Growing up in the woods (I was raised by tree frogs), ticks were part of everyday life during the summer. I remember getting dozens of ticks each summer. At least one a day, probably. I became the master of removing them and it was really no big deal.
Fast forward to post-college life in Virginia. I’m no longer living in the woods and I go ten years with maybe one or two ticks.
Then comes this year. This year, I’ve already pulled six off of me (five just yesterday!) and found three others walking around our house like they owned the place. There’s no doubt they’re increasing around here. They’re still no big deal since they’ve all been Lone Star Ticks (the ones with the white dot on their back… they don’t spread Lyme Disease), but they’re definitely a bit of an annoyance. Especially when you try to pluck one off of your back at an odd angle at 4am and end up leaving the head embedded requiring a trip to the doctor to dig it out and that doctor then charges $150 for 3 minutes of their time. Not that that happened to me or anything.
It always amazes me when people tell me that they’ve never had a tick. My grandmother was one who, despite living in New Jersey (albeit at the shore), never had one during her entire life.
Posted in Everyday Life
Paul June 8, 2011, 8:14 am
Those tree frogs did an excellent job, old chap!
Ticks are something I did encounter a bit growing up, but not often. Definitely not in the quantities you’re used to; maybe just a few.