Rabbits, both wild and domestic, are notorious for heavy tick infestations and the cottontails and jackrabbits on Antelope Island share that miserable fate.
It isn’t unusual for me to see rabbits with many ticks, especially on their ears. I photographed this one two years ago near the hay barn on the island. The ears of rabbits, with less protective hair than the rest of the body, seem to be where most of the obvious ticks congregate. Some rabbits seem (visually at least) to be completely free of them while others are obviously heavily infested.
This one is from earlier this summer, also on the island. The backs and inside of its ears also had ticks.
Whenever I see one of these poor tick-infested rabbits I think of my great-great grandparents. I hope you’ll indulge me in a little family history as I explain why.
In the “old west” many early pioneers became seriously ill soon after they reached the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. They thought the mysterious illness was caused by the combination of hot days and cold nights in the mountains so they called it “mountain fever”. The incidence of illness was high – in some wagon trains as high as 50%. Some died but most did not, though they were extremely ill with wide-ranging symptoms such as chills, muscle and joint pain, headache, deep pain behind the eyes, lumbar back pain, nausea and vomiting.
Image courtesy of Daughters of Utah Pioneers
My great-great grandparents, Oliver and Mary Ann Dudley were early Mormon pioneers who crossed the plains in wagons from Winter Quarters, Nebraska (near present-day Omaha) to Utah Territory in 1850. During the trip both Oliver and Mary Ann became extremely ill with mountain fever so there were no adults to drive the wagon and their 15 year old daughter (also named Mary Ann) drove that wagon more than half way across the plains and mountains as her disabled parents rode in the back. I often think of what that experience must have been like for all of them.
Thanks to the research of Jay A. Aldous from the University of Utah (and a few others) we know that “mountain fever” was what we now call Colorado Tick Fever, a disease caused by a virus transmitted by the Rocky Mountain Wood Tick (Cemacenter andersoni). The pioneers rarely rode in their wagons because of the extra load on their animals (besides, those wagons had no springs and it was a jarring experience to ride in one) so everyone walked almost the entire trip. And once they reached the foothills of the Rockies they were largely walking through sagebrush where huge numbers of ticks laid in ambush. In a letter to a friend in 1848 Thomas Bullock wrote (original spelling and punctuation used):
- “(H)ere also commences a five-hundred mile journey through eternal sage plains, from six inches to ten feet high, where the sage is, you must not expect to see any grass, but if you should happen to sit down on a bush, be thanldul if you are not bitten with ‘sage ticks’; they are something like the ticks on cows and very plaguy”.
“Mountain fever” didn’t discriminate when it came to its victims – it even laid Brigham Young low. When he first entered the Salt Lake Valley in July of 1847 he was so ill with mountain fever that he had to be carried in a special wagon to the spot overlooking the valley where he made his famous “This is the place” statement.
So yes when I see ticks on a rabbit in the sagebrush, as I often do on Antelope Island, I think of my ancestors and family history. I’m not Mormon but I admire the hell out of those pioneers, Mormon or not, for their toughness, their fortitude and their gumption. And for the trials they had to endure to fulfill their dream of carving out a new life in a remote and hostile land.
Ron
Addendum: – Another interesting note about Oliver Hunt Dudley and (possibly) ticks – he was a shoemaker and tanner by trade and not long after moving to Brigham City from Salt Lake City (late 1850’s I believe) he was blinded in one eye from handling the skins of sheep that had died from some mysterious disease. I wonder if that disease could be tick-related. Oliver very nearly died from the illness and one woman (who was holding a lantern while the sheep were skinned at night) did die from it. Every time I look at this photo I think his left eye looks slightly different from the right…
This was interesting to read about your ancestor’s arduous journey and grateful the early people wrote about their experiences. I cannot help but admire the early settlers’ tenacity.We have Lyme disease here on the rise, which has incapacitated some with illness. It is good to see a photo that shows what it looks like on the rabbit but I sure have sympathy for it.Found a tick embedded like this on a friend’s dog and it was quite painful for her.
I didn’t mind History. It was first period and I slept through it most of the time. Loved the teacher, didn’t give a hoot about the wars, couldn’t remember the dates…or who did what and why. Had early morning barn chores so arrived to class already tired…bad combination!!! Yet I love ” first hand” (primary source) accounts like yours and historical novels….
Dick Ashford’s mind tickler re: passenger pigeons and ticks makes me wonder…….. I never saw a single tick on any of our dogs or cats when I was a kid, though we spents as much time in the fields, woods, swamp, and down by the stream as possible. A family down the road had a collie that we found one tick on and it was quite an event. There seems to be so many more of them now. It’s hard to avoid them. Were they pigeon food once???
Steve and I appreciate your family history. Thanks for sharing the photo too.
