when squirrels devour too much expensive birdseed, chew holes in feeders, and discourage feeder birds from visiting, many people lose patience with them. Squirrels can leap several feet horizontally or from above onto your feeder. To minimize the number of squirrels that try, you might position your feeders so they’re at least 10 feet away from jumping-off points, but remember that your birds are safest from window collisions if your feeders are very close to your house.

One way to outwit these furry-tailed rodents is to distract them by feeding them peanuts or dried ears of corn in a location some distance from your feeders. But this tactic might not work for long. You can also try "squirrel-proof" bird feeders. But beware: squirrels are willing to spend far more time and ingenuity trying to get to feeders than humans can afford to spend trying to outwit them.

Squirrel baffles are a good bet. These are barriers, sometimes shaped like an inverted bowl, placed between squirrels and feeders. Usually when a squirrel lands on a baffle, it simply slides off. On pole-mounted feeders, baffles should be fixed in place below the feeder. On hanging feeders, a tilting baffle—at least 18 inches in diameter—should be installed above the feeder. As an alternative to commercially-made plastic baffles, bird watchers have used large pizza pans, old vinyl records, large plastic salad bowls, two-liter soda bottles, and even stove pipes.

If your feeder is hung from a horizontal line, another anti-squirrel tactic is to thread the line through several lengths of plastic tubing, end to end; the tubing should spin when a squirrel tries to walk on it. Alternatively, some people have tried suspending feeders on a three- to four-foot length of monofilament fishing line instead of wire—it's too thin for squirrels to climb on. But monofilament may pose a collision hazard for birds because it’s also too thin for them to see.

Some hopper-style feeders are specifically designed to deter squirrels. Most use a spring-loaded or counter-weighted gate that closes off access to the seed ports under the squirrel's weight. This weight adjustment can be changed to selectively exclude larger birds as well.  Some tube feeders are enclosed inside a wire mesh cage, the mesh wide enough to allow small birds to gain access to the feeder while excluding squirrels and larger birds.

Yet another way to keep squirrels from your birdseed is a "squirrel spooker." As the squirrel climbs up a feeder pole to reach your feeder, it climbs over a moveable sleeve. Because of the squirrel's added weight, the sleeve slips down or spins around, dumping the surprised squirrel onto the ground. Once the squirrel has let go, the sleeve automatically moves back into place.

Some bird watchers have been using seeds that are coated with hot pepper or capsaicin products. Theoretically, squirrels avoid the coated seed while birds are unaffected. Although birds naturally eat chile seeds in the wild with no ill effects, no studies have specifically verified that this practice is safe for birds at your feeder.

Don’t coat feeder poles with grease, oil, petroleum jelly, or glycerin as an anti-squirrel strategy. As well as being potentially toxic to wildlife, these substances can mat fur and feathers, causing them to lose their insulative properties. This may lead to the animal freezing to death.

If you can't dissuade your squirrels from chewing your feeders to get at the seeds inside, consider buying a feeder made of a more durable material, or one with metal-reinforced seed ports. Some of these come with guarantees against destruction by squirrels.

House Cats

The domestic cat is the most numerous pet in North America. Unfortunately, cats kill hundreds of millions of birds each year. Ground-feeding and ground-nesting birds and fledglings are at greatest risk. Feeder birds are also easy prey. Cats often lurk in shrubbery near feeders and birdbaths awaiting a chance to pounce. Cats walk and run very smoothly; when wearing a bell collar, they quickly learn to control their movements to prevent the bell from ringing.

If you own a cat, we strongly recommend that you keep it indoors to reduce the needless loss of birdlife. The American Bird Conservancy has created the Cats Indoors campaign to increase awareness of the problem. For more information, contact: American Bird Conservancy, 1250 24th Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20037, Phone: (202) 778-9666, or go to their website

Rats and mice

Rats and other pest rodents are attracted to seeds beneath feeders. Once a population is established, it can be very difficult to discourage. The first step is to discontinue feeding for a couple of weeks to encourage the rodent population to disperse. Next, consider ways to feed without any waste falling to the ground. Several feeders are sold with catch-trays to collect dropped seeds, but most aren't big enough to really do the job. You may want to look into constructing your own large catch tray to place (off the ground) or hang under your feeders that you can empty or remove each night to prevent rodents from getting the seed. Even if your catch tray is out of reach of rodent, make sure to keep it clean, because bird droppings contaminated with Salmonella bacteria may survive on the catch tray and spread disease among your birds.

