Ticks are nasty little buggers. Actually, they are arachnids, not bugs at all, with eight creepy little legs. Some ticks are bigger than others — seed ticks are teeny tiny, while deer ticks are a little bigger. They all make us cringe!
Sometimes we discover ticks on us while we’re in the field, which is preferred because that usually means we’ve found them before they’ve had time to imbed themselves into our bodies! Every so often though, a few hours after leaving the woods (or even a day or two later) we’ll feel a little itch… and there it is, a damn tick! How did we miss it?? We always do a tick check, afterall! Those things are just plain devious.
Last time I found a tick on me, I was driving to work and felt something on my head… it was an imbedded tick! I pulled it out immediately! I know they say to light a match on its butt or use nail polish and this and that, but after all these years of getting ticks, I’ve found all of that to be a major pain. The first time I was covered in ticks was after a visit to Ocala National Forest (that place is wrought with them). I immediately went to the doctor, and this is what he told me: 1) It’s rare to get Lyme disease in Florida. 2) A tick has to be imbedded for at least 24 hours to transfer the disease. 3) There is no way to actually test for Lyme disease, it’s just based off of symptoms (flu-like ones such as dizziness, headaches, fever, sore throat, joint pain) and the level of probability that you could have contracted the disease based on answers to a questionnaire.
So I was sent home, Lyme disease free (supposedly!). Ever since then, I haven’t worried too much about it and have learned to embrace being a CHICK WITH TICKS!!
Imagine working in a crystal clear spring run all day – staring at beautiful fish swimming serenely under the surface of the water….getting back to the motel room and discovering that YOU HAVE TICKS….makes you feel icky! Then I feel like I have them for days….
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gulrotkake appelsin Seriously? I’d rather eat some gulrotkake appelsin instead of this. I know you can do better 🙂
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You know we have to take the good with the bad! That includes comments….thanks for your input. Maybe we would be better after consuiming gulrotake appelsin!! Come on – get off some and send it right away!
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Ticks are such a fact of life in the Ozarks. I just pick them off and keep on going. Scotch tape is the go-to for the seed ticks so small as to be nearly invisible.
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Luckily we have wood ticks here. Bet you guys have deer ticks! Big difference in the consequences! Share some fun field stories!!! Thanks for being here with us –
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