BEWARE! TICKS ARE IN ABUNDANCE THIS YEAR. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Preventing Tick Bites

While it is a good idea to take preventive measures against ticks year-round, be extra vigilant in warmer months (April-September) when ticks are most active.

Avoid Direct Contact with Ticks

• Avoid wooded and bushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.
• Walk in the center of trails.

Repel Ticks with DEET or Permethrin

• Use repellents that contain 20 to 30% DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) on exposed skin and clothing for protection that lasts up to several hours. Always follow product instructions. Parents should apply this product to their children, avoiding hands, eyes, and mouth.
• Use products that contain permethrin on clothing. Treat clothing and gear, such as boots, pants, socks and tents with products containing 0.5% permethrin. It remains protective through several washings. Pre-treated clothing is available and may be protective longer.
• Other repellents registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may be found at http://cfpub.epa.gov/oppref/insect/.

Find and Remove Ticks from Your Body

• Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors (preferably within two hours) to wash off and more easily find ticks that are crawling on you.
• Conduct a full-body tick check using a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body upon return from tick-infested areas. Parents should check their children for ticks under the arms, in and around the ears, inside the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs, around the waist, and especially in their hair.
• Examine gear and pets. Ticks can ride into the home on clothing and pets, then attach to a person later, so carefully examine pets, coats, and day packs.
• Tumble clothes in a dryer on high heat for an hour to kill remaining ticks. (Some research suggests that shorter drying times may also be effective, particularly if the clothing is not wet.) 

 

TICK SEASON IS IN FULL SWING. TICKS THRIVE IN HOT WEATHER. EVEN THOUGH YOU MIGHT USE A PROTECTANT ON YOUR DOGS AND CATS, TICKS ARE OFTEN FOUND ON THEIR BODIES. KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR!

                    

With tick season upon us, we spoke to Bruce Kornreich, Associate Director for Education and Outreach at the Cornell Feline Health Center, to learn the fine points of tick monitoring and removal. Ticks pose a serious threat to both dogs and their human companions. Canines are at risk of contracting tickborne diseases like Lyme disease, Hemobartonellosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesiosis, and others. Like the old scout motto says … be prepared! Bark: How do you remove a tick? Kornreich: To remove a tick, use a fine-tipped tweezer, hold it near the animal’s skin, grasp the tick and pull upwards without twisting. You should never directly handle or crush a tick with your hands. To dispose of ticks after removal, place them in a sealed bag, flush them down the toilet, wrap them tightly in tape, or immerse them in alcohol. Washing your hands well after removing a tick is a good idea. Bark: What about those remedies we learned at camp? Don’t believe the old tales about using burned matches, nail polish, or Vaseline to kill ticks embedded in the skin. Removal is a much better idea, and do it as soon as possible because there’s evidence that suggests the longer you wait the more likely it is your pet will contract a tickborne illness. Bark: How should I monitor my dog for ticks? Regular tick checks are really important for pets and humans. To find ticks on your cat or dog, you will have to feel them all over with your fingers. It’s a lot harder to find ticks on long haired animals than short haired animals. Often people won’t find them until they’ve taken a blood meal, which makes them larger and more conspicuous. If the tick is engorged with blood, then it’s been feeding for a while and it’s more likely that your pet could contract a tickborne illness. You can preserve the tick by taping it— with clear tape—to a piece of paper and keeping it in the freezer or preserve it in a small container of rubbing alcohol. If your pet becomes sick in the following weeks or months, your vet may be able to identify the tick, and that may provide information about the possible diseases involved. In dogs, Lyme disease is one of the most common tickborne illnesses. Lameness is often the first sign of Lyme infection, and if your dog becomes lame during tick season you should be doubly suspicious of the possibility of Lyme. Other signs of infection include lethargy and fever.

Zoe Conrad is a Bark contributing editor.

State Forestry Officials Warn of High Infestation of The Browntail Moth Caterpillar

AUGUSTA, Maine - State forestry officials say that this year's infestation of the noxious invasive insect known as the browntail moth caterpillar is going to be worse than last year.
Maine Forest Service entomologist Charlene Donahue says winter surveys of webs in the tops of trees, such as oak and apple, show that browntail moth numbers are up, although biologists aren't sure why.

 

What people are sure of is that the hairs of the caterpillar can cause a nasty rash similar to poison ivy, along with respiratory distress in some people who come in contact with them.

