TICKED off

So yesterday morning while my human was eating her breakfast and the FG and I were vying for attention by sitting at her side and either pawing at her or attempting to get on her lap, my human was petting my head and suddenly she said "OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  She jumped up from the table, and whisked me into the garage AKA grooming torture chamber, and lifted me onto the grooming table.  She outfitted herself with her trusty headlamp used for dog walking in the dark, and instructed me to stay still.  And sure enough - there on the top of my head, was a TICK.  A TICK.  Seriously.  I thought those guys had gone into hibernation for the winter.  If that's what they do.  Go figure.  None of us has had a tick since the summer - when we OFTEN ran off into the woods and were playing in the tall grasses.  And even then, I think we had MAYBE three ticks in total between the three of us all summer.  So IMAGINE how disgusted we were to find this freeloader.  Well, I didn't even really realize he was there - and I didn't feel much as my human got out her trusty tick removel tool and extracted him from my noggin.  She then placed the vermin in a plastic bag and then in an act of total violence, smashed the tick to smithereens with a rock.  Talk about overkill.  Literally.

So I decided to look up information about ticks and see if they have ANY redeeming qualities.  I mean really, what is their purpose, besides spreading disease?????  From what I gather, the buggers have been around since the time of the DINOSAURS.  The oldest know fossil of a tick is supposed to be 90 Million years old.  In the ecosystem, ticks are food for some animals, reptiles, birds and amphibians.  Apparently guinea hens find them delectable, as do opposums.  Ticks carry a variety of microorganisms and that's supposed to be part of the whole circle of life thing.  And they are helpful to those viruses and bacteria that they carry.  Good for the virus.  Ticks supposedly help to control animal populations like other predators do.

So the tick public relations firm touts that ticks are basically part of the ecosystem and  it's  their role to help maintain balance.   I think it's stretching their value.  Sorry I just don't buy it.  I think the earth could get along QUITE well if all ticks were annihilated.   But I don't see an easy solution to this - so I propose we get some guinea hens.  Or an opposum.  But not both as the opposums would probably eat the guinea hens.  We don't actually HAVE opposums in Nova Scotia -  and as I understand it, they are considered a nuisance in many areas.  They get into the garbage, and bird feeders and they can carry rabies.   OK, so maybe the opposums are not such a great idea after all.  Guinea hens.  That's what we need.  I will put one on my Christmas list.  OK - two because just one would get lonely.  Wonder if I can order them on-line...

In the meantime, bring on the snow!  But just a little....

Have a good one. Peace and paws up!