Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

PESTS OF THE WOODS 255About 1872 it was introduced into Africa, andspread with amazing rapidity over almost the entirecontinent. It will probably soon invade southernEurope and Asia.Ticks.—The wood-ticks that fastenon man are,like the chiggcrs, not true insects, but arachnids, relatedto the scorpions and spiders. They are leathery-skinnedcreatures of about the same size andshape as a bedbug, but of quite different color andhabits. They *' use " on the under side of leaves oflow shrubs, and thence are detached to the person ofa passer-by just as chiggers are. They also aboundin old mulchy wood, and are likely to infest anylog that a tired man sits on. They hang on likegrim death, and if you try to pull one off your skin,its head will break off and remain in the epidermis^to create a nasty sore. The ticks that infest birds,bats, sheep, and horses, are true insects, in no wiserelated to the wood-ticks, dog-ticks, and cattle-ticks.The cattle-tick is responsible for the fatal diseaseamong cattle that is known as Texas fever.Preventive measures are the same as for chiggers.To remove a tick without breaking off its head,drop oil on it, or clap a quid of moistened tobaccoon it, or touch it with nicotine from a pipe, orstand naked in the dense smoke of a green-woodfire, or use whiskey externally, or hot water, orflame ; in either case the tick will back its way out.The meanest ticks to get rid of are the young, whichare known as " seed-ticks." They are hard to discoveruntil they have inflamed the skin, and thenare hard to remove because they are so small andfragile. A man may find himself covered with hundredsof them. In such case let him strip and rubhimself with kerosene, or, lacking that, steep sometobacco or a strong cigar in warm water and do thesame with it. They will drop off.PuNKiES.—The punkie or '* no-see-um " of ournorthern wildwoods, and its cousins the biting gnatsand stinging midges of southern and western forests,are minute bloodsuckers that, according to my