{"id":1062,"date":"2018-05-20T00:40:51","date_gmt":"2018-05-20T04:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1062"},"modified":"2018-10-28T14:02:20","modified_gmt":"2018-10-28T18:02:20","slug":"ticks-infection-and-obsolesense-alan-skeoch-may-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=1062","title":{"rendered":"TICKS, INFECTION AND OBSOLESENSE alan skeoch May 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FEAR STARTED IN OUR RHUBARB PATCH:<\/div>\n
(This is not a funny story\u2026a warning story on dangers of infection)<\/div>\n
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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
May 2018<\/div>\n
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\u201cMarjorie, I love springtime when \u00a0our slice of the world \u00a0turns green\u2026bursting green in all shades.”<\/div>\n
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\u201cRhubarb is in season Alan\u2026in the back field.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou pick it while I try to get the tractor started to plow, OK?\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cIs the back field plowed?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNope, couldn\u2019t do the plowing last fall\u2026tractor wouldn\u2019t start\u2026dirt in the sediment bowl.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI can get to the rhubarb through the weeds, no problem.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMaybe make a Rhubarb pie? \u00a0Love that.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDepends \u00a0on the amount of rhubarb back there.\u201d<\/div>\n
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And that is how the day began\u2026anticipation of a \u00a0rhubarb pie.<\/div>\n
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\u201cNice red \u00a0Rhubarb thrusting up among the weed \u00a0growth.”<\/div>\n
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\u201cAny sign of deer in the back field?”<\/div>\n
\u201cSaw lots \u00a0of deer tracks, yes.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNice to know they survived the winter.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI guess they don\u2019t like \u00a0rhubarb for it is never eaten\u2026leaves are toxic\u2026stems \u00a0are sweet.”<\/div>\n
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\u201cAlan, \u00a0I found \u00a0four black dots on my leg\u2026could they be ticks? \u00a0Apparently \u00a0lots \u00a0of ticks around\u2026deer ticks.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat did you do about it?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cScrubbed my skin\u2026the black \u00a0dots were under the skin\u2026cut my way to them. \u00a0Could they be ticks?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDid you keep the little specks?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cN0, they just dropped \u00a0off\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat did you do to the wound?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLathered cut with Hydrogen peroxide\u2026burned the skin, I think\u2026looks awful.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIf those specks were ticks they never had \u00a0a chance to latch on and \u00a0suck \u00a0blood, right?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u2018Not sure, but the wound is open and seems infected\u2026red spreading.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat do you want to do?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGo to the hospital, I think.\u201d<\/div>\n
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So we spent the evening and early morning of May 14\/15. 2018 at Mississauga Hospital where a doctor<\/div>\n
drew a large oblong circle around the infection and prescribed some heavy antibiotics. \u00a0Certainly a bad<\/div>\n
infection but we could not be \u00a0sure if black legged ticks had\u2026shudder\u2026done the damage\u2026better \u00a0safe than sorry…<\/div>\n
Marjorie \u00a0got the specks early\u2026tiny \u2026got them, if indeed they were ticks\u2026got them before they began<\/div>\n
to suck blood. \u00a0Of course \u00a0the specks could just be specks of dirt. \u00a0We could \u00a0not be sure. \u00a0Infection<\/div>\n
set in and that was for sure.<\/div>\n
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\"A\"Fleas,<\/div>\n
Ticks \u00a0hang on blades of grass waiting for a red blooded host to pass by. \u00a0Just takes an instant for their<\/div>\n
sharp little legs to grab hold. \u00a0 Deer, dogs, sheep, even snakes are possible hosts\u2026as \u00a0are human beings.<\/div>\n
Once \u00a0they take hold \u00a0and start to dig their gut expands as it fills with blood. \u00a0No pain\u2026no warning.<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/div>\n
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Eventually the tick is satiated and drops off. \u00a0Blood \u00a0fed female ticks then start the life cycle again.<\/div>\n
These pictures of ticks were not taken by us\u2026the full blown tick below was NOT on Marjorie.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe will send \u00a0a nurse around to change the dressing every three days. \u00a0Maybe you should also get a dose of antibiotics<\/div>\n
via an IV system. \u00a0Necessary if the infection gets \u00a0worse.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWill a \u00a0nurse come to our house?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYes, tomorrow, but first a kit will arrive by parcel post.”<\/div>\n
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\u201cBeautiful early spring day when all is green and laced with fog.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Marjorie\u2019s terror came suddenly\u2026Were those specks, tiny black specks,\u2026were they those blood \u00a0sucking devils called \u00a0black \u00a0legged ticks? \u00a0We never knew the answer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Two nurses arrived the next day with special \u00a0dressings to inhibit infection. \u00a0By then the infection had reduced somewhat but it was still there.<\/div>\n
