Aug 25 2008
A Little too Close to Nature
Lizards and Snakes and Ticks, Oh My!
Saturday’s family activity was a trip to the Pinelands Folk Festival in Estell Manor Park, NJ. The Folk Festival wound up to be more of craft show with bands playing. Though the kids loved trying cotton candy.
Plus my middle son now has a new life ambiton, he wants to earn a living by carving wood. We saw a man selling his carvings, which were really cool, of people and wildlife.
So, anywho, we decided to take a walk along the trails which is something we all enjoy. We did get to see a lizard, which I think was a skink, a small snake that I actually picked up because he wasn’t much bigger then a worm and several deer a bit off our path. So all in all it was a great walk.
However, as we were driving to another part of the park where the nature center was, my daughter announces from the backseat, and fairly calmly I might add, “I have little ticks all over me.” The boys looked down and found they did as well. They looked like moving freckles.
My husband pulled into the first parking site available and we scraped the little buggers off the kids as best we could with their clothes on.
Unfortunately, the nature center was closed by the time we got there but we did find a ranger who told us they weren’t deer ticks (Thank you God) but hatchlings. It was apparently hatchling season and the kids had walked past a nest. Oh joy.
She told us take them home, really scrub them down, wash their clothes and all rags and towels in hot water (which I did twice to be safe) and to freeze the shoes (in a plastic bag) over night to kill any on the shoes.
What a day of memories and bonding. Apparently bug spray doesn’t work on ticks because we were wearing it in case you were wondering
2 Responses to “A Little too Close to Nature”
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I’ve been to some much better Jersey festivals. In the fall there’s usually a lot at the wineries. Ever tasted blueberry wine? There’s tons to do in the Pine Barrens. This was just not a good day. The park was beuatiful though, just could have done without our little guests.