Ticks are spreading, and down in the article, you guessed it, the cause is speculated to be global warming aka climate change.
From CBS in Charlotte, worry over a one year increase. Excerpts:
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — In the trees and grasses of the South, there are a growing number of unwanted visitors that at best are an itchy nuisance and at worst can carry debilitating diseases: Ticks.
Public health officials say that numbers of reported cases of diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are not yet alarming and have not yet shown a definitive trend upward from a national perspective.
…
“Ticks are spreading, but usually not like wildfire,” said Joseph Piseman, chief of tickborne disease activity for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The spread is kind of slow but sure.”
…
The Lone Star tick carries a flu-like infection, and Apperson said the main reason for its emergence in the region is a larger population of deer for it to feed upon. Scientists aren’t so sure about why other species are invading, however.
…
For the most part, scientists are not yet examining why the populations have been spreading, said entomologist Bruce A. Harrison, who studied ticks for the state of North Carolina for nearly 20 years. He hypothesized it may be at least in part caused by climate change. As temperatures change, animals that are food for ticks migrate — often because the plants they eat are now growing elsewhere.
…
While the CDC hasn’t reported a spike in tick-borne diseases, officials in North Carolina have noticed an increase this year compared to a year earlier. Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases are up 50 percent this year, said state public health veterinarian Carl Williams. And while there typically wasn’t a single positive Lyme disease test 10 years ago, now there are a few each year, Mekeel said.
Full story: http://charlotte.cbslocal.com/2012/05/28/new-species-of-ticks-spreading-disease-across-southeast/
=============================================================
Like with tornadoes, we now have doppler radar, and storm chasers and live reporting, now that we have a national database for Lyme disease and constant reminders in the news, is it any wonder there is an increase in cases?
Story submitted by WUWT reader George Ellis
Living in Missouri for the past decade has taught me to view trees and tall grass as nothing more than places to get ticks on you. And from my experience the ticks are much worse in Mid Missouri than they are in South Georgia which is much warmer year round.
@Joachim Seifert
Since I’m basically a first time commenter, I will not sully this fine blog with what I’d really like to say. But I will drop a little avian knowledge on you. Birds generally fall into two different categories, protein feeders (bugs) and seed/plant feeders. The majority of waterfowl and upland game birds do not eat ticks. Yes some birds are opportunistic feeders, but most stick to one or the other. I only know of one who is a bane to all insects, especially ticks. It is the Guinea hen. Those birds are relentless tick slayers. They are very coveted by livestock owners all over Oklahoma. I now think that most people who own guineas now put up bat-boxes to keep another pest population in check.. mosquitoes.
As for your attitude on bird/boar hunters, I have a sneaking suspicion you have never witnessed a hunt in your life. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
There is a huge variety of little singing birds with a sharp peek getting
the smalles worm and bad crawling creature off the leafs….
…. You can admire the birds finely laid out on large dishes in autumn
in Italian cuisines…. small/medium/large wood birds… Nobody cares
about PROTEINS or too many little bones…..all great tasting with Lambrusco….
Its all delicious… and if there are non in your neigbourhood, then
they were cleaned out long ago as the typical “American” wood walking
turkey….
JS
@Joachim Seifert
Waterfowl do not keep tick populations in check. Most ducks and upland game birds are not much for protein diets.
I would wager you have never witnessed a hunt of any kind in your life.
We did not talk about swimming water ticks…nothing said about water fowls…..
We talk about walking wood birds as the the forest hen and rooster, etc……
To hunt witness: As soon as the hunting season at my place in Spain
starts (end of Aug), EVERY weekend is filled with gunshots (rabbits
mainly) just down the road, 100 yards away, starting Sats, Suns very early
in the morning [to greet me?] as long as I can remember…..and in many
occations I collected the shotgun particles after they having plunked on
my rooftop…
So much to hunting….these guys take fun in shooting with shotguns
rather MORE then LESS as necessary…I need no lessons….
JS
Colorful birds? Hanging from their belts? I’ve hunted since I was a teenager in several states and I’ve never seen this anywhere, in any state. As others have pointed out, upland game birds and migratory waterfowl are not major tick eaters. They are opportunistic feeders and will eat ticks they come across, but most of these birds are looking for grain, seed and some herbage or if they’re waterfowl anywhere from from raking the muck in shallow water to eating fish.
