The untold dangers of gardening ....

[Amethyst]

I am in the midst of that process right now. Found a tick so small I couldn't even see him, but I saw the red, pinched-up skin and knew something had to be chewing on me. Got the magnifying glasses and the tweezers and ripped it out...now we wait. There's a little red spot. If it turns into a bulls-eye, off to the Dr.

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Originally Posted by harley . I've had ticks on me approximately a zillion times. I just pull them off and if they were latched on I keep an eye on the spot for a few days..

[JoeWras]

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Originally Posted by Amethyst I am in the midst of that process right now. Found a tick so small I couldn't even see him, but I saw the red, pinched-up skin and knew something had to be chewing on me. Got the magnifying glasses and the tweezers and ripped it out...now we wait. There's a little red spot. If it turns into a bulls-eye, off to the Dr.

Check your temperature too. Sometimes the rash doesn't happen. I know my "normal" waking temperature (which is about 97.3) and made sure it didn't differ from that for a while.

And of course, any joint pain, etc. You don't always get the rash.

You do live in a Lyme area, and they say the little ones are the typical vector, so just watch it for a while.

[bjorn2bwild]

This is what the CDC says about the transmission of Lyme disease (my bold) -

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The Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, is spread through the bite of infected ticks. The blacklegged tick (or deer tick, Ixodes scapularis) spreads the disease in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north-central United States. The western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) spreads the disease on the Pacific Coast. Ticks can attach to any part of the human body but are often found in hard-to-see areas such as the groin, armpits, and scalp. In most cases, the tick must be attached for 36 to 48 hours or more before the Lyme disease bacterium can be transmitted. Most humans are infected through the bites of immature ticks called nymphs. Nymphs are tiny (less than 2 mm) and difficult to see; they feed during the spring and summer months. Adult ticks can also transmit Lyme disease bacteria, but they are much larger and are more likely to be discovered and removed before they have had time to transmit the bacteria. Adult Ixodes ticks are most active during the cooler months of the year.

[audreyh1]

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Originally Posted by travelover That may be true, but running a lawn mower over a yellow jacket nest gets your attention.

How about starting the lawnmower and then realizing the yellow jackets are in the engine?

[W2R]

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Originally Posted by MissMolly Why would he kill the poor little lizards? They eat the bugs. Lizards are cute.

I agree completely! In Hawaii, geckos were (are?) even a traditional housewarming gift that I have given or received many times. I told him about all that, but he is just that way about little creepy-crawly critters.

[MRG]

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Originally Posted by Rianne By the way, the one animal that kills more people than any animal on earth is the mosquito. I'm not even afraid of a tarantula, for the most part they are harmless. I work in the forest preserves so bugs are my friends. Spiders eat mosquitos and decomposers turn dead vegetation back to dirt. It's all good, except for those ticks and mosquitoes.

A buddy went to Africa and was told no need to take Malaria preventive as he wasn't going out in the bush. He came home to the US with a fever, saw his doctor who had no idea why he had a fever, but it went away.

Few years later he was told he was probably dying from advanced HIV/AIDS or liver cancer, they had no idea. Finally when those were ruled out his KC doc was stumped. Thankfully they sent him to a doctor who was not trained in the US, who quickly knew it was Malaria.

[audreyh1]

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Originally Posted by MRG A buddy went to Africa and was told no need to take Malaria preventive as he wasn't going out in the bush. He came home to the US with a fever, saw his doctor who had no idea why he had a fever, but it went away. Few years later he was told he was probably dying from advanced HIV/AIDS or liver cancer, they had no idea. Finally when those were ruled out his KC doc was stumped. Thankfully they sent him to a doctor who was not trained in the US, who quickly knew it was Malaria.

Wow, amazing the misdiagnosis. My sister suffered from malaria, so I don’t think I’d miss it.

[travelover]

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Originally Posted by audreyh1 How about starting the lawnmower and then realizing the yellow jackets are in the engine?

Yikes!

[Rianne]

I work with kids, kindergarten to 7th grade and teachers. We take them through prairies and forests. We talk about the European immigration into the Americas and how that changed prairies and forests, the ecosystems and so on. Nothing negative, just a historical account of the change from American Indians to now.

I'm amazed at how kids and teachers are scared to go on this field trip. One teacher asked to hold my hand. Are there bugs? Are there animals? Will a snake bite me? I have to reassure them animals and snakes are afraid of people unless they're threatened. So don't corner a snake or try to play with it or step on it. Bees will not bother you if you're still and act normally. Of course, a teacher and 3 kids saw a few bees and started screaming and waving hands like a monster was attacking them. I told them be still. They did not listen and got stung. We bring a backpack with medical stuff and all was ok.

There is nothing more beautiful than an orb-weaver spider, especially the bright colored ones catching bugs. Their webs are fascinating. I have sedum plants in my yard and the bee population is enormous in the fall. Coolest thing ever! Look close and a city emerges, busy and populated.

I fear humans will end up creating an earth of farms and humans. Our ecosystems are disastrous. Nothing political here, we just want perfect lawns, perfect fruit (no bruising), bug free farms, weed free crops and perfectly manicured forests. We have no idea what we're doing. And don't get me started about the oceans.

[Ronstar]

Used to get ticks on a daily basis. Had them surgically removed from armpit and navel. Now I spray deet and haven't had a tick in a while. Now poison ivy is my biggest nemesis. Plus a few bee stings. Have spiders, snakes, possums, raccoons, moles, gophers and a lot of other harmless critters. Deer are harmless to me, but eat almost every plant I have.

