[BC] Summer Warning - Lyme

[Donald Chester <k4kyv@hotmail.com>]

> From: Alan Shea <alan at metatek.org>
> By the way, what I have learned from someone who caught the tick and the disease early, these are not your dog's ticks: they are very small and easy to overlook. In this case it was hiding in the individual's navel.

> From: "Milton R. Holladay Jr." <miltron at att.net>
> If you're in California, don't go thinking you're safe from Lyme: it's there, too

Don't get me started on this one. I wasn't born here (middle TN), but this is where I spent my childhood years. After graduating from school I left, but returned a little over 30 years ago and have lived here ever since.

When I was a kid growing up, ticks got on dogs and farm animals, but rarely bothered humans. Old timers here called them "dog ticks", and they were large enough to be easily seen.

At that time there were very few white-tail deer in this area. A deer sighting was something to create excitement. Native Americans and early settlers had hunted them to the brink of extinction by the latter part of the 19th century. I read somewhere that by the 1930s the total deer herd for the entire state was estimated to be about 600. Then, right after WWII, some genius at the state wildlife agency got the brilliant idea to "re-introduce" deer to the state. I understand other states participated in the program as well. The states wanted the revenue from selling deer hunting licences, plus the increased market for sporting-good products this would generate. So, they trucked deer into this area from other states where the deer were plentiful, and I believe even from as far away as Canada.

The program proved successful beyond all expectations; by the 1970s the herd had reached overpopulation levels. When the original deer population existed, the herd was kept in check by natural predators like grey wolves, cougars and bobcats. But by the time the deer were re-introduced, those predators had virtually disappeared, so the deer have free run with no natural enemies, only human hunters and automobiles, and the population quickly multiplied and grew out of control.

The artificially re-introduced deer brought with them a new strain of ticks that does bite humans, and carry a number of diseases such as Lyme and Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. They are so tiny as to be barely visible, and at times so numerous that one cannot venture outdoors without picking up a tick or two.

In addition to bringing disease-borne ticks, in over-abundance white-tail deer are just plain nuisances. It can be nearly impossible to have a vegetable garden unless you erect a 10 ft high fence round the perimeter, and the deer do untold damage to agricultural crops. Plus, deer collisions with automobiles has become such a problem that my insurance company was considering discontinuing deer collision coverage. After my son's car was declared a total loss, the agent told me his was the 48th deer collision claim this one company had had that month for this county alone.

I haven't heard of any recent damage to broadcast facilities caused by deer, but more than once they tore down portions of the beverage receiving antenna I use with my ham station, before I raised it to 10' off the ground.

A clear example of what can happen when humans attempt to tamper with Mother Nature.

Don