Freeloaders

In the past couple of weeks I've found three (yes, three!) ticks on Nicki. The first on an ear...the second on her belly...and the third on her back. I've found nothing on Bell.....nothing at all. Apparently Nick tastes better than Bell and she doesn't object to freeloaders!

So the dogs have both been dosed with Advantix...something I don't like to use but these days it seems to be impossible to live without it. I used to just worry about ticks when we hike but now they seem to be everywhere all the time!

I had been using an organic spray on the dogs when I took them hiking with me. That worked fine for them but I forgot to use it on myself. I ended up with a deer tick embedded in my neck; an allergic reaction to the bite; an extremely swollen and painful neck and a trip to the ambulatory center on a Sunday. I'm looking forward to a really good snow fall.

Meanwhile I've found a different kind of freeloader in my house. Ladybugs. A few seem to show up every year but there have been some years when I've had a bumper crop in the house. I don't mind them really. They don't seem to hurt anything and I do find it interesting to see where they'll turn up. This guy was boldly hanging on to the kitchen curtain..