The ticks are thick this year, and I don't step out of the truck without liberal applications of deet and permethrin. Most of the ticks we find are the tiny deer ticks, which you don't know are on you until they are very well embedded and you start itching from a histamine reaction. It makes you glad to have a dog tick. The lone star ticks make you itch worse than the others, and you actually know from the way their bite itches what you are going to find when you begin searching for the little blighter. The best tool for removing them from your hide is the Tick Twister, and I keep one with me at all times.
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Entertained? Surely you speak humorously. Step outside my house and, depending on time of day, it sounds somewhere between "phaser on overload" and "Space aliens have landed!" This past Saturday I nearly put in earplugs it was so loud.
Makes me wish for a whole lot of DDT, applied via air.
Snap your fingers next to a male who is just finishing his song. He will take as a 'wing flick' from a friendly female. The results may give you nightmares! Now That's Entertainment!
I just ordered one of those tick twisters. Should work well.
We use the small one regularly, and it never fails to pull the tiniest of ticks, although we do have to use a magnifying glass to see what we are doing. I pulled twelve out of my wife's skin in two days last week. The best feature of the Twister is that it pulls the tick without squeezing it, so it does not regurgitate.
The magicada guys (and many others) are staying at the Ag Center these past two weeks. I have learned quite a bit the variety of species. Magicada guy John was featured on NPR's Science Friday a week ago on the 20th (http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/201105203). Check it out. We also had a CBS Early Morning crew onsite last week to visit with John and a 9 year old budding entomologist! At least they don't sing at night!
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