Critters and fleas

[Machias]

Just a reminder since we have alot of guys really getting into calling and such.  It's a good idea to take along a heavy plastic bag and put your bobcat or yotey in the bag and spray a good quality flea killer in there and seal it up.  It is not unheard of catching some nasty disease from a flea bitten critter, then they'd end up having the last laugh on you.   

[Big10gauge]

Other zoonotic diseases you can get:
Rabies, Hantavirus, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Lyme Disease, Q Fever, Plague, Tularemia, Leptospirosis, Brucellosis, Typhus, Arbovirus, Encephalitis, Spirochaetal, Relapsing Fever, Psitticosis, Anthrax, Coccidioidomycosis, Giardiasis, Ascariasis and Hydatid Diseases,Lyme and Rocky Mt fever.

[bigdave]

This is an important reminder!!

About three years ago I decided I was going to tan a deer hide. So anyway, I got to the part of the process where I had to scrape the hair off the hide after soaking it. Well, I had on rubber gloves but they got ripped up pretty quick. I got tired of putting on new ones and just gave up and got to work.

About three days later, my index finger on my right hand was starting to swell and turn red. Soon it spread to my thumb and middle finger. So on thanksgiving I ended up going to a "doc-in-box" emergency center. They said infection, and gave me antibiotics. Well, after the antibiotics it had slowed but it came raging back and now my whole hand was red and my fingers looked like they were about to split. My mom, who is a nurse called an infectious disease doc that she knew and he got me in that day after hours.

Turned out to be non-airborne anthrax. Entered through a split in my finger from dry skin.

Be very careful handling hides and such.

Dave