Funny thing about ticks, they're just butt-ugly, bulldog mosquitos. What's the difference?
Ticks are a HUGE problem here in the east as deer populations have exploded (a by-product of the "can't kill anything because it's mean" line of thinking). I've been bitten hundreds of times, sometimes dozens of times at once--while collecting trees late in the season. Deer ticks are carried by deer and mice. They're everywhere. I have ticks in the azaleas in the front yard. In the
east, they carry Lyme Disease, babesiosis, Tuleremia, Rocky Moutain spotted fever, erlichiosis and a few other nasty things.
I grew up in rural areas in the 60's and 70's. I never had the problem with ticks in those environments that I do in this suburban/metropolitan area now. The issue is relatively new and has grown as suburban areas have grown and deer found a new refuge.
I've been lucky enough not to have contracted Lyme or any of the other crap--very lucky. My dog got blood poisoning from a single tick bite that damn near killed him.
If they allowed thinning of the deer population in this area, things might be different, but people become irrational when you talk about killing deer, even when the top five causes of automobile accidents in this county are deer collisions. There is a theory that Va. has the most black vultures in the U.S. because of all the roadkilled deer.
Yeah, nature can kill you, but it's most likely to come from the 120 lb antlered animal coming through your windshield. How lyrical and picturesque.
What's more humane? Being hunted (as deer are a prey animal) or winding up as emaciated tick food stuck to the front of a smashed-in Volvo?
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