The only reason Eastern America still has game animals is because the hunters worked with Congress and their residency states to establish game laws and establish habitat restoration.
Hunters and fishermen were the original founders of conservation and habitat restoration and they are still the major force in wildlife conservation in America. Your delusion about hunters causing the loss of game is opposite to the truth and your attitude is insulting. Read and educate yourself. http://www.thankyouforhunting.com/
Yes, there is a lack of natural predators. Natural predators in the Eastern and Southern states are wolves, puma and man. Coyotes are not capable of pulling down a healthy deer. They will eat any carrion they come across (dead deer on the road or near) and they might be able to kill a crippled deer. Wolves are being re-introduced into various areas of the country, Pumas are in more areas than many people would believe. Pumas just aren’t frequent around heavily urbanized or suburbanized communities or away from wilderness areas.
Game populations are under constant oversight by both state and federal agencies. A major problem with many of the game populations near urban and suburban areas is that hunting is severely restricted which makes automobiles as the major predator, well except for the smaller upland animals like quail and rabbits. Feral cats, dogs and the rapidly spreading coyote are decimating many of these game populations.
Why were animal populations so destroyed in the early 1900’s? Habitat destruction (logging) was a major cause, but the market gunner was the main factor. Killing creatures to sell on the streets of the big cities (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, etc.) was a source of revenue for the professional killers. Passenger pigeons were rendered extinct mostly by the market gunners filling the demand for meat in the cities. These people were not sportsmen and they did not use what are considered normal hunting weapons ; instead they used nets for birds and firearms that are more akin to cannons as they sought to kill large numbers of animals quickly
I have a bow and arrows and I have hunted with them. There is no basic difference between hunting with a bow or a gun, except for your fear or horror of a firearm. Both tools will kill the animal. However, the firearm is easier to master so that animals are killed quickly with minimal pain. Bows take a great deal of training and practice before the same can be said. Hunters that shoot at moving bushes will quickly find themselves afoul of the law. One is that it is illegal to shoot at moving bushes and two, no-one wants someone near that shoots at moving bushes, because that is a dangerous stupid activity. I’d happily report such activities to the authorities and provide pictures if possible.
A proper attitude of everyone is that nothing should be wasted. Whether we’ve killed animal or vegetable we should waste nothing. Just because one person like to hang a reminder of a hunt on their wall is no concern of yours. Instead you should be glad that the uneaten parts are not wasted. It would be better for the whole world if you take the same care for all of your food.
I have never seen a hunter that asks the animal for their physical fitness report so that they only take the healthy ones. I can bet that you haven’t either. A hunter gets what he/she has invested into the hunt both in preparation, scouting and actually hunting. Hunters often treasure the magnificent animals they do harvest. Have you treasured the steer or pig you’ve partaken of recently? If you prefer to kill vegetables (life is life and eating life is necessary for us to continue living), than do you treasure that tomato, avocado or squash? Or do you treat it as your entitlement?
I pasted in the link to a research paper on managing tick populations before. Perhaps many of the posters today should read it? It wasn’t based on tree cores or a ’cause’.
http://www.ct.gov/caes/lib/caes/documents/publications/bulletins/b1010.pdf
Since you quoted me:
We talk about natural predators of TICKS, not about the puma and men….
And who are the HUNTERS? To your opinion, not these persons who
emptied out the woods of edible birds? …… You “have never seen a colorful
bird in your woods?” Why are they missing? Who cleaned them out?
They cleaned themselves out? Was it the global warming? Who delivered
bird game meat to the cities….? Of course not the hunters…. these were
the cobblers?
We talk about: — see yourself at <www. breeding
of "Game birds" like quail, partridge and many colorful birds, which always
existed in America…. see the pictures….
Suppose, you are not one of the gun-craze lobby and do really go into
the woods, than you would know that shotgun shooting of tick&vermin eating
predators such as quails and other flying smaller birds would, in the
longe range, multiply the vermins because no animal would eat them…..
, with the result of vermin infestations of
the woods…..
If your poor "insulted woods conservationists (so-called hunters)" really care
of the woods, why do they not help us again the vermin pest in the woods?
Of course…. by shooting program….or tell me their vermin program?
I would love to walk freely over meadows and in the heather as back
in my youth…..