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\u201cYou alerted us early. \u00a0The infection seems under \u00a0control.”<\/div>\n
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HUGE MACHINES TO BURY TINY TICKS<\/div>\n
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\u201cMarjorie, I must plow that field. \u00a0If ticks are present I want to bury them.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThen do it\u2026stop talking about it.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTractor won\u2019t go.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cToo old, Alan\u2026you said it was \u00a0new in \u00a01953, that\u2019s 65 years \u00a0ago.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNot as \u00a0old \u00a0as ticks\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHow long have ticks been around?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201c90 million years according to the Internet.:’<\/div>\n
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Our International W6 tractor sits in the field as immobile as the rock in the foreground.<\/div>\n
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Then Andrew arrived with something new\u2026a cultivator that fitted on to the Bobcat.<\/div>\n
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He did \u00a0all this \u00a0in less \u00a0than one hour\u2026a smooth seed bed .<\/div>\n
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I \u00a0wonder if drag plows can cry? \u00a0 Mine seems to be crying or is it me?<\/div>\n
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\u201cDamn Killjoy. \u00a0For half a century I have spent a few days \u00a0pulling this ring on my drag plow\u2026raising and \u00a0lowering the moldboards with a delicious soul satisfying mechanical noise each time. \u00a0Takes \u00a0me a day to plow<\/div>\n
this \u00a0tiny field. \u00a0 Andrew \u00a0did \u00a0the whole field in an hour in spite of the stones.. \u00a0 Now in the twinkling of an eye all the machines \u00a0I have gathered \u00a0over my lifetime are obsolete pieces of \u00a0scrap iron.<\/div>\n
Progress \u00a0is not a pretty thing. \u00a0 I suppose any ticks present \u00a0would agree with me since they are now buried in shallow graves..But Dead \u00a0ticks cannot speak. \u00a0Dead ticks tell no tales. \u00a0But who knows if they were there?<\/div>\n
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My pile of finishing harrows\u2026designed to level the seed bed \u00a0after plowing\u2026are now just field hazards for hikers.<\/div>\n
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The same goes for both versions of spring tooth harrows. \u00a0When I bought the big one on the right it took four men to load it onto my little trailer\u2026nearly blew the<\/div>\n
tires getting it here. \u00a0Now it is \u00a0being overgrown with creeping plants\u2026nice for ticks. \u00a0Is that the bum of a deer in the upper corner?<\/div>\n
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\u201cMarjorie, the rhubarb is easy to get now\u2026no more weeds \u00a0with ticks\u2026if, indeed, there were ticks \u00a0here.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cFine time to tell me, Alan, \u2026now I\u2019m taking heavy dose of antibiotics.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIs the infection any different?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNot as \u00a0bad\u2026has \u00a0not gone beyond the marks the doctor put on my leg.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNot as red\u2026but not pretty either.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe swamp looks beautiful today. Framed by low hanging branches \u00a0and new weed growth.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSomehow that is not comforting any more.\u201d<\/div>\n
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\u201cAlan, what about the dogs?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat about them, they are snoozing on the back porch.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWere they with you and Andrew in the back field?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSure.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThen, they have to be checked for ticks.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRoll over \u00a0Woody, let me look at your gut\u2026clear \u2026 no ticks that I can see.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWand \u00a0Faila?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSame\u2026clean.”<\/div>\n
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\u201cMarjorie, the place is still enjoyable\u2026trails and \u00a0swamps, fields and streams\u2026.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cEasy for you to say, you are not on antibiotics.\u201d<\/div>\n
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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
May 2018<\/div>\n
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Note: \u00a0We are not sure that ticks caused the infection\u2026but Toronto Star warned us this week that ticks have become a serous problem in Ontario.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FEAR STARTED IN OUR RHUBARB PATCH: (This is not a funny story\u2026a warning story on dangers of infection) alan skeoch May 2018 \u201cMarjorie, I love springtime when \u00a0our slice of the world \u00a0turns green\u2026bursting green in all shades.” \u201cRhubarb is in season Alan\u2026in the back field.\u201d \u201cYou pick it while I try to get the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1656,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062\/revisions\/1656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}