By 
It was HOT today! Sunny. Lovely. Hot. Kate and Corey were home so we got to hang out in the paddock together this morning. Lots of donkeys soaking up lots of love. Rosie made sure to be right in the thick of the people ‘herd’. I think Corey must have scratched her back for a good half an hour with a piece of wood he found. Rosie just soaked it up – pushed right into him for more attention any time he slowed down. Ha! The mural got some more oooooooooh’s and ahhhhhhhhhh’s. Funny to watch the jennies look it over again as the people did.
I spent a long time picking ticks off of Darby today. Darn!!! She came up to me and put her face in my hand … which is unusual. Then I realized there was a ‘bump’ which turned out to be a tick. I got a halter out and tied her to the post and then used the tick twister to get at it. Thought that was the end of that … not. This afternoon I found two more, one on her neck and another on her chest. The jennies like to spend time in the woods this time of year. My understanding is that there are likely active ticks buried in the leaves … through which they graze… They leave an awfully big bite mark and lots of itchy days that follow. I then checked Rosie and found she certainly had some bites too – but couldn’t find any ticks there. Time for high alert.
The Meadow View 
We too have been relatively tick-free this summer despite being prepared for the worst……….however the past week has shown us that things have changed! You are so right about High Alert! I guess all we can say is that we had a relative reprieve…..and now we pay the price.
Best of luck to us all!
Yes, I’ve gone back to using the insecticide spray I used in the spring. There were no ticks on the girls this morning … hopefully it will help us through this biting season.