Not wolves, bears or lynxes – the meanest critter in Estonia is 2mm long, and almost impossible to avoid. Ticks are much like spiders and crawl up your leg to blood vessels within easy reach. They bite by impaling their entire head into the body, and you don’t even necessarily feel it. As they suck your blood, they grow, and if undetected, they eventually fall off to lay eggs and complete their life cycle.
European tick: Source: NOVA/ERR
An estimated one-quarter of ticks in Estonia carry borrelia bacteria, we were told, which cause Lyme disease. This, if untreated, can end up being extremely debilitating. The cure is straightforward, a course of antibiotics; however, you will need to visit your GP to get a prescription.
During our cycling trip we picked up many ticks, mostly at the forest campsites where we stayed. They seemed to be in the grass. In almost all cases, we could brush them off or squash them between fingernails. We did get bitten, and the recipe is to grab the tick with tweezers, rotate it 90 degrees and quickly pull it out. Checking for ticks became a daily chore. We discovered that ticks can easily survive a sauna, and any dunking in cold water.
The Mayo Clinic website link above spells out the most common symptoms of Lyme disease as the bacterial infection gradually progresses. It usually starts with a circular rash around the bite mark. If untreated, you could end up eventually with arthritis in your knees, an irregular heartbeat, and / or vision loss. Best to get in early with the antibiotics.
As to the wolves, bears and lynxes, animals we would very much like to have seen, they were a no show, even though relatively common at places. Our Estonian friends said the most likely interaction is to see their footprints in snow. Being summer, there was none to be had, and no footprints.
We twice saw a roe deer shoot across a forest road we were cycling on. We may have seen a jackal, an imported animal that has been spreading through Estonia. No foxes, and no elk or moose other than road signs warning of their local presence. You certainly wouldn’t want to hit one in a car, and it goes without saying how an elk would feel about it.t
Returning to the tick or puuk, the disease-bearing arachnid is not confined to Estonia, but widespread throughout northern Europe and North America. Travel writer Bill Bryson had a lot to say on the subject in his amusing pilgrimage through the Appalachians, “A Walk In The Woods”.
A National Institute of Health Development study published in July 2022 revealed a significant increase in tick finds around the country over the last decade, and also an increase in the incidence of tick-borne diseases. Besides Lyme disease, there are several other pathogens ticks can carry, including a variety of encephalitis, against which one can be vaccinated.
Kommentare