It used to be that you could go for a walk in the woods and not have to deal with ticks. Occasionally, you'd get a dog tick, but a dollop of Vaseline or a pair of tweezers solved the problem right quick. You'd hear stuff about Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, but no one I knew ever got it.
These days, I'm using DEET and Permethrin on my clothes, but I'm still having problems with ticks. Last night, I found one crawling on me after going on a hike with Craig, so I went into the bathroom and checked myself out. I had another attached on my shoulder and another attached on my armpit.
The thing is, the ticks are so small (Deer ticks) that they can't easily be spotted. And ticks have a natural anesthetic, so you can't feel them attacking you. Last year, I got Lyme. And the tick bites I got yesterday are swelling up. I'm pretty sure I'll get the bullseye rash and have to go in to the Walk-In Medical place to get another 4-week supply of Doxycycline.
When I was a kid romping around in the woods, this was never a widespread worry. What changed between the 70s and 80s and today that made this such a huge problem?
Posted by THespos at May 2, 2005 09:21 PM | TrackBackTom,
Ticks are a lot smarter now. (thanks to an article that was written, "Hang Out With Success" re/ proper places to attach to and catch those "geocachers".
.........or could it be "global warming"........
Dad
One word...Plum Island. Oh, OK, that's two, but since I had lyme back in Nam my cognitive functions have been a little out of wack... so cut me some slack.
Posted by: james at May 8, 2005 08:52 PMPulled one of the little bastards off my stomach after spending the day working in the yard. We've only seen dog ticks here, although we have plenty of deer.
The best thing to do, I think, is to avoid the outdoors altogether and stay inside and drink.
Posted by: Cousin Al at May 8, 2005 11:41 PM
All comments are property of the individual poster who left them. Everything else, copyright 2005, Tom Hespos