Also, by the way. its not the deer, check the ground hog, the wood chuck,
the mice, forest rats (interesting comment above: not the lizards) they all carry
the vermins…. who shoots them?
Why dont we shoot just everything in the woods? …. and the vermins will go
away? … But as this blog says: Global warming will bring them back? Why shoot?
JS
The
GoodBusiness says:
May 29, 2012 at 9:40 am
In Texas we have a solution to ticks. It was an invasion of FIRE ANTS – find fire ants and you will not find ticks or fleas.
_____________________________
Don’t bet on it. I have fire ants in my fields and ticks in the woods… GRRRrrrrr
Joachim Seifert
May 29, 2012 at 3:18 pm
###
Boy are you clueless. WOW!
CRS, DrPH says:
May 29, 2012 at 10:21 am
errata, I meant “dengue fever” in previous post regarding Break Bone Disease, and migration is into UK. Dengue is already rampant in many parts of Latin American and the Caribbean. …
____________________________
The beef sent to the USA comes from areas with “dengue fever” if I recall correctly. Part of the new “open border” no quarantine rules of the WTO.
Duster says:
May 29, 2012 at 10:56 am
…. A few years ago a South Carolinan remarked to me that deer were becoming the biggest driving hazard in the state. Within hours after hearing that I saw two deer-related accidents, anecdotal but still…
____________________________________
I call my truck “Deer slayer” she has killed five deer so far.
Joachim Seifert
P.S. When I was in my 20’s my room-mate and I hunted rabbit every weekend. We did it so that we would have meat on the table. Good thing I knew how to hunt, huh? If you don’t think so, its because of your twisted Marxist world-view is interfering with your ability to think.
Mac the Knife says:
May 29, 2012 at 12:40 pm
>>>
All that nice crop residue from no till also provides real good cover and food for the rodents the ticks over winter on.
Why is everyone assuming that the report of tick range expansion is an accurate portrayal of reality? It can easily be a sampling artifact. As I said before population boundary are very fuzzy, especially so for small organisms that can get dispersed widely. I think this report needs to be taken cum grano salis.
Joachim Seifert says: @ur momisugly May 29, 2012 at 4:48 pm
….
I moved to NC from Mass. I was SMART ENOUGH to lease my 100+ ac to a hunting club. Why? Because they take good care of my land. No I am not a hunter but I am not an person who learned about wildlife from Disney movies and PEtA either. The first Conservationists were HUNTERS. Now don’t forget that little factoid.
…
The other thing that has not been mentioned is DDT. It used to be the county sprayed DDT to control malaria mosquitoes. This probably helped wipe out a large portion of the tick population in the sixties.
Dear Gail: How do these HUNTERS took care of your property
by combating the tick vermins?….lets stick to the tick/vermin issue
and not talk about about the good old hunters inviting you to
roast boar at their campfire, playing the guitar and a six-pack…
JS
DesertYote says:
May 29, 2012 at 6:06 pm
Why is everyone assuming that the report of tick range expansion is an accurate portrayal of reality?….
_____________________
Because for once it jives with personal experience. The ticks are worse. Of course they get the CAUSE mucked up with CAGW as usual. Sorry I didn’t tally the number of ticks each year in my “tick jar” – I drown them in isopropyl alc. or I could give you the yearly count for the last twenty years.
This would not be such a big deal except for Lyme Disease, which is an absolute shocker and is transmitted by ticks.
We currently have a big legal dispute on in Australia about someone who has all the markers and symptoms of Lyme Disease, but is being resisted by government authorities who say that it is impossible because we don’t have it in Australia. Given the way things move about with trade in food and commodities, not to mention people, ‘impossible’ seems a bridge too far for me.
We have plenty of ticks in Australia, but they are mostly only fatal to dogs and cats. A drop of kerosine was the old-fashioned way of killing them before removal with a pair of tweezers, whether on animals or humans. And yep, dense vegetation, especially in wet years, is where they are – here, at any rate.
We couldn’t think of what else it could be, so we must be right. Right?
