Bleech.

Because there are no deer in "my" woods behind my house, I get spoiled. I can wander there with impunity and bring home nothing but memories.

Alas, other Virginia woods have lots of deer. And where there are deer, there also lives a certain disgusting, repulsive, nasty little parasite called a tick.

If you've never been tick-bit, count your blessings. Unlike a mosquito, which dines on you and then skedaddles to avoid being smacked, a tick intends to ride you for the long haul, sucking and swelling. Eventually, nicely engorged, the thing will finally fall off, but who wants to wait that long?

So you have to pull it out. That's no job for the squeamish.

Last night, something didn't feel quite right. I examined what at first glance appeared to be a mole, where I didn't remember having a mole before. Sure enough, twas a tick, probably picked up when I embraced the ground the other day taking those arbutus photos.

Experts advise that a tick should be removed firmly but not too quickly and not by burning it with a match head or other folk remedies. You don't want the thing's head by which it is attached to you, to break off and be stuck in your skin.

Evolution has given us wonderful creatures like the blue whale and ladyslipper orchid. It has also given us fleas, tapeworms and ticks.