Bears

More and more black bears have made visits to bird feeders part of their regular activities. When bears learn to associate humans and homes with food, it poses dangers for both people and the bears themselves. Wildlife agencies from the following states issue precautions about feeding birds in areas with bears: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Here are some of their suggestions:

• Don't feed birds during months when bears are most active—late March through November. Bring all of your feeders in at night.
• Hang feeders 10 feet above ground and 6 feet away from tree trunks.
• Don't leave spilled birdseed lying on the ground.
• Keep your birdseed supply indoors.
• Don't hang your bird feeder from your front porch.
• If you do have a bear in your yard, don't approach it

Other Mammals

If bears, raccoons, skunks, rabbits, deer, or moose become a nuisance, the best tactic is to make your feeders inaccessible with fencing. The trick is making it high enough to exclude deer and reaching close enough to the ground to exclude rabbits. If that approach is impractical and you’re dealing with regular visits from these animals, you'll probably have to take down your feeders temporarily. Like hawks, mammals will find new foraging places. If your mammalian visitors appear only at night, take in your feeders at dusk.

Many people enjoy seeing white-tailed deer in their yards until the deer damage their flowerbed or garden. But deer overpopulation has serious impacts on natural habitats, and deer are predators on eggs and chicks in ground nests. Deer have an important place in the natural world, but their populations should not be subsidized and maintained at unhealthy levels.

Ants

Ants, bees, and wasps are often attracted to the sugar solution in hummingbird feeders. Besides consuming and sometimes contaminating the food, they often discourage hummingbirds from visiting.

The best way to deal with ants is to keep them from discovering a hummingbird feeder in the first place: use dripless feeders. Bottle-style feeders may leak if the feeder is located in direct sun—air trapped in the top of the bottle expands as it warms and pushes the nectar out. Saucer-type hummingbird feeders are less likely to drip.

Many saucer-type feeders are designed with a central "ant moat," walled off from the pool of sugar water, designed to hold clean tap water. Ants can’t swim across, so have no access to the sugar water. You can also purchase or design a separate ant moat (sometimes called "ant baffle" or "ant guard")—a small plastic cup (about 3 inches in diameter) that fits tightly around the hanger wire above the hummingbird feeder. Ant moats are available from several manufacturers. Don’t fill them with vegetable oil or petroleum jelly—water is just as effective, and if any birds investigate, these substances can mat their feathers, ruining their insulative properties.

You can make your own ant moat by running a hanger wire though a hole in a spray can top or small plastic tub. Use a dab of silicone sealer or hot glue to seal the hole so it's waterproof.

Bees and Wasps

Many hummingbird feeders are sold with bee guards, made of plastic mesh, to keep bees and wasps away from the feeding port. Ironically, there is evidence that bees and wasps are attracted to the color yellow, so some bee guards may actually lure these insects in! A better defense is to use saucer-shaped feeders, from which the birds feed through ports in the top. This type is inherently bee- and wasp-resistant because the syrup level is usually too low for insects to reach, but easily within range of hummingbird tongues.

If the insects persist, try moving the feeder. They may never find it in its new location, whereas the hummingbirds will quickly find it again. If that doesn't work, take the feeder down for a day or two, until you stop seeing bees and wasps looking for it. The hummingbirds will look for it, too, but they won't give up nearly as soon as the insects will.

Argument No. 1. Don't shoot does, because they produce buck fawns!

Fallacies in the argument:

1. Buck:doe ratio of fawns is 1:1. Assuming a 75% fawn crop for the herd, there is about a 37% chance that a given doe will wean a buck fawn in a given year (0.75 fawns/doe x 0.5 bucks/fawn). In other words, there is a better chance that a doe will not have a buck fawn than she will, in most years.

2. Fawn crop is often density dependent. Generally, as doe numbers increase, fawn production per doe decreases. Fewer does can and often do raise more fawns to weaning age than more abundant does. Producing more bucks by stockpiling does doesn't work any better than trying to produce more calves by stockpiling cows. In either scenario, you're gonna run out of groceries!

Argument No. 2. Doe hunting isn't "macho"! Bucks are wary; does are dumb!

Fallacies in the argument:

1. Adult buck:doe ratio. The perception that bucks are more wary is influenced by the fact that more does are seen than bucks. However, in most parts of our region, the adult buck:doe ratio is 1:4 or greater, which means that on the basis of chance alone, four out of every five adult deer observed should be a doe. Add to this the fact that in the fall many deer hunters cannot distinguish fawns from does, and the perceived wariness of bucks vs. does based on observations is even more distorted.

