It's time to think about ticks

Ticks are always a problem for anyone in tall grass, weeds, brush, or the woods.

Like, where you look for birds.

There is an article in today's StarTrib (Wednesday) that delivers a warning about the danger ticks present, and also offering precautions you can take.

I've had a tick-borne disease, given me by a tick I never saw. I didn't have Lyme disease. I had ehrlichiosis.

The Mayo Clinic web site says, "Ehrlichiosis is a bacterial illness transmitted by ticks that causes flu-like symptoms. The signs and symptoms of ehrlichiosis range from mild body aches to severe fever and usually appear within a week or two of a tick bite. If treated quickly with appropriate antibiotics, ehrlichiosis generally improves within a few days.

My symptoms were bad headache, heavy sweating, and fatigue. I saw a doctor the day the symptoms appeared. She put me in a hospital bed, connecting me to a drip-bag of antibiotics. I went home 24 hours later.

She told me that the disease left untreated could kill a person within two weeks.

We were living in Burnett County, Wisconsin, at the time. Later that summer I learned that two women in the county died because they did not seek treatment for this disease. Both thought they had the flu and that it would go away.

I now check for ticks during my bird walks, not only when I get back home.