By Mike Corrigan

BN Columnist

The Tick Apocalypse is upon us, a disaster almost Biblical in scope. The creeping, crawling, biting invasion of the spring of ’23 reminds of Egypt’s plague of locusts. There ought to be a law against it but, as usual, Congress does nothing.

I’ve talked to several people the past three days. Every single one had a tick story. Lab worker at the hospital said she had just pulled a deer tick out of her very young son’s arm; she got him a pill, and tests, and awaits developments. “It’s scary that something so small can cause such big problems,” she said.

Later, I was downing a sundae at the ice cream shop in Naples when an old friend happened by. Showed him the dog tick bite divot on my belly. Tom pulled up his shirt. Deer tick got him in the same place and at about the same time, late May or early June.

I went home and complained about the unfairness of modern life to my sister-in-law in an e-mail; she reminded me that my nephew had been afflicted by a deer tick bite about five years ago. He went through hell for a year. Nature’s attack never ends. “Greg went to the dump the other day and came home with six ticks on him,” Jackie wrote. Sometimes it’s not so good to be popular.

To a longtime friend who I depend on for reassurance that I won’t die anytime soon, I complained about my symptoms — it felt like Muhammed Ali had pounded desultorily on my legs for an hour or so. The tick had been in my body for 10 days, at least. I had mistaken it for a mole. (I may be living for some time with that mistake.) Corinne asked if I had gotten my Doxycycline. I said I had, and I had bloodwork done, beyond the bloodwork the dog tick itself did. “You’ve done what you could,” she soothed. “See what the tests say.” So, we made dinner plans for Saturday night.

Saturday afternoon she called and said she couldn’t make it. Blinding headache. When I called to check on her the next day, she almost cheerily explained she had found the cause. A deer tick had been discovered wriggling away in her thigh. She thinks it had been in her for more than 36 hours. “I’m working on getting my medicine now,” Corinne said. The drug is a prophylactic and not a long-term treatment. Corinne doesn’t think she’ll die anytime soon either, but then she’s always been an optimist, and easy with all of Mother Nature, even with ticks apparently. Doctors have plans of treatment but have to get test results back first and that takes about a week.

It’s a bad year, state says. 

Famously, Lyme disease can be the result of some deer tick bites. A case of Lyme can have long-lasting physiological effects, sometimes even after it’s treated. Untreated, victims often feel lousy and don’t know the cause, and the cyclical returning effects can last for months or even years.

The warmer temperatures in Maine and recent rainy weather have caused an increase in the tick population, state entomologists say, and an increase in cases of Lyme disease and something called Powassan virus. And there’s a new worry these past couple of years: Babesiosis, also carried by deer ticks. Symptoms include fever, chills and lethargy.

Since ticks are not true hibernators, they can attack any time of year, but spring to fall is prime tick season. In southern Maine, experts have noticed an uptick, so to speak, in the population as early as February.

You can find copious information about the arachnids online at several sites. Beyond that you can take precautions.

Know where to expect ticks; remove leaf litter from yards and near the house; avoid wooded areas; plant garlic, sage, mint and rosemary in borders around your garden; ticks don’t like nice things apparently.

Treat clothing and gear with products containing permethrin.

There are home remedies for tick repellent including cinnamon, oil of lemon eucalyptus and other fragrant essences like orange.

Wear long pants and shirts when possible; tuck pants into socks.

Be wary and aware; learn prevention.

Check yourself all over after possible exposure. Prompt removal of ticks, they say, can prevent the passage of blood-borne diseases. You can use the buddy system to check for ticks after the fact in places you cannot see yourself. If you check after a day outside most won’t be dug in yet. They move to the head, the neck, the groin, underarms and anywhere on the body really.

Remove the ticks immediately — unlike some people.

I don’t know when or where I picked up my tick; I’m not much of a nature guy. So, from my daunting personal experience I would add my own precaution to the experts’ lists: Never, under any circumstances, leave the house again.