Ticks – a Geocacher’s Bane

Rumor has it that 2014 will not be a bad year for ticks.  It has something to do with late frosts in 2013 and a tick’s 2-year life cycle.  Plus the extreme cold this Winter.  Either way, it’s best to stay cautious.  TaGeez and I have spent a lot of time in the woods already.

A friend posted on Facebook a remedy for removing ticks involving dish soap and cotton swabs.  Unfortunately, another friend immediately debunked it using Snopes.com as a reference.

Reaching out to that second friend, Ben of theGrundalows, he said, “The ONLY way to safely remove a tick is tweezers at the mouthparts/your own skin and pull.”  He also advised, “Do not remove a tick in any way that will kill/injure the tick in the process.  If you do, it is more likely the tick with spew its nasty diseases into your bloodstream.” I trust Ben’s knowledge in this area – he and Amanda are hikers and spend a great deal of time outdoors.

Scary, right?  I’ve come across ticks twice – one embedded in my cat’s eyelid (I cried the whole time I was tweezing it out) and one on myself (discovered during a shower).  I screamed (and almost took out the shower curtain) as I scrambled to get it off.  This year I bought myself and TaGeez a Tick Key – we’re carrying them in our special essentials kits I mentioned back in October.

I must remember to pack it when I head off to Beverly GC28 this month.  Brad Paisley’s song, Ticks, is cute but the real thing is not.