Researchers and doctors I’ve spoken with have now found live spirochetes of Lyme in fleas, mites, and mosquitoes. And although it was first thought the disease couldn’t be transmitted directly from human to human, the live spirochetes have now also been found in blood, urine, tears, semen, breast milk, cord blood, and vaginal secretions. http://www.samento.com.ec/sciencelib/sarticles/thegreatimpostor.html
As People and animals spread and get bitten they spread the disease. As people who are infected more to another area they become hosts for the disease and spread it in a new area. It has nothing to do with global warming, it has everything to do with people being more mobile.
http://www.aldf.com/deerTickEcology.shtml
http://www.samento.com.ec/sciencelib/sammain.html
http://www.samento.com.ec/sciencelib/sarticles/thegreatimpostor.html
Note that JS lives in SPAIN. Europeans have a long tradition (millennia) of hunting and trapping and eating songbirds. It is almost unheard-of in North America, however, which explains much of the difference in experiences.
Joachim Seifert says:
May 29, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Joachim, in the United States, almost all songbirds are protected by law, the Migratory Bird Act of 1918, with few exceptions, those being non-native species like the House Sparrow, and Eurasian Starling – two introduced species that have been very destructive to native species such as Eastern Bluebirds, and Purple Martins.
Many songbirds in N. America are leaf gleaners. Some typically feed higher up near the canopy, but others at least occasionally feed down low where the ticks are, for example Ruby- and Golden-crowned Kinglets, some warblers, most wrens, towhees, and many sparrows. I don’t have any evidence these birds eat ticks, but I think it’s likely they do.
Raptors are protected as well, unless you are a wind-turbine operator. For the rest of us, in most cases, even possession of a wild bird’s feather is illegal.
And some of man’s activities do impact bird populations, such as building tall structures, especially those with mirrored surfaces, and those that are illuminated at night, keeping pet cats, draining wetlands, and fragmenting forests.
Whatever the case with birds, deer populations have increased dramatically in many parts of the United States, as many have noted, above.
I’ll bet you could graph the increase in ticks with the increase in the population of white tailed deer. You might even be able to blame Walt Disney, and the animated cartoon “Bambi.”
If the economy gets really bad, there will be a decrease in the number of ticks.
Down around the wealthy towns of Princeton and Hopewell , New Jersey, back when I briefly lived there in 1977, there was an amazing over-population of deer, and the primary way deer died was either by being hit by a car, or through starvation due to over-population. However, when humans themselves become hungry, such over-populations of deer magically ceases to be a problem…..and ticks go hungry.
In this out-of-the-way part of New Hampshire, deer are still less common than the suburbs of New Jersey, because it is a big help, to the budgets of the poor, to hunt them. (To a poor man, a buck represents a hundred-fifty pounds of meat for a dollar, if he borrows the gun and buys the bullet.)
Around these parts, back in the Great Depression, deer were downright hard to find. Local lore states that, back then, at “Duke’s” small market, a “Jacked Deer,” (A deer hunted out of season,) hung in his meat cooler, and if you were really down-on-your-luck, Duke would sell you a chunk of the illegal venison at a very low price. No one ever turned Duke in, for being compassionately illegal. However the population of ticks likely did suffer, due to the out-of-season hunting of white tailed deer reducing the population of deer, in this microcosm.
(Also, back then, local farmers had the wits to rotate their livestock from pasture to pasture in a manner that was downright cruel to ticks. Modern suburbanites don’t rotate their hobby-livestock in the same manner.)
Not that eco-fools have the wits farmers had, back then. At times I think eco-fools care more for “wildlife corridors” than poor people. The poor are “vermin,” while ticks are not vermin. Up is down, when an eco-fool cares more for ticks (or snail darters,) than for their fellow man, and this illogic hates the old-timers like Duke, who would risk arrest to feed the poor.
Only a person blinded by this peculiar hate towards Duke’s compassion and pragmatism could fail to see the obvious: The population of one species rises and falls due to how much it can eat, and how much it is eaten.
Humans seldom eat ticks, and therefore the population of ticks rises and falls due to how much ticks can feast upon. Namely deer, (and mammals that eat deer.) Only a blind person, basically a complete idiot, could ignore this obvious reality, and instead blame the increase in tick population on…….what? A whole degree of temperature change? No! Not even that!
We are talking six-tenths of a degree. No self-respecting tick cares a hoot about that. What ticks care about is blood, hot blood.
What enviro-nuts care about, (when it is not cash, cool cash,) is hate, hot hate. There is no other way to explain their insanity.
Do not let yourself get sucked into these silly quibbles about temperatures and ticks.