2. Rut behavior. In Oklahoma, the majority of deer hunters hunt during rifle season, which is planned to coincide with the peak of the rut. Bucks' wariness is at a yearly low during rut due to their search for receptive does. Once a doe is bred, her wariness is heightened due to her attempt to avoid additional bucks.

3. Yearling buck harvest. In Oklahoma, the majority of bucks harvested are yearlings, while the majority of does harvested are adults. Research indicates that yearling bucks typically disperse widely after weaning and are usually in unfamiliar surroundings come hunting season. The only deer more vulnerable to harvest than yearling bucks are "orphaned" fawns. Yearling does typically stay closer to home and are often in the company of their mother during their yearling season.

4. Learned behavior. Fear of man is to a large extent a learned behavior in deer. Since bucks are generally hunted more intensely than does, survivors (older bucks) tend to be more wary of man than older does due to a higher incidence of learned hunting experiences. However, surviving does become very wary when hunting pressure is shifted toward does.

The only reason to protect does is to increase the number of deer on a management unit. The majority of managers we work with are interested in increasing the quality of bucks. Unless deer are at low densities (unusual for our area), protecting does will not accomplish this objective.

This article was contributed by Grant Huggins of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation.

Choosing the proper materials and layering your clothing are great ways to insure comfort when you’re in cold weather. By layering you can remove or add clothes as you heat up or cool off.

• Starting with the base layer, preferably a lightweight synthetic, merino wool, or silk long underwear that will wick the moisture away from your skin.
• Next you’ll put on the mid-layer, or insulating layer. Depending on the amount of aerobic activity you’ll be taking part in, something like a light fleece jacket or a down vest might be a good choice. A pair of nylon or wool pants for cold weather, or a pair of those zip-off pants/shorts if you’re going to be very active or the weather will warm up later in the day.
• Your top layer, or shell, will help protect you from the elements. This could be a waterproof, soft shell, or wind-proof jacket/pants.

A great saying you might hear when it comes to dressing for an outdoor activity is “Cotton Kills”. While it isn’t true that the simple act of wearing cotton into the backcountry will literally kill you, it’s a fabric that doesn’t do a great job of transferring sweat/moisture away from your skin, or “wicking”. Wearing cotton in the summer-time might feel cool but, since your sweat doesn’t wick away from it, in the winter this causes your body to feel much cooler. Materials like polypropylene and merino wool do a great job of keeping your body dry and feeling much more comfortable while you’re active.

Remember to harness your inner Boy Scout and “Be Prepared”. If you can, pack some extra layers just in case you or someone else in your group needs them. Keep in mind that perfecting your layering system will take some time and experimentation. But that’s ok, it just gives you another excuse to get outside all winter.

Written by Ross Bonnewell, owner of TrailShuttles.com, a website dedicated to assisting hikers, bikers, and paddlers get to their next Western North Carolina adventure.

Pumpkin Leather

2 cups fresh pumpkin

1/2 cup honey

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon powered cloves

Cook or steam pumpkin until soft and the puree.  Blend pumpkin with honey and spices.  Line a tray or cookie sheet with plastic wrap.  Do not used waxed paper or aluminum foil.   Spread puree on liner, shaking pan on a countertop to level to uniform thickness.  Do not spread with a spatula or spoon.  Dry on "warm"  (140 degrees) with oven door open until leathery and just tacky to touch (6-8 hours).  Cool slightly.  Remove plastic wrap and cut into portion sizes.  While still warm, roll each piece up and wrap in plastic.  Store in an airtight container.  Leathers can be stored in refrigerator or freezer to extend shelf life.

What Carley Laney's story should teach everyone is there are outdoor pursuits just waiting for us to enjoy that are neither difficult, too time consuming, or expensive.  If we don't enjoy the outdoors, we simply do not have anyone to blame but ourselves.

This summer I was fortunate enough to be given the incredible opportunity to be a part of Hog Island’s Audubon Camp for teens run by Project Puffin, on the coast of Maine, through the generous Richard Parks Young Birder’s scholarship given to me by GOS. Myself and fourteen other teens, along with several adult campers, spent five days enjoying the beautiful Maine Coast while birding, studying and learning fascinating information from some of the top Ornithologists and Conservationists in the country. These included Steve Kress, Kenn Kaufman and Scott Weidensaul. The camp was run very well and all of the camp staff was kind and helpful. I met many great people at this camp who taught me much about birding and were great to just get to know. It was really a blast. The experiences I had at this camp were truly life changing.

