Ticks

I see there has been some <a href="http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2007/05/26/news/wyoming/70-tick.txt">cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever</a> down in Wyoming, just south and east of me. This doesn't surprise me with the number of ticks I have been seeing around here. <br />n<br />nI noticed when we were branding our calves that they had quite a few ticks on them but more than that, they had huge scarred areas on them from where ticks were at one time and were now gone. It is the rare day I don't pick a tick off of me for that matter. My darling Wife, the woman who hates dogs, picked up another stray dog a couple of days ago and saved its life. She said it was full of ticks all over it. At least 12 to 15 ticks. Instead of bringing this dog home, she took it straight to the Vet who is also the local animal shelter. I told her that was a good idea as we really didn't need another dog. All these things together seem indicate that tick levels are up but the article is just calling that "anecdotal evidence." Just call me Mr. Anecdotal I guess.<br />n<br />nI wonder if this large number of ticks could have caused a few cases of calves being sick that I have had earlier and couldn't explain. Lethargic and dizzy calves that did not want to eat who had an unexplained fever that I never could get under control for everything I tried. I had about three of them and they all died on me. I think I will have to talk to the Vet about this. It never occurred to me until now that maybe the tick activity and these sick calves were related or maybe this dumb cowboy is just grasping at straws. Who knows.<br />n<br />n<strong>All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure. Mark Twain</strong><br />n<br />