| Author |
 Replies: 10 / Views: 2,214 |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
864 Posts |
From the land of the Bluenose.....today was a complete reversal of yesterdays weather as the sun was beaming down on this pair of treasure hunters causing them to sweat bullets as we noddled around the "Big Tree" in search of some oldies. Navy Davy managed an ornate key , his first musket ball and a modern copper and I a penny. This is a location that has given up some Spanish silver and is soon to be lost as construction of new homes has started. From there we decided to try another spot that has given up some oldies. Little did I know at that time what else it had given up. The trip to the next location was hampered by a porcupine waddling down the middle of the road.ND tried the horn and reving the engine but the animal would not give the right of way. It is no doubt in this bouy's mind that he would become road kill and end up on a crows menu. Finally the traffic was such that we passed and hit the field which was ardous task in that the hay was already fairly high and made swinging the Garretts a slow process. Navy Davy netted a few coppers and I a couple of Yank wheaties from the forties. Tired of this we reset our goals to quota (50 coins) which was easily and quickly accomplished at a playing field. Navy Davy and I decided that was enough and he dropped me home and from a later conversation stopped on the way home and rounded his day off netting a musket ball, the key and 57 coins @ $5.93. Marie was not at home being a "Valley Girl' and doing the dew with her family and sisters so I changed venue and went aquatic at a nearby lake rescuing a few more coins and 5 golf eggs. Arriving home I found that Marie had had a good day bringing back some goodies from the Masstown Market. My take for the day was 5 golf eggs,a brass harness ring, lighter, medic alert dewy and 81 coins @$13.54  I then made my way to the shower and as I stripped I looked down and was in horror as an ugly, horrid little thing was there............a tic which had started to embed itself in the right side of my ample belly. The horror. I ran to the kitchen calling Marie and grabbed a knife and with the precision of a surgeon removed the little blood sucking bugger! Rather then a slow painful death from alcohol poisoning from sucking my blood Marie grabbed a tissue and deep sixed it in the porcelin bowl. After two "short arm" inspections she stated, "No bug on this lug you ugly mug and stay out of the woods!" Women.......shezzzzzzzzz! |
|
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
10284 Posts |
Quote:
a tic which had started to embed itself in the right side of my ample belly.  I can certainly relate to that ample belly. That is funny. Then I thought, how would a tick like it dragging me around if I hooked onto him. Hows that for a switch? |
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
G'day, a busy day for you !
Ticks are present in the warm parts of Australia.
They mostly affect horses, cattle, dogs, and, so I'm told, marsupials.
They rarely attack humans, and never touch cats.
I live in the warmest part of those parts, and have been battling ticks for 30 years.
The little devils are very hardy, and the only way to contain them is to make sure that every one you find is permanently, irrevocably, and thoroughly dead.
I keep a jar of alcohol (methylated spirits, it's called in Oz), and each tick large or small is dropped in it. It takes a minute or two before they stop moving.
Crushing them works, but that is messy, and I wasn't sure that there was no biohazard resulting.
The weakness of the porcelain bowl is that a few seconds after he disappears from view, the tick will be stationary, while the water continues to move. The plumbing is inevitably vented at several points, and the tick has the opportunity to re-enter our environment, alive if not altogether happy.
Peter in Oz
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
891 Posts |
Ticks. Oh how I don't like them. It's amazing how a little tiny critter can put the fear of god in you. I grew up playing and camping in the woods and was constantly pulling ticks off. My mom used to say what do you expect stay out of the woods. Now I just try to stay out of the woods this time of the year. Chiggers are the other little critters I can't stand. They stay with you for a while and definitely let you know they are there.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
810 Posts |
(shrudders) I hate ticks them bloodsuckers. I stay out of shady areas because of them. Plus my wife checks me for ticks everytime I'm done detecting or from being in the woods. To many peole get Lymes Disease because of them no good bloodsucking ticks.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
1015 Posts |
Sarkany been there done that  and as Peter said we get our share of ticks here in Oz and I myself have been bitten a few times  ,the trouble with ticks as soon as you grab them with tweezers they splay there jaws and you end up just pulling the body out and leaving the head still in the wound  ,how you circumvent this is you pour metho (methylated spirit's)or what you call alcohol on them and yes it dose hurt stings like "billyo"  but anesthetizes the tick and you can pull it out head and all so just remember to grit your teeth before you pour  Edited to change the wording Edited by nuggethill
06/03/2009 11:13 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2669 Posts |
My daughters are tick magnets. Light a match. Blow it out and quickly apply the still-red-hot end to the little bugger's behind. He'll eject. Have a bowl of spirits handy for him to land in  If he doesn't/can't eject, keep applying until you hear him pop. Then when you use the tweezers, he's already dead and you git 'im all. Chiggers: Liberally apply clear nail polish over where they have buried themselves.. asphyxiates 'em. Yesssssss we love the torture aspect, did you notice?  |
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
never heard of chiggers, so I looked them up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrombiculidaeWe have them in Australia, under a different name. They carry Scrub Typhus, which was a major factor for the Australian troops in New Guinea in WW2. I'm g;ad to say that I've never had to deal with them, and I hope it stays that way ... Peter |
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
1015 Posts |
Peter that may be the little bugger that bit me when I was walking through the grass lands between the taxiways at Sydney's Mascot Airport,there were a few of us that were bitten and it produced the same little red lumps.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
2830 Posts |
sounds like it might be the culprit.
There's another tick we don't often see in N.T.: it's smaller than our usual cattle-tick; and it has stripes. I saw them in Katherine 30 years ago. From Queensland, apparently. Everyone was frightened that they might spread here, but they didn't. It was called a "paralysis tick", and apparently a dozen or so will kill a dog.
I'm taking my boys cane-toad hunting tomorrow night at the Zoo. The boys are dynamite ... I hold a torch and carry the bag. We often see a few snakes, but no leeches or oher parasites.
Peter
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
1082 Posts |
Lots of fun. There's nothing like coming out of the bush and getting that "crawly" feeling.  I can remember my grandfather taking them off the dogs -- they'd be so full, they'd practically drop off. He'd knock them off onto the sidewalk and smash them with a hammer. Colorful. |
| |
Replies: 10 / Views: 2,214 |
|
Posted 06/01/2009 11:31 pm