What a truly fascinating look into the very best kind of history. At school history was largely taught as dates and wars. I despised it. If only the human side had been given a larger focus.
The pioneers – in every country – showed incredible courage and fill me with awe.
Rabbits? I associate them firmly with poverty. When times were tough when I was growing up my father went out with a gun. Or a rod. Trout was a winner. Rabbits? Not so much. I snicker when I see rabbit advertised as gourmet food now.
And we are largely tick free here, though a few hours away they are more than prevalent.
Really enjoy your pictures – this topic struck a cord. The Nature of Things have done 2 shows this past year with related topics.
http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/ticked-off-the-mystery-of-lyme-disease
and the creepiest and most fascinating “Invasion of the Brain Snatchers”
http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Shows/The+Nature+of+Things/2013-14/ID/2415885548/?page=2
“Parasites brainwashing their hosts — it sounds like something straight out of science fiction. But this is no horror movie, this is a fascinating, new field of study. From zombie ants to a creature that may be influencing whole human cultures, Invasion of the Brain Snatchers isn’t afraid to dive into the world of parasites.”
Well worth watching this episode. The discussion on toxoplasmosis which is estimated to infect 30% of humans and effect auto accident rates and levels of aggression in societies is an eye opener.
Interesting to read about your ancestors, Ron. Ticks are a fact of life in the Ozarks. One either gets used to dealing with them, never goes outdoors except in mid-winter or moves. (Dealing with them: Frequent tick inspections and removal. “Never ignore an itch.” is our motto.)
The Ozarks sounds like a challenging place to live, Marvin. Don’t think I’d be “ignoring any itches” either…
How interesting! We have a lot of “seed ticks” in Missouri. They seem to be drawn to me and when I get them, I also become infected. I am really interested to know all this info.
Charlotte
I’m glad you found the info interesting and helpful, Charlotte. Thank you.
We see a lot of desert cottontails out at Hueco Tanks, and after thinking about this post a while, I realized that the ones I’ve seen don’t seem to have any ticks. We don’t get that close to them, but in the picture of the one I took last week, the ears are clearly free of ticks. Since rabbits are one of my very favorite creatures, it goes without saying that their freedom from ticks makes me very happy.
Susan, perhaps 3/4 of the rabbits I see (up close through my lens) don’t have any visible ticks but those that do seem to be loaded with them.
Hi Ron,
I was wondering about Feb 29 in a non-leap year…? I’ll research it when I return later today. Thanks!
Cheers,
Dick
Dick, as far as I can tell, Feb. 29, 1809 was a Wednesday. http://www.riderselite.com/calendar/index.php?eventer_year=-1809&eventer_month=2
Yes, ticks are disgusting, and ubiquitous. Once when we were hiking in Blacksmith Fork Canyon, we stopped in a meadow to have lunch. When we got home, we realized that we all had numerous ticks adhering to various body parts. The only one to get sick was my husband, Doug, but a prescription of antibiotics set him straight. What a way to learn not to sit down in an elk bedding spot!
I’ll bet that was a lesson well learned, Tana – for all concerned but especially for Doug!
Hi Ron,
Interesting story, as always. I believe I have previously mentioned the possible relationship between the demise of the Passenger Pigeon and Lyme Disease. Always somethin’…
“Feb 29, 1809”. Is that possible?
Cheers,
Dick
An interesting possibility, isn’t it Dick.
Yes, that’s his birth date as far as I know. This photo was originally from a book published many years ago on the early Mormon pioneers and I know that they prided themselves on the accuracy of that book.
I thought Dick had a good point about the year 1809 because leap years are always on even years…so I looked up a calendar for the year 1809 on the internet and it does not show a Feb. 29 but the year 1808 did have a Feb. 29.
Michele, When I looked it up here http://www.riderselite.com/calendar/index.php?eventer_year=-1809&eventer_month=2 I did find Feb 29 in 1809. What am I missing here? Hope I’m not embarrassed by missing something obvious. Again…
Ron, I think you found a weird calendar. My husband has been intrigued by this possible date and looked up a bunch of stuff. Apparently leap years have been happening in years divisible by 4 since the time of Julius Caesar. And when we googled 1809 calendar, there was no leap day on any of the hits, plus when my husband looked for a list of leap days it showed 1808 and 1812.
I think you’re right, Susan. I just now dug out my “Oliver Hunt Dudley file” (it’s a big one) and all of the documents I checked said that he was born on Feb. 22, 1809 instead of Feb. 29th. I think the book that the photo originated in just got it wrong. Thanks for the sleuthing everyone!
A very interesting story from your history. It breaks my heart to see animals with ticks on their ears. One of the experiences I had a number of years ago was encountering a beautiful little deer at the Assateague National Seashore, whose ears were just densely covered with ticks. The sight is almost as vivid in my mind now as it was when it happened, and that was probably at least 20 years ago.