The real battle of our times is between eco-nuts who hate the “overpopulation” of poor people, and guys like Duke, who loved the poor.
Brad Paisley: “I’d like To Check You For Ticks!”
http://youtu.be/8vSNiQKAH0E
Caleb says:
May 29, 2012 at 10:38 pm
Down around the wealthy towns of Princeton and Hopewell , New Jersey, back when I briefly lived there in 1977, there was an amazing over-population of deer, and the primary way deer died was either by being hit by a car, or through starvation due to over-population.
That’s still the primary way Bambis die in P&H.
At times I think eco-fools care more for “wildlife corridors” than poor people.
In 1997, the local ecofreaks convinced the commander of Fort AP Hill, VA, that spraying the training areas to keep the ticks in check was “hurting the environment,” so the engineers didn’t spray that year. In 1998, you couldn’t walk ten feet through any training area without getting five or six deer ticks on you — a few would always make it through pyrethrin-sprayed clothes to bite, and most of the dead ticks tested hot for Lyme. We found 125 on one ammo handler who’d only spent four hours on the aerial gunnery range, and over half of them were hot.
In 1999, they resumed spraying. No ticks.
There are two kinds of hunters: Trophy and meat. The majority of hunters are looking for tasty venison in the freezer. They hunt young healthy animals with tender meat. The trophy hunters are hunting old tough males with large racks for mounting on the wall. Since one only requires one or two heads for such, not many animals are taken for this reason alone.
In my locale, there is an over population of wolves and coyote. They are very successful, with deer, whenever the snow is deep. Deer get bogged down in deep snow, while wolves run on top. With a mild winter there is plenty of food for deer and the predators can only catch the sick and old. GK
johanna says:
May 29, 2012 at 6:38 pm
This would not be such a big deal except for Lyme Disease, which is an absolute shocker and is transmitted by ticks.
We currently have a big legal dispute on in Australia about someone who has all the markers and symptoms of Lyme Disease, but is being resisted by government authorities who say that it is impossible because we don’t have it in Australia….
___________________________
Believe me when you add international politics it becomes a very big deal. What you are seeing is a result of the World Trade Organization treaty. WTO insists that tagging animals and tracing them is all that is needed to prevent disease, a load of bull dust, but great for the international traders. Governments are going to deny any problems and hope it just goes away because World Trade rules (WTO) will put a big dent in their trade and OIE rules will devastate the economy. This is why the USA cut Mad Cow disease testing to 10% a couple years AFTER finding the first diseased cow in the USA. The USDA KNEW the disease was in the USA because of importation of UK cattle (334) and bone meal for cattle feed (at least 69 tons) so they fought Creekstone farms 100% testing of their beef all the way up the court system.
(my links are old and maybe stale)
According to the World Trade Organization:
http://www.oie.int/eng/publicat/rt/2002/WILSON.PDF or a possible new link
From International Organization OIE (Office International des Épizooties) we have:
The OIE’s preferred method of disease eradication is “STAMPING OUT” or “Depopulation. This is what devastated the UK livestock industry when Foot and Mouth disease cropped up. Instead of vaccination (2 years before export allowed) stamping out was used (3 months before export allowed)
See: Not the Foot and Mouth Report – Private Eye – warmwell.com for an excellent dissection of the UK fiasco
This means ALL homes not just farms are placed under quarantine in that 10K radius BTW.
It is obvious that traceability does nothing to prevent disease, it only allows blame to be placed after the fact followed by Depopulation. So why is the idea being promoted and where did it come from?
In the USA it came from a NGO.
This is from the 2009 State of Texas TAHC Strategic Plan Report
This whole thing is a huge risk to everyone which is why I bring it up. Unfortunately people like _Jim keep insisting I am some kind of escapee from the nut house despite the evidence.
It is curious that the examples of increased tick population seems limited to the plains states and east. IIRC, over the winter, the east and northeast had a mild winter. The dearth of ticks I have seen here in central western Colorado, zero since 2009, I believe has more to do with lack of water, and lack of warm spring temps. We get a lot of the annual moisture between March and May. Virtually no weather systems, June and July, just a constant 10% chance of a thunder shower. The ticks do not survive on the shrubbery past mid-June when it dries out. The ticks do not have a spring population surge in the Mar-May period if it is too dry or too cold. Last year was wet enough, but frosted into June=no ticks. This year is slightly warmer, but very dry=no ticks. I live in dense scrub oak, juniper, service berry, and choke cherry trees and bushes. After 17 years of 3-4 tics a week, it seems weird they have disappeared here. Neither my dog nor wolf have had any tics either.
