Here's your Yearly Tick Announcement.

As I'm writing this blog post, our personal little tick transporter is resting her front paw and head on my right forearm and her left hind leg on my left forearm. She's also quietly purring.

I was allowed to remove one sucking tick from under her chin this morning, and in her graciousness, she also shared her loot - by bringing a questing one home, which I found on my shin as it was starting to burrow in. Ah, the joys.

What am I trying to say with this? Tick season has started, and with a lot of us probably spending more time in the garden this year, if you are living in a region where there are ticks, or are planning to visiting one: Please check your vaccination status regarding tick-borne meningoencephalitis.

Ticks and moths are the two pests that get me the most; moths because they eat wool and silk (yes, thank you Captain Obvious, I’m sure no one of the blog readers here would ever have guessed), and ticks because they can transmit both a meningoencephalitis and Lyme disease (among a few other illnesses).

You cannot prevent getting Lyme’s if an infected tick bites you; there’s no vaccine against it. It is a weird sickness that may or may not cure itself spontaneously or linger on for ages, and it can have all kinds of weird effects. The best way to be safe against it is to try and prevent getting tick-bitten; if you have one, remove it safely as soon as possible (safe removal is pulling it out; a twisting motion might or might not help), put some disinfectant on the spot, keep in mind you had a tick and survey the bitten bit for infection – characteristic symptom is a red spot that grows outward, developing into a red ring. There’s no guarantee that you get that ring if you got infected, though. (Yes, Lyme’s is weird in a tricky kind of way. Didn’t I mention it?) So if you develop symptoms from out of nowhere… you might want to ask your physician to test for Lyme’s.

That said, Lyme’s can be cured – antibiotics usually do the trick, the better the earlier you catch it. The meningoencephalitis is incurable once it has set on, so go get your vaccination shot if you are going to be in an area where you can get a tick. That’s about all of Europe, folks. Don’t risk your brains.

By the way, if you have removed a tick, make sure you kill it dead. There are three sure ways to kill a tick, and that is pouring boiling water over them, burning them, or smashing them to a pulp. In our household, the preferred method is an old pair of tweezers (the good ones don’t take kindly to being flambé-d) and a lighter. Once that thing has shriveled to a black thing with glowing legs, it won’t drink any more blood. (Sometimes they pop. Be wary of exploding tick in case you burn one that has already engorged itself.)

Be safe!