Homestead mailing list

["Marie McHarry" <mmcharry AT gmail.com>]

 On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 8:35 PM, WF Smith <mogrits AT gmail.com> wrote:
> I just walked through the former and future orchard this evening and brushed
> a few low branches and brambles and I got home and pulled one the size of a
> match head off the back of my neck- luckily he was still moving- headed to
> high ground I reckon.

Uh-huh. Once I find one of the little darlin's -- usually after mowing
under trees with low-hanging branches -- I feel creepy things all over
my body for a couple of days. The worse ticks I ever came across was
in early spring when we went hiking in southern Illinois's Shawnee
National Forest. Fortunately, it was cool enough that we were wearing
jeans, but we had to stop every few minutes and brush the ticks off
our shoes, socks, and pants. The Shawnee is best in late fall-early
winter after the ticks have given up and the rattlesnakes and
copperheads have denned up.

Marie