Boars and Ticks

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Faver Dykes State Park, St. Augustine, Florida

This traveling stuff does get to be a lot of work. We thought we were adjusting for our old age and the exhaustion that comes with all of this having-fun-work by dropping in a down-day every now and then. But we are finding that even the down days aren't altogether restful. Yes, we do sleep in, and almost always get a nap, but we also have maintenance work to do like grocery shopping, laundry, and trailer cleaning. Those things not only take time, but they take energy and add a bit of stress to the day - where, for example, do we find a laundromat? Or a grocery store? We are thinking that maybe we need to throw in maintenance days to take care of the chores and errands, and then keep the 'down-days' for real, do-nothing, rest, days. Could add a week or so to a trip as long as this one, but it might make the whole thing a lot easier.

Yesterday was a down day, and we did sleep in, and took a nap, but we also had to make a supply run into St. Augustine for groceries (ice, half & half, grated cheese,...) and gas up the car - which is a lot easier to do without the trailer attached. So that took a couple of hours out of the day and added some stress.

And we took a hike that maybe we shouldn't have done for several reasons. But Joan really likes this forest we are in, and there are several short hikes here in the state park that we saw on the map. So she decided to take the dogs on the longest one, 2.6 miles, round-trip - about the same as a walk around our block at home. We sprayed on the Off!, leashed up the girls, and headed for the trail.

There we met with the park ranger who cautioned us about this particular trail. He said that several folks had tried it recently and ended up 'covered' with ticks. It was a beautiful trail, but he wanted to make sure we understood the hazards. We said we had sprayed on bug spray and that the girls were on Frontline, he replied that that would help, but we were still likely to pick some up. But he suggested that as long as we kept the girls out of the bushes, we might do OK.

Once Joan gets an idea, especially if its part of her 'Bucket-List Rebellion', well, just get out of the way. So off we headed. It was hot and muggy, but the trail was beautiful. It starts through dense forest canopied with tall trees dripping with Spanish Moss and an understory of palmettos. If it weren't for the trail, we would need machetes to cut through the dense growth. Then, after about a half-mile, it meets a salt marsh with a 'creek' in the distance. (Those of us from the west would call it a river, but I guess all things are relative!). Then the trail makes a left turn and parallels the creek out to an opening with a broad vista of the marsh and the mouth of the Matanzas river. The trail was gorgeous and the views made the sweating worthwhile.

About a quarter-mile into the journey, we hear some grunting off in the bushes about 50 feet up the trail. Fleur takes her defensive stance, and then, bolting across the path, are two big black pigs. Well, not pigs exactly - they looked too mean to be regular pigs. They weren't huge, but were easily three or four times bigger than Fleur. Normally, Fleur barks at things she finds upsetting, but she was very quiet during this encounter and just studied these animals as they darted across the path. I knew they were wild boars, but Fleur had never seen one, so she gets a new badge in her travels. As we continued our walk, we heard a snort in the bushes and Fleur was definitely paying attention as I hurriedly moved everyone along. Wild boars were not on any list of park animals we had seen, but they were there. I don't know much about these animals, but I don't think I want a close encounter with one.

When we got back to the trailer, everyone was hot and thirsty. Smooch especially seems to get overheated on some of our walks. So we let the dogs get cooled off in the air-conditioned trailer, and then began the inspection. Sure enough, despite being very cautious, we quickly found two ticks on Smooch - not yet lodged into the skin, but cruising through her hair. Fleur, though, had one lodged on her belly and we had to tweezer that one out. Fleur's thick coat may make it more difficult for them to get to her, but her hair being mostly black, we might have trouble seeing them.

Anyway, we spent an hour looking for ticks, first on the dogs, and then on each other before heading to the showers. We'll be checking the dogs the next few days, hoping we find them all. Interestingly, the science on ticks seems to have changed. I had always understood that you absolutely have to get the heads out or risk infection of various kinds. But apparently now they say the diseases come from the bodies, not the heads, and that as long as you get the bodies out you should be OK. If you crush them, then you need to wash everything.

As beautiful as this place is, it has its downsides. I think, though, that we are done taking the dogs for hikes through these forests - too much work afterwards. And work is not what you want on a down-day.

(17.1.39)

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Photos

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Heading down the Faver Dykes Trail

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More of the trail

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Boars Came Out of the Forest about Here

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Damage from Hurricane Matthew

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More from Matthew

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The. 'Creek' at the end of the Trail