I never knew that picking blackberries could be such an adventure!  Of course there’s the blackberries themselves.  The bush has thorns everywhere.  Even the underside of the leaves have thorns.  In our area we also have stinging nettle plants.  Through bitter (itchy) expedience I’ve learned to avoid them.

There are also HUGE spiders that build their webs in front of the berries to as to better catch bugs and berry pickers.

Today there was added excitement.  I discovered the skeleton of a snake in the berry bushes.  The skeleton of a snake . . . it doesn’t get any creepier than that!

Or does it?  As I was examining my curly friend here, I happened to glance up into the trees.

What the heck?  It turned out to be a bee hive that looks straight out of a science fiction movie.  Shudder!