Turkey and Tick Season Go Hand In Hand

Turkey and Tick Season Go Hand In Hand

Susan Allen
Susan Allen

 

A rafter, a gang, creepy crawling things that get under your skin, no not the Hunger Games, it’s turkey season out west, and when Open Range returns you might get more than you bargained for with that tuff old Tom. Turkey hunting is becoming a big sport out west as the big bird seems to be found everywhere. I saw a huge rafter, or flock of them  last weekend in Walla Walla. Turkey’s aren’t native but like many of us they love it here. In the mid-seventies Oregon began stalking Rio Grande turkeys from Texas that thrive in the dry   desert riverbeds. Soon  Idaho and Washington followed suit.  Today many parts of the Northwest also have Merriams  and deep-wood Eastern turkeys. In the 1990’s  Oregon Fish and Game began planting Rio Grande’s with Merriam to create much of today’s  Northwest home grown birds. While it looks to be a great year for turkey hunters it’s  a banner year for ticks due to the mild winter. Where there are turkey there are ticks.  We’re lucky the Northwest has relatively few tick-born  disease cases reported but  it’s still important to protect yourself, so  after turkey hunting check for ticks. Ticks are all about prevention. With Lyme Disease, an infected tick does not pass the bacteria into the animal it’s feeding on for at least the first 12 hours it’s embedded, sometimes twenty four. Meaning there’s a bit of a grace period to inspect yourself .Take some fine tipped tweezers along hunting and Grasp the little nasty's as close to the skin  as possible and pull evenly, don't twist. OH and happy turkey hunting.
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