Molnar: A Tick Lament

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(Host) We can avoid Lyme disease, we’re told. But commentator Martha
Molnar, a public relations and freelance writer who moved to Vermont in
2008, wonders if we really can.

(Molnar) We’ve been warned.

Lyme disease is on the rise. And this year’s early spring means an earlier infestation of the ticks that cause the disease.

The
warnings are accompanied by precautions I read from beginning to end,
but even though I have every intention of following each and every one
of them to the letter – as everyone should – I have to confess that more
often than not – I don’t.

Trouble is, even though I don’t WANT
to get Lyme disease, these precautions conflict with enjoying the
outdoors that starts at my door, and brought us here in the first place.

The first warning says: avoid wooded, brushy areas and long-grass. But that’s everything beyond the driveway or the lawn.

Place
wood chips or gravel between lawns and wooded or high grass areas. At
my house, this would be a huge and expensive job, and then what? Not
cross that barrier?

Actually, it’s ok to cross, but only when
wearing long pants, long sleeves and socks, with the pants tucked inside
the socks. But it’s hard to imagine doing this every time I go outside
and not feeling the sun on my skin or the silky grass between my toes –
especially in July and August.

I could, as another suggestion
goes, use insect repellants laced with at least 30 percent DEET. Plus
clothing treated with permethryn. But that would mean being slathered
with chemicals from morning to late evening, for months at a time –
every year.

Doing outside activities like gardening without
being properly clothed and sprayed is another no-no. But like anyone who
gardens, I can’t resist yanking at stray weeds or snapping off spent
blooms whenever I’m outside. And I’m not likely to run inside to suit-up
first.

The final measure is the easiest to follow. Take a
shower within two hours of coming indoors, accompanied by a thorough
inspection of all the exposed and hidden body areas. But this is only
easy relative to the other measures, because living so close to nature
means I’m in and out all day long. I shudder to think how many showers
and inspections this would take – in just one summer day.

In a
city or suburb, it would be easier to heed the precautions. But here,
the whole outdoors is a threat. So what’s an outdoor-lover to do?

Well,
I’ve found a clever tick remover that I intend to use instead of the
old pair of tweezers. And since only a minority of bites lead to Lyme
disease, I’m hoping my luck will hold for at least another summer, and
maybe beyond.

But there’s one bit of prevention I just heard
about that sounds intriguing. It’s simple, organic and involves
domesticated guineafowl, who have a particular fondness for ticks. So
now all I have to do is find some guineafowl, get rid of our nearby
foxes, and convince my husband to become a guineafowl farmer.

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