Most of the maple taps have been pulled. I just had one area to finish in a more remote part of the forest. As I worked I became reacquainted with a fiendish shrub for which I just learned a new name.
I've always simply called it "pricker bushes" but in this area, and maybe this is the correct term, it's called red brush. When the weather is too hot to wear heavy canvas clothing (78-degrees yesterday!), and you're wearing jeans and a t-shirt, it can make pulling taps a misery!
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It some areas it grows taller than my head. I have a scratch across my forehead to attest to that! As it grabs you it breaks off it's stickers into your clothing so that even if you pull yourself free, you still get a sharp point poking into you.
By the time I finished yesterday (and I couldn't finish pulling the taps - I called my husband and told him we needed to get in with a weed whacker to clear some paths) I looked like I'd been in a fight with a bobcat!
Red brush.... I think pricker bush is much more accurate.
Whoa....those are SOME prickers! Ouch.
ReplyDeleteWow, those are even worse than blackberry bushes.
ReplyDeleteThose are some NASTY looking thorns!
ReplyDelete