Ticks and fences

Maya hasn’t gotten many walks in this week, since I finished fencing in the yard last weekend. I ran some green plastic-coated fence through and behind the large forsythia that runs along part of the yard. The other parts of the yard are enclosed with a four-foot chain-link fence and my other neighbor’s hedgerow of arborvitae, before which Meche put a three-foot plastic fence that stops the kids—and now Maya—from getting through.

The dog is thoroughly enjoying her freedom in the yard and runs like a demon around and across the yard. We’ve only a quarter-acre lot so it’s not huge, but it is sufficient to give her space to dash. I’ve spent a fair amount of time tossing a green tennis ball for her to chase.

We’re going for a walk in a little while, but not where I had been going the week before last, when I was exploring a place called Sunny Ridge Preserve. The place was fascinating with all sort of stonework, including a high stone dam in a narrow trough in the rock through which a stream runs. The preserve is supposed to offer a great view from the ridge, though Maya was never willing to keep going to get there since the trail climbs steeply to get there. The area is pretty rough, with lots of downed trees and tangles of shrubs. I want to research what the area was used for and will have to check out the Web on it. But for now I’m turned off to going there because last week I took six ugly gray, apple-seed sized ticks off of Maya, and one off of me! I still have welt under my arm from the nasty thing. Maybe I’m maligning the preserve but I feel that’s where we picked them up. I’ve never found such nasty creatures in my yard, although I know they could be there. I’d love to explore that area more but right now I’ve developed an aversion to the place. It’s got a highly negative yuck factor to it now.

Fortunately, I’ve given Maya a treatment for ticks and fleas and the ticks I took offer her appeared to be dead. I didn’t realize the treatment doesn’t stop ticks from latching on, but it kills them once they do!

Now, it’s a sunny spring day, so I’ll head out with the dog. The back yard is nice but this dog is meant for walking.