Monday, May 7, 2007

Beware The Ticks, It Looks To Be A Bad Year

No, I'm not talking about Montpelier, but real ticks, the black legged kind. Deer ticks, wood ticks, the kind that carry lyme disease. Had my first one of the year on my back the other day. Got lucky and the fiance saw it when I was changing shirts. Also heard of some kids getting into some. Never known them to be a problem so early.

So here's another tidbit, the state has tested ticks around the state. Something like 26% of the ticks around Bennington tested positives for carrying disease. The hotspot is Butler island on lake champlain. Privately owned, but 49% of the ticks tested positive. I would imagine nearby areas are pretty bad too. Apparently the worst place on the island was this guys garden of lilies.

Be vigilant and check yourselves after any trip into field or forest. Your best chance is to remove the tick within 24-36 hours before the spirochete is transferred into the wound. After that the risk of contracting lyme disease goes up. Check the state health department website for more info, and your doctor. Especially if the bite area begins to look like a bullseye.

4 comments:

J.D. Ryan said...

Hey, I just noticed you're back. That's great, I'll be stopping by much more now.

I've been living at my present location in the woods for 6 years and have yet to even find a tick on me, surprisingly enough. If VT gets like CT with the lymes disease, we are sooooo screwed.

BTW, if you get a chance, I moverd Five Before Chaos to http://ww.fivebeforechaos.com, so if you could be so gracios as to update your blogroll, that would be super.

Welcome back...

J.D. Ryan said...

oops, that shood be three w's in that last post, not two. My bad.

REDNALSI said...

Updated. Yeah, couldn't really stay away, can't really sit at the computer all day either. Just post when I get a chance I guess.

REDNALSI said...

By the way, had fun coming up with captions for the Bush pic on FBC the other day. It was kind of too easy......