TICKS
I'd like to see you out in the moonlight
I'd like to kiss you way back in the sticks
I'd like to walk you through a field of wildflowers
And I'd like to check you for ticks
Brad Paisley
Note: Nothing in this article should be construed to be medical advice. If this is a medical emergency, please hang up, and dial 9-1-1.
Ah, the Great Outdoors! So pleasant! So much fun!
So infested with ticks!
Ticks have always been around, but usually ignored or brushed off. Lately, either more people are doing wilderness thingies, or there are more ticks. The data is ambiguous about that. Yes, more people are doing outdoor things, and maybe, yes, there are more ticks. The testing labs report that they are getting more requests for testing for ticks. But whether that means there are more ticks, or that more people are aware of the dangers of ticks, we can’t tell.
We do know, that this year they discovered that more species of ticks have been found to carry Lyme disease, whereas it used to be that only deer ticks carried it. Ticks have been known to carry Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Encephalitis, Tick paralysis, Alpha-Gal Allergy, Babesiosis, Tularemia, and Anaplasmosis.
YIKES!
.
Many of these diseases take weeks or months for symptoms to become apparent. Some appear within a day or two. It usually takes a day or two for a tick to attach and begin sucking blood, so checking for and removing a tick within a day is usually sufficient to prevent any infection. Be aware that those suckers are TINY, tiny. The one we noticed on a trip was almost invisible from more than a foot away, and the victim only noticed it when he went to scratch it, and it was hard, and pulled his skin when he scratched at it. It was also at the waistband level of his underwear, on his back.
Barely visible tick on someone's back
Terry and I once sat down next to a small creek for lunch and watched as dozens of ticks came running from the surrounding woods towards us. Lunch was short that day. Sometimes when there are lots of ticks, they can look like a bee swarm.
The recommended method of removing a tick, is to use pointy ended tweezers to gently grab the tick just in back of the head (which is probably buried in your skin) and pull the tick out of your skin very gently. (NOTE TO SELF: CARRY POINTY ENDED TWEEZERS IN MY FIRST AID KIT!)
Trying to burn it with a match, or coat it with alcohol or Vaseline will just piss it off and try to make it bury itself deeper.
So, enjoy the outdoors, be careful! And after you get home, or when you go to bed in your tent, check for ticks! Maybe get a friend to help check you out for ticks!
See you On The Water!
Harmon