[Mdlerth]

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Originally Posted by Rianne I fear humans will end up creating an earth of farms and humans. Our ecosystems are disastrous. Nothing political here, we just want perfect lawns, perfect fruit (no bruising), bug free farms, weed free crops and perfectly manicured forests. We have no idea what we're doing.

I can't promise you exactly what will happen in the future, but I think your fears are unfounded. All technologies start out crude but become more sophisticated over time. Why should we expect it to be otherwise?

In the early 90s, my DW had a cell phone the size of a purse which did nothing but place and answer calls. Her current cell phone, barely larger than a deck of cards, is already more advanced than a Star Trek communicator.

In my lifetime I've seen similar advances in autos, appliances, aircraft, manufacturing and medicine. Also craft beer, but that's a topic all its own!

Fundamental agricultural science is still in its infancy; in a hundred years it will be safer, more efficient, and more integrated with natural processes than any of us can imagine today. And a hundred years after that, it will be unrecognizably advanced.

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And don't get me started about the oceans.

When I was a kid, I was captivated watching The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. Certainly JC was as huge an advocate for respecting our oceans as anybody. But toward the end of his life, he looked back on his early work and apologized that it was so primitive.

I don't mean to disparage Cousteau. It's inevitable that we know more now than he did then. And we wouldn't know what we know today without his early work. A long time from now, 22nd century folks will consider us absurdly primitive. And later on, 23rd century people will wonder what those quaint, ignorant 22nd-ers were thinking. Et cetera.

[JoeWras]

I'm optimistic.

Growing up in the city, the place was a desert. Very little lived except for gray squirrels, sparrows, rats and mosquitoes. Even the mosquitoes had problems due the aerial carpet bombing. Probably DDT!

The good news is we had no bedbugs.

The bad news is we had very little life outside. My friends and I would love the occasional grasshopper we found to death. Everything was sprayed. If a tree grew, cut it! Pave it! Rat holes were fumigated with cyanide. Really, no joke. The lake (Michigan) was deader than dead. Rivers were channeled into concrete. Sewage was barely treated, and during rains, caused emergency backflow into the dead lake. Warnings were issued for fecal grease balls (the actual words used). Don't swim.

We've come a long way since then. I'm not saying it is perfect. I'm just saying I have a bit more optimism.

But dang, now that we have deer in the city, we have ticks! No DDT, so bedbugs! Can't win!

[Rianne]

One tick tidbit, they inject a sort of anesthesia. And they're so dang tiny. So you don't feel them and good luck seeing them. I have so many moles and tiny red spots, I could freak myself out every time I look the for the critters. They walk right over deet, it does not kill them, until they find what they are looking for. They don't like a ton of sun. They prefer woodsy areas but I'm cautious anywhere there's tall grass. They do not jump out of trees, they crawl up. My bullseye rash was on my arm, which means he found his way crawling up my body.

[Choices]

I went to the outdoor store to buy some clothing permiated with safe anti- bug stuff, got a rash on the inside of my wrist just from carrying the shirt from the dressing room to checkout. Don’t know what I am going to do.
As a kid ran through the palmetto thickets near my FL home, learned to avoid certain snakes. Anything more or less harmless, we could capture and keep in a mayonnaise jar. I do hate roaches though. And just so you know, palmetto bugs are roaches!

[JoeWras]

After a good DEET soaking last Saturday, I think I'm still feeling some poison. Or maybe just getting old. So as an alternative, I'm thinking of screen pants. Anyone use anything like this? This brand is Bug Bafflers, but I think there are others. I wonder if these work?

[Rianne]

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Originally Posted by Mdlerth I can't promise you exactly what will happen in the future, but I think your fears are unfounded. All technologies start out crude but become more sophisticated over time. Why should we expect it to be otherwise? In the early 90s, my DW had a cell phone the size of a purse which did nothing but place and answer calls. Her current cell phone, barely larger than a deck of cards, is already more advanced than a Star Trek communicator. In my lifetime I've seen similar advances in autos, appliances, aircraft, manufacturing and medicine. Also craft beer, but that's a topic all its own! Fundamental agricultural science is still in its infancy; in a hundred years it will be safer, more efficient, and more integrated with natural processes than any of us can imagine today. And a hundred years after that, it will be unrecognizably advanced. When I was a kid, I was captivated watching The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. Certainly JC was as huge an advocate for respecting our oceans as anybody. But toward the end of his life, he looked back on his early work and apologized that it was so primitive. I don't mean to disparage Cousteau. It's inevitable that we know more now than he did then. And we wouldn't know what we know today without his early work. A long time from now, 22nd century folks will consider us absurdly primitive. And later on, 23rd century people will wonder what those quaint, ignorant 22nd-ers were thinking. Et cetera.

Yes, that’s true. All technological advances are helpful, but they are profit driven. It’s all about money. There is no profit in preserving the diversity of our planet, plants, bugs, animals and so on. It’s easier to tear down rain forests to plant palm trees for palm oil, to bulldoze prairies and forests to build houses for profit. Technology also created plastics and pesticides.

[Winemaker]

^^
Didn't Barbara Eden have a pair of these pants?

[travelover]

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Originally Posted by Winemaker ^^ Didn't Barbara Eden have a pair of these pants?

Like this?

[JoeWras]

Wow! They are the same. Just no pink color! I guess Jeanie didn't have to worry about ticks.

[Amethyst]

Jeanie was so adorable! I just loved watching her when I was little.

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Originally Posted by travelover Like this?