Ticks suck: Do as I say and don't get bit

Or do as I did and get sick as a dog

Female Lone Star tick. Left, and male, right. Photo by R. Grantham OSU

Please forgive the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do nature of what follows. In a tick-heavy season, I got a little careless with tick avoidance this summer and let myself lose the better part of two weeks to tick fever.

At least, that’s what my doctor thinks. Despite negative tests, during a f…