Know Your Enemy: Raspberry Cane Borer

He's an ugly little spud, isn't he?

I think he can hear you, Ray. 

Bad news: We've got raspberry cane borers in our raspberry patch. Michelle, in cleaning out the canes this Friday, found one of the little stinkers happily chewing away at a raspberry root.

Good news: We've got the insecticide for the stinkin' critters and I applied it today.

Even better news: It was a little windy when I applied it, so it's likely that I, myself, have achieved a bit of immunity against the raspberry cane borer.

And here's no surprise: In Kentucky, they're called red-necked cane borers. Haw haw haw.

All this is evidence that I could never be a farmer. I don't like finding critters in my produce, let alone critters eating the plants that produce my produce. Part of me really wishes, of course, that food did really come from the store, all packaged and neat and sprayed with those cute little automatic sprinklers that even add the little thunder and lightning effect as the water is sprayed. But alas, I know it is not meant to be.

So we work to combat the pests. Last year with the raspberries it was fungus, but to be fair we probably had the cane borers back then, too. They're ugly little critters, either grub or beetle. I wonder what it is with the beetle family that makes them like fruits and vegetables so much -- because we fight ugly little beetles in our tomatoes as well. I won't even grow potatoes because we always get the potato beetle; it's like they're prepackaged with the seed potatoes or something.