If you follow my blog and/or my Facebook page you know that I spend time tromping around in the woods almost every day. In theory, I’m taking Thistle for a walk, but I also just love being in the woods.
Which is not to say they’re a perfectly safe place to be. It isn’t the bears, the snakes, or other critters that give me trouble. It’s more the flora than the fauna tripping me up. Turns out there are plenty of plants that will challenge you if you go off trail in this part of the country.
Last week I headed up the mountain behind our house. There are some critter trails back there that we’ve trimmed back enough to allow human passage. Mostly. I hike these trails mostly in the winter when the leaves are down and the undergrowth is minimal.
I jumped the gun going up there in October. While the poison ivy had largely died back, the shin rippers were plentiful. What’s a shin ripper? It’s a briar or other prickly, vine-like plant growing low across the trail. You’re tromping along, you catch one of those briars, and it rips across your ankle or shin. I ran into several. As you can see. And I had long pants on!
Other prickly Appalachian flora challenges include:
- Hollies – these are basically just prickly, although if you step on a leaf barefoot, it can be pretty awful.
- Stinging nettle – what looks like tiny hairs on the leaves and stem are actually needle-like tubes that inject chemicals onto and even into your skin. It will burn, itch, and maybe even cause a rash. The best thing you can do is NOT touch it. If you do, DON’T RUB IT!
- Chestnut burrs – these will be from the Chinese chestnut rather than the American chestnut that died in blight decades ago. Again, BAD to step on barefoot. Also, tricky to open the burrs with your hands without getting stuck. We pried them open with our well-shod feet.
- Wild parsnip – what looks like a friendly yellow flower has a photosensitive chemical on its leaves. Think chemical burn.
Still, I say it’s worth the risk to get out into the woods where I can enjoy the beauty of even prickly things.
Ouch!
We borrowed our friend’s goat this summer to clear some of our thorn and poison ivy riddled underbrush. Can you believe they even nibbled back the wild blackberry bush that was growing through the fence line? I was amazed by what they were willing to eat and how quickly they worked! The kids and I have already convinced our husband to let us buy two babies next spring.
~Amanda
We debated borrowing some goats to eat the poison ivy and honeysuckle growing on our fence, but knew they would also eat the hostas and shrubbery! If only we could train them to be selective . . . I’m going to need pictures of those babies!
Waders for the woods, perhaps?
Chaps maybe!
Machete, gloves, helmet—