Tick Time in the "Toolies"

By G. George Ostrom

Spring brings wonderful things to Montana, flowers. Green grass, and baby animals…

But it also has at least one drawback. Among many columns I've written about this subject, the one done twenty years ago (May 4, 1988) may say it best…

What bad brown bug is the size of a match head and hatches out by the billions every spring? Yes! It is wood tick time and last Thursday the "Over the Hill Gang" collected them off their bodies by the dozens. We were climbing Mt. Shields. From the minute we left the cars, my companions began griping about ticks. We climbed 2000 feet above the road and even found them at snowline.

Back at our rigs changing clothes, the tick collecting began in earnest and everyone found several… with one exception. During the entire hike, I had not found any of those little buggers on me. Saw them on the rocks, grass, and other hikers, but not one on my personal body. An inadvertent disclosure of this fact started what I considered a highly personal discussion, which reached its low point when some of those present began implying a person whom the ticks shunned might have something wrong with him.

Spence Ryder said, "I know ticks get on any living thing, like people, elk, gophers, and even skunks." Hank Good added, "that's right, and they will also feed on ripe carrion." Doc Gibson made an unnecessary summation. " As a general rule, there is no animal tissue so repulsive as to cause wood ticks to avoid it,"

Didn't care for this conversation and suggested." There could well be a few living things so squeaky clean and nice smelling that ticks just don't like 'em." This observation caused snickerings. Couldn't help feeling a bit inferior as we drove home. Most well adjusted people dislike being completely left out of their peer's social activities, even if it is picking off wood ticks. Iris seemed uninterested in my dilemma but gave me hope by saying I should shake my clothes out in the garage.

During my shower, I discovered a small moving thing on my head where I wore a sweatband. Ran out to the living room, triumphantly holding it in my fingers, " Look Honey! I'm one of the boys." Iris glanced up from her book. "Well for heavens sake. You don't have to run around naked to prove you're one of the boys. People could probably tell just as well by your mustache." Iris, don't be funny. See what I've got, a wood tick, likely one of above average intelligence. Out of all the people in the world, it picked me,"

"I think that is wonderful Honey, It's nice to see you pleased by things that don't cost money. Now, go flush the bug and finish your shower. Then if it will make you feel better, you can call your friends and report you are just as icky as they are,"

Iris is not what you'd call an outdoors person.

Talked by phone to Doctor Tom Swan, a tick expert at the Rocky Mountain Laboratory in Hamilton. He gave me the following information:

(A) - There has never been a reported human case of Rocky Mountain Spotted (Tick) Fever in Montana north of St. Ignatius.

(B) - A llama on a ranch near Kila died April 26th of tick induced paralysis.

(C) - There was only one human case of tick fever reported in the state last year (1987)

(D)- The disease was much more prevalent around the turn of the century, which caused the creation of the Hamilton lab.

(E) - Less than 5 percent of ticks are believed to be carriers; however a new test is now being conducted on 600 recently collected specimens.

(F) - Many states have worse problems with the ticks than Montana, Oklahoma being hardest hit, but the disease was first isolated and identified in this state.

(G) - Best method for removing an attached tick is with tweezers grasping the tick as close to the skin as possible and pulling steadily but slowly. Dr. Swan disapproves of using turpentine, Vaseline, Cigarettes, or whatever.

(H) - Though very rare, bodily fluids from ticks have gotten on fingers and then transmitted the disease when rubbed against an eye, mouth, or cut.