Tick ... Tick ... Tick ...

oh, look how cute!

Ah, Spring! Flowers in bloom, trees a-budding, baby animals ... and ticks. When I was little and running about the wilds of Northern California, every once in a while, someone would find a tick getting ready to burrow in for a meal. I once found one in my armpit. And the dogs were tick magnets. Other than being annoyed and majorly grossed out, though, we didn't think much about them besides how best to get them out (tweezers as close to the head as you could get and turning counterclockwise was the prevailing method).
   Fast forward to now, and a friend who found a tick that had just started to dig its way into the back of her neck made a run for her doctor's office and ended up on a week's worth of antibiotics. Was that an overreaction? Not according to those who study the little buggers. Things have changed, and not in a good way: http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/science/Feeding-Frenzy.html?page=all