Ticks! Ticks! Ticks!
In his seminal paper about the Rocky Mountain wood tick and the associated fever it causes, the celebrated scientist Willy Burgdorfer said: “In March or April, when the snow begins to melt of the south slopes of the mountains, adult ticks come our from hibernation and climb to the tips of low vegetation in search of hosts.”
Note the esteemed scientist, who investigated tick fever at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, uses the time frame “March or April.” He did NOT say February.
And yet I have it on excellent authority that the Rocky Mountain wood tick is indeed on the prowl in the Bitterroot. I learned this on Wednesday, when I passed by friend Levi Parchen coming out of the University Center on Wednesday. Levi, a fellow board member of the Bitterroot Climbing Coalition, had just gotten a hair cut. Levi isn’t the sort to pay significant attention to his hair, so it took me by surprise.
“Ticks,” he said. “They’re out. Don’t won’t to bring them home.”
Male and female wood ticks
Levi had been climbing on Saturday in Blodgett Canyon, which sits in view of Burgdorher’s RML, when he encountered the verminous pest. “Not a lot of them, but we got a couple.”
Levi was climbing on the Parking Lot Wall, which is several hundred feet higher than the trail up the canyon, and has far more exposure to the sun. But if ticks are on the wall, it won’t be long til they’re everywhere up and down the Bitterroot.
Ticks in the Bitterroot is no surprise, of course, but February is a little early. I suppose it’s just a sign of the dismal, snow-less winter we’ve had, combined with a few days of sun. In any case, ARGH.
Just a couple of days ago, my friend Dane Scott sent me some pictures from a wall he’s been putting up new routes on in Mill Creek. The name of that wall: the Tick Farm.
Consider yourself warned.
Michael Moore
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