Saturday, July 4, 2009

Update on Bloodsucking Pests



I recently posted about a plan, sponsored by Bill Gates, to render mosquitos unable to produce offspring by tampering with their genes. The goal of this, of course, is to reduce mosquito populations, and the dread diseases they carry. Environmental activists, who sit in offices on the East Coast, and who have probably never saw a mosquito, think we ought not fiddle with Mother Nature.


A day or two after I posted that item, I got a call from my sister: seems my brother-in-law had collapsed, possibly with a heart attack, and had been rushed to the emergency room. The good news is: apart from some problems with rhythm, his heart is fine - no heart attack. The bad news is: Lyme Disease.


My brother-in-law is a retired mechanic who still farms and operates a sawmill. This year, the old sawmill has been getting quite a workout as my bro-in-law has been working to clear a section of bottom land. Strenuous work, but he's used to that.


Working in the woods and fields, of course, he gets bit by ticks fairly regularly. He uses repellant, but it sweats off and - honestly - some ticks seem immune to even the most potent bug juice. So now he's in Intensive Care, sick as all get-out, racking up a helluva bill because some nasty little varmint that's almost too small to see decided to make a meal of him.


Yesterday, after his mind cleared a little, I told him we were going to have to keep him out the woods for a while, find something indoors for him to do. He gazed at me with rheumy eyes and, through an oxygen mask, told me, "I used to mow that field where I think I got bit at. As soon as I get out of here, I'm gonna burn it off - every last square inch of it."


I offered to bring some kerosene to get it started good.


Man, I hate bloodsucking insects.

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