HARVEST MITES

If you live in town you will probably never even have heard of harvest mites. I find them a plague, and the mite season has just begun.

Harvest mites live in long grass. In July and august their larvae climb up the grass stems, just waiting for a nice warm-blooded animal to pass by - then they jump on.

Once on they behave like lice, sucking blood where the skin is thin. And Fido reacts by scratching and biting the affected areas, usually the legs, toes, elbows and sometimes the base of the ears.
If you look you can see them - they look exactly like the red spider mites that afflict your plants. Tiny bright orange mites in clusters. They are unmistakeable.

Harvest mites are not a serious problem. They don`t carry disease. And they do NOT breed on the dog - they just hitch a ride and a meal for a few weeks, then drop off and mature into adults.

But some dogs can be allergic to them and develop serious irritation and crusty patches. If this happens, you can use Frontline spray - but remember that if they run over the same grass again they will be reinfested.