"It's a really hairy caterpillar," Donahue says. "It has very small, almost microscopic, hairs on the body as well that have a chemical in them that causes a nasty reaction. And those hairs also have a hook on them, like a fish hook, a barb, so when they go in they don't come out."
Donahue says, this year, evidence of the caterpillar has been found from Waterville to Cape Elizabeth and Bath to Whitefield.  The highest concentrations have been found in the Bowdoinham, Topsham, Bath, Harpswell and Freeport area.
Donahue says people in areas where the caterpillar has been found should take extra precautions during the late spring and summer. She says the chemical in the caterpillar's hairs can stay active for years.

 

This was originally posted on the pages of Maine Public Broadcasting News.

You can follow MPBN on the internet at: http://news.mpbn.net/

Two Maine Native Peoples Pull Representatives from Maine Legislature

AUGUSTA, Maine —Two American Indian tribes are pulling their representatives from the Maine Legislature in protest over their treatment by the state.
Wayne Mitchell, of Penobscot Nation, and Matthew Dana, of the Passamaquoddy Tribe, said Tuesday that they will no longer serve in the Maine House of Representatives.
Tribal representatives are not allowed to vote in the House but can vote at the committee level and introduce bills.
The tribes have clashed with Republican Gov. Paul LePage's administration over a variety of issues, including fishing quotas and gambling.

Last month, LePage rescinded an executive order that sought to promote cooperation between the state and the tribes, saying that efforts to do so have proved unproductive.
The LePage administration issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying, "The governor had hoped his 2011 executive order would have improved the relationship between the state and the tribes. Since then, the tribes have had difficulty working together, and they have not been cooperative in working with the state."
Dana said Tuesday that he can no longer participate in a system that "perpetuates a paternalistic attitude."
Maliseet Rep. Henry Bear said while their tribe fully supports the Penobscot and Passamaquaoddy tribes, they are taking a different course of action and will remain in the Legislature.

The Maliseet chief is scheduled to meet with LePage on Friday, Bear said.
A spokeswoman for Speaker of the House Mark Eves said the tribes' withdrawal was very unexpected.
Spokeswoman Jodi Quintero said Eves is concerned by the tribes' actions and will work to convince the tribes to return to the Legislature.

Posted originally by WMTW8 News.

LEBANON HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEETING MAY 26TH Focuses on Town's First Pastor, Rev. Isaac Hassey

Town's first minister focus of Historical Society talk

 

 

LEBANON - The Lebanon Historical Society's June meeting is at the Martha Sawyer Library in the Hanson School on Monday at 7 p.m.
The program for the evening will be presented by Marilyn Bolduc and Linda Stesienko, who spent months transcribing a few of the first sermons given by Issac Hassey, the first Minister of First Parish Church of Lebanon in 1765. He fulfilled the requirements of having a minister before the Town could be incorporated.
This Town of Lebanon was incorporated in 1767.

Meetings are always open to the public. 

Thank you Harrison Thorp and The Lebanon Voice for allowing us to repost the agenda for this very special meeting.

LEBANON MEETING TO DISCUSS UPCOMING REFERENDUMS

Rescue, Fire paid staffing, selectmen benefits sure to stir debate

Harrison Thorp     Thank you Harrison Thorp and The Lebanon Voice

 

LEBANON - Discussions on 14-hour-a-day paid staffing at the town's Rescue and Fire departments, whether selectmen should get health and vacation packages like other full-time town workers and if the town should adopt a town manager form of government are just a few of the potentially contentious items on this year's town warrant, which will be deliberated upon tonight at 7 at the Lebanon Elementary School.
The moderator for tonight's public hearing will be an attorney from the law offices of Bernstein Shur of Portland, Maine, which represents the town in litigation matters.
It was back in March that newly appointed Fire and Rescue Chief Dan Meehan first presented the proposals that would include paid staffing at both first responder stationhouses. The annual expense is roughly $100,000 apiece for both Fire and Rescue personnel.
Other Fire and Rescue questions include whether town voters should allow what is left in the Rescue Department's enterprise account to flow into the general fund and whether the two departments should be combined.
Also sure to draw some controversy is the Town Manager issue which comprises two questions, one that would change the town's form of government and the other that would pay the town manager $60,000 a year plus expenses. Both citizens' petitions were brought forth by selectman candidate Corinna Cole.
Meanwhile, two ballot questions address whether town employee benefit packages should be 1) given to selectmen and 2) offered to the elected road commissioner.
The late Road Commissioner Larry Torno had been given a benefits package, but after his untimely death this winter, selectmen said they realized there was no policy on the books that he should have gotten one, hence the two referendum questions.
Two of three selectmen voted against giving benefits to selectmen, one of three voted against giving them to the road commissioner.
Among the budget committee all eight voted to deny benefits to both selectmen and the road commissioner.
Several articles deal with putting money in Capital Reserve funds so money not expended in the current fiscal year can be rolled over and used into the next.