One awesome experience I had was a privilege that was given only to the teens at the Hog Island Camp. One morning all of the people attending the camp were taken out by boat into the Gulf of Maine to a small island called Eastern Egg Rock. This island is where the organization Project Puffin, led by Steve Kress, has worked very hard, over the course of several years, to bring back Atlantic Puffins to nest on the island. The project continues and has been a success leading to over 100 pairs of Puffins now nesting on the island along with many pairs of Arctic, Common and the endangered Roseate Terns. During breeding season, a few researchers stay on the island to study and monitor the birds there.

After circling the island a few times in the boat with the adults, the teen campers were given the opportunity to get into a smaller boat and land on the island. We were allowed to spend all day on Eastern Egg Rock with the few researchers who were studying there. While on the island, we were allowed to go into blinds set up around the island—just feet away from the burrows of nesting Puffins and Black Guillemots as well as nests of Leach’s Storm-Petrel’s and Roseate, Common and Arctic Terns. Seeing the birds this close and observing their nesting behavior was incredible. It was truly amazing how beautiful the island was and all the birds that resided on it. I learned so much fascinating information from the researchers there. They are truly dedicated to preserving these beautiful birds and this really inspired me. 

Having the opportunity to be a part of this camp was life changing and unforgettable. I have been birding for seven years, but over the course of the past year or two, I feel that my birding enthusiasm hadn’t been as high as it once was. However, getting this opportunity definitely changed that and has really inspired me to be the best birder that I can be. I realize being a part of this camp and especially getting to go to Eastern Egg Rock is something that very few people in this world get to do and I am very thankful that this was something that I was given the chance to do. I would like to again thank Dr. Sargant and all with GOS who made this possible for me to attend.

A Great Place to Find Chiggers

No one ever says, "I got bit by a chigger."  That's because it's impossible to get just one chigger bite.  And there is good reason for this.  Chiggers are less than 1/150th of an inch in diameter.  More than 5000 of them could line up on a piece of copy paper and there would still be room for hundreds more.  Chiggers are invisible to the naked eye but if you lay a piece of white paper in your backyard and they begin to congregate, you could see them because of their red color.  Chiggers are most often found in areas where there are an abundance of weeds and thick vegetation and in shady, moist places.

One of the biggest myths about chiggers is that they get into your skin and die in your tissue which forms the itchy red bump.  According to Caitlin Spilinek and Barb Ogg with the UNL  Extension, " the red dot that is in the middle of a welt from a chigger is due to the way chiggers feed.  Chiggers insert a specialized mouthpart at hair follicles or skin pores and can only insert it in thin skin or where skin folds."  That is why we see so many chigger bites around our ankes, in the back of our knees, around clothing lines, or under armpits.

To reduce the number of chiggers on your property, take into consideration the following tips:

1.  Keep weeds cut back especially around areas that retain moisture or around lakes and ponds.

2.  Severe chigger infestations can be sprayed.  Be sure and check with your local extension service to find out the best products to use and the best time of the year to apply these insecticides.

To reduce your risk from getting bitten, take some precautions.  Before going out to areas that could be infested, apply repellent to your clothing, socks, and shoes. Wear loose fitting clothing and avoid sitting on the ground.  When returning from the outdoors, take a shower as soon as possible. Also, launder all clothing as chiggers will stay in clothing and be a menace should you decide to re-wear before washing.

And in the event, you do get "attacked" by chiggers it is advised to apply rubbing alcohol and use an over the counter anesthetic.  Baking soda pastes, calamine lotion, will also soothe the itch.....and despite what you might have heard, do not use fingernail polish as it does nothing to treat the itch and does not kill the chigger.

Every year we hear about tragic accidents on ATV's.  Reaction is always mixed when discussing the use of these vehicles, but most will agree that with precaution, ATV's can provide a great deal of recreational pleasure and utility.  As we begin the summer, take time to read these simple safety tips:

Mark Whitt from the University of West Virginia extension service states, “So often, ATV fatalities result from injuries that could have been prevented with proper training and gear,” Whitt said.  He believes by asking the following questions before using any ATV, you can avoid potential danger:

• Is the person the appropriate size for the machine he or she will use?
• Is the ATV working correctly?

Additionally, all riders should:

• Not operate the machine after dark or in poor weather conditions.
• Wear a U.S. Department of Transportation-approved helmet with eye protection.
• Wear long pants and long sleeves.
• Carry a cell phone in case there is a problem.
• Be over 16 unless supervised by a parent.
• Never ride on public roads.
• Never have a passenger on a single rider vehicle.
  

Many cooperative extension services offer safety courses and information so before you ride, take advantage of the information available.  If you have problems locating one in your area, email us at info@greenwoodproject.com