Ticks: A Conversation

“Lots of ticks this season.”

“Yeah, I think it’s ‘cause of all the rain we’ve had.”

"Might be all 'em damn dogs you got around yer house." 

“Maybe, but ya know, I’ve heard a tick can live twenty years, waiting for a warm-blooded something to jump on.”

“That's hard to believe.”

“They say one in a thousand carries the Spotted Fever.”

“Hard to figure what a tick is good fer, besides killin’.”

“And they ain’t that easy to kill at that.”

“Dropping ‘em in a jar of gasoline works and you can see ‘em pile up over time. I like that.”

“Yeah. We generally stick ‘em onto surgical tape – it keeps 'em from moving and soon smothers ‘em. I only wonder if they’ll outlive the tape.”

“One killed my Grandpa when I was a baby. Never had much use fer ‘em since.”

"Yep. They're won't be no ticks in my heaven."