Last
week my husband was bitten by something that left a red ring on his arm. A pin
point in the center of the ring caused some concern that the bite may have the lingering
effects of some mysterious outbreak.
The
event reminded me of the season we had a sudden population explosion of ticks. We
had long before given up farm animals to work other jobs. It was just us and
our dog, Amos. All of us had to do body checks every time we went outdoors
collecting ticks and putting them in jars with alcohol swabs.
We did
not want to spray poisons around the homestead for many reasons – we didn’t
want to track poison in the house, test our sensitivities, or kill other creatures.
For the same reason we did not want to spread chemicals on our bodies and
tamper with our first line of defense, our skin.
We mentioned
this conundrum in conversation with our 90 year old elder who smiled wisely at
us and suggested we get a couple of chickens. It turns out that ticks and their
eggs are like candy to chickens. This information was not mentioned in any of
our new world research.
We purchased
four young Rock Island Red hens and prepared a small shelter for them with all
the comforts of a chicken home, then just let them do their job. They rustled
around in the grass during the day, clucking gossip with each other and
dutifully returned to their little straw bedded cabin for the evening. We felt
a sense of calmness coming back as we watched these beautiful little birds join
our family interactions. They ate vigorously and we kept our promise to care
for them.
We had
left the country life behind to join a world where we were too busy, we thought,
to manage the care of land and animals. Yet the sweetness of our shared bond
with these chickens brought back a feeling of belonging that was also left
behind. Within days the ticks disappeared. We enjoyed a comfortable summer that
year. Now we live where chickens are forbidden. Too bad. We learned a special
lesson then that all of us are in a constant state of conscientious balance as
we try to tread lightly on this earth.
As for
the chickens, we gave them to farm friends for the winter knowing that the next
year would be safely bite free by the good work of our Tick Swat Team.
Thanks for stopping by. I'll be writing in more often, so please check back soon.
Happy summer,
Helene