Yes, I quoted you. Your rant is illogical and obviously meant to tug hearstrings and frighten rather than convince through logic.
Your latest rant is amazingly full of twisted logic and incoherent rant. Again, your fear and horror of firearms comes across clear in your hate message towards hunters. Either you failed to read my above post or you failed to follow any links/references I provided. I suggest you stop typing incoherent rant and go back and follow the links I provided along with the others provided by other posters who spent their own precious personal time to help inform the uninformed.
For the points in question Joachim, you started the diatribe against firearms, hunting and hunters blaming them for all sorts of wildlife problems including ticks. Every rant you stated is either incredibly naive or viciously meant to smear good people.
Most gamebirds in America are various shades of brown, gray or dark green; quail, grouse, mallards, turkeys, doves… There are two major exceptions, chinese pheasants (introduced and often raised in captivity and released) and the male wood duck. Still, if you asked most hunters they would tell you that all of the game birds and game animals in America are beautiful and I agree.
When traveling in the woods in America and coming across a pond or lake on public land, one will often see bird houses placed either on trees or posts out over the water. These are paid for by American hunters and are for wood duck nesting. Wood ducks were almost extinct from logging and wetlands draining before they were rescued by providing protection for wetlands and placing nesting boxes in preferred nesting locations.
All song birds, harriers, hawks, eagles and owls are federally protected in America. Period! Even having possession of their feathers can bring a federal fine/incarceration. As mentioned earlier by another poster, seeming exceptions are the english sparrow and starling. Neither of which birds are songbirds in that they do not sing, ever. Both birds are nuisance critters displacing native songbirds and monopolizing food sources. Very rarely does one get to appreciate true native songbirds in America as these nuisance birds have driven song birds from our population dense areas. I have my suspicions, Joachim, that you did not read to understand my posts above. Otherwise you would have noticed that I mentioned bluebirds and goldfinches living on my property. Only they’re not gamebirds in America.
Nowhere in America is game allowed to be sold unless it is raised domestically by someone licensed by your community (and federal if it is considered federally managed game) and skilled in animal husbandry. No game animal harvested from the wild is allowed to be sold commercially. Yes, Duke risked a severe fine and imprisonment; but given his practice of feeding the poor, I’ll bet the local DWF officials looked the other way.
BrianH
Thanks for the comment. I already knew Joachim was in Spain, but given that he included mentioning a hunter from Massachusetts and directed his misinformed rant against all hunters and hunting, I have tried to point out errors and provide accuracy. Instead Joachim has succeeded being irrational in response to every poster that spent time and effort on his behalf.
Caleb and Gail; Great posts and links! I appreciate them, even if Joachim doesn’t.
This tick post was most interesting and I read all comments
with great interest…. the post is coming to its end, but I hope that
Anthony will permit a few more lines of mine (although I believe, I
already overextended my comment limit…??). This only, because
one word came up, over and over again: The word RANT, which
I have never used…
Step a dog on his tail and he will shout RANT….
Read the comments above: The hunters go either for the
“Trophy or for the Meat”….and you disguise them as “Conservationists”!
And that I AM “ranting”, that the Italians in Rome and Venecia
put millions of migratory song birds each year on the table?
…..”Trophy or Meat”…..that is it… and the Hunter – a nature lover?
Make a simple Hunter’s CHECK: Ask ANY hunter: “Name me 3 butterflies,
3 beetles, 3 birds which go about on you turf…and 1 with its proper
Latin name… and you will recognize that all your hunters are the
…see above name, no need to repeat….
I can tell you in my case in Spain how the Hunter’s check would end:
…””3 butterflies…3 what?…Why do you want this for?? [That is
the answer, because they know nothing…] And paper and pencil
to write down OUR names to report to town hall??
They would raise their guns and tell me that they give me 3 minutes
to get lost, the quicker, the better….Here we have
….Our beloved, good old jolly “conservationist-hunters”….
I I am already to old to be impressed by your “R”
And I hope that I contributed a conversation piece to all those
interested in the tick/vermin/hunter’s topic…..
JS