Susan, there’s just something about ticks that many find extraordinarily disgusting. A friend of mine wonders if we have an innate fear of/loathing for ticks and other parasites…
Ron, it would make sense to me if we do have that innate fear or loathing of parasites. When I was in college I took a class in parasitology, which was fascinating because it opened up a whole new world to me, but at the same time it was disgusting to see some of the results of parasites. I glued a piece of paper into my textbook that would cover the photo of a human leg infested with elephantiasis, because the photo was so disturbing… (you could still flip the paper open to see the photo if you wanted to, but at least then I didn’t have to see it every time I opened the book.)
I’ve seen some of those photos of elephantiasis victims, Susan (and used some of them in class when I was teaching zoology and biology). The ones where the parasite affected the genitals were particularly disturbing (and no, I didn’t use those particular photos in a high school class…)
Another fascinating but sad story Ron. Those poor rabbits. Great history of your family. I love family stories. Here in the Northeast, we have deer ticks and other less dangerous ticks. Deer ticks are the big problem. I don’t live near the woods but I still put flea and tick meds on my sweet dog Henry every month. We also have to worry about mosquitos and West Nile Virus. I love summer but I have to spemd most of it inside looking out.
Thanks, Ellen. Sounds like a variety of arthropod pests make your life “interesting”…
I can’t help but wonder if Young felt so bad that any spot would do! “I don’t care. Just get me off this miserable wagon!” 😀 Thank goodness SLC turned out to be such a lovely spot.
Ha!, Never thought of that possibility, Arwen. After all the trouble they had coming down the west side of the Wasatch Mountains I wouldn’t have blamed him, since he was so ill.
I found today’s blog particularly repulsive and interesting at the same time. Intersesting because i used to do cognitve testing for a neuropsychologist, especially for Lyme Disease related problems…At the time, the results of my testing were often used as evidence in court cases where the patient was trying to get a ruling that would force reluctant, Lyme Disease denying insurance companies to pay up. These companies were denying that there was any such thing. My husband and a couple of my students also had to deal with this issue, along with the disease itself. Even the doctors were skeptical and getting proper medication was difficult. One neurologist I tested for, was finally convinced when he came down with it himself. I am totally repulsed by ticks and the sight of that poor rabbit was pathetic! (Ticks freak out old ladies, too!). The historical/medical info was fascinating…we had wagon train pioneer relatives, too…and their journals relate experiences with illnesses i now realize may very well have been tick related…thanks for the insight..
Good ol’ insurance companies, Patty – ever the benefactors of humanity, huh? Interesting story – thank you for sharing it.
Excellent piece Ron, enjoyed the read and the pictures, it has to be tough on the rabbits!
We have both the Dog Tick and the Deer Tick here. Since I use to spend a great deal of time outside and still do on occasion, I have taken many ticks off of me, but only a few Deer Ticks. Still no fun, yet we have learned a ton since the pioneers settled the west. I can’t help but wonder how all the Indian tribes, both east and west, dealt with Ticks.
Good point about the Indian tribes, Dick. In the past I’ve thought about the many other reasons they must have had a very difficult life but that one escaped me until you mentioned it. Perhaps they had some immunity to tick-borne illnesses since they would have been exposed to them for so long but that’s only a guess…
I had no idea there were ticks in Utah. I know that sounds crazy, but it wasn’t until I moved to NC that I heard about ticks and experienced the “joy” of getting one on me. I have often missed Utah for that one reason. We never put flea/tick medicine on our pets when I lived there, but here, you can’t go without it. As much as I love your pictures, these are a couple I can’t bare to look at for long. Those poor rabbits! I guess there is no escaping those little buggers. I also think it is fun that I share a rather unique birthday with your great-great grandfather.
Michelle, Interesting that you should mention that “unique birthday”. I’ve looked at that photo hundreds of times over the years (and seen his birthday on many other documents) but I never even noticed the specialness of that particular date until this morning while I was writing the post.
I know there’s a place for all creatures, but I wish the place for ticks wasn’t here! My brother in law just returned from a week in the hospital with what was diagnosed as bebesiosis, and my sister thinks she’s just been re-infected with Lyme disease (she’s had her bout in the hospital some years back, too.) Of course, we’re enormously lucky, compared to all the antelope, moose, mice, jackrabbits, etc!
Ugh – can barely stand to look at that poor rabbit…
I love your family history – what stories your forbears could tell! I bet they’d be proud of you… if they could figure out what on earth people in this generation are up to!
Yikes, sounds like some of your family is paying a heavy price for playing host to ticks, Alison. All the time I’ve spent in the “bush”, I don’t think I’ve ever found a tick on me but I’m very careful about them (paranoid?) because when I worked for the Utah Museum of Natural History I often had to pull them off of young students when we were in the field. Ticks can really freak out young kids.