Please wake me from this real estate nightmare, or just give me your advice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can put a 6 foot (or even 8 foot) fence around the perimeter of your property to keep the deer out.

I'm really hoping this is sarcasm. If not, you do realize the ticks aren't actually still attached to the deer when they bite you, right? But once again, I'm really hoping this is sarcasm.

Actually I wasn't being sarcastic. Ticks are associated with the presence of deer. Even though the tick did not jump directly off the deer onto you, the deer did bring it to the area.

I admit my property is much smaller than OP's, but we put a fence around it and never have deer in the yard.

We also fenced in our yard. No deer and aside from a random squirrel not other wild furry animals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can put a 6 foot (or even 8 foot) fence around the perimeter of your property to keep the deer out.

I'm really hoping this is sarcasm. If not, you do realize the ticks aren't actually still attached to the deer when they bite you, right? But once again, I'm really hoping this is sarcasm.

Actually I wasn't being sarcastic. Ticks are associated with the presence of deer. Even though the tick did not jump directly off the deer onto you, the deer did bring it to the area.

I admit my property is much smaller than OP's, but we put a fence around it and never have deer in the yard.

We also fenced in our yard. No deer and aside from a random squirrel not other wild furry animals.

Note the approach in another great New Yorker piece -- neutralize the mice, not the deer! (Also, see how crazy this disease has made the rich folk out there on Nantucket!

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/02/rewriting-the-code-of-life

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You can put a 6 foot (or even 8 foot) fence around the perimeter of your property to keep the deer out.

I'm really hoping this is sarcasm. If not, you do realize the ticks aren't actually still attached to the deer when they bite you, right? But once again, I'm really hoping this is sarcasm.

Actually I wasn't being sarcastic. Ticks are associated with the presence of deer. Even though the tick did not jump directly off the deer onto you, the deer did bring it to the area.

I admit my property is much smaller than OP's, but we put a fence around it and never have deer in the yard.

I just literally shuddered thinking about how much it would cost to fence four acres with an 8-foot fence impenetrable to deer.

[Anonymous]

OMG. You should make sure to NEVER leave your home. There is a giant ball of fire in space that is irradiating ALL of us every day! In the daytime, you can even see it burning bright in the sky, but don't look too closely at it for too long--it might make you blind!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC and got Lyme! Like IN the city, NE to be exact.

But really this is about more than Lyme. It sounds like you may have realized that you are a city person and this lifestyle just isn't for you. Would a different house in the town nearby be better for you? Is there an area near there where you would feel more comfortable that isn't a country setting?

Are you serious? Were you in DC when you were bit? And where?

[Anonymous]

If you move and have a bad pregnancy, injure yourself, get sick, whatever - will you have to move again?

[Anonymous]

I would stay and put something all over my yard. Like diatomaceous earth or something non toxic to me and pets.

otherwise sell and move to AZ.

[Anonymous]

I live in Waldorf, MD and was bitten by a tick and got Lyme (though not nearly to the degree your husband has experienced.) You can't escape it so learn how best to prevent it.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry OP. I totally get it, and I think people who haven't been impacted by tick-bourne diseases may not realize how much they are increasing in frequency, how severe they can be, and how hard it can be to get treatment. The difficulty of getting treatment is maddening, it's almost like gas-lighting by the medical profession. Old thinking (more than 10 years old) on tick-bourne diseases is woefully inadequate for the epidemic we're seeing now.

I have a family member who was bitten by a tick and now is allergic to all red meat. 10 years ago, this was unheard of and people thought developing a meat allergy later in life was impossible.
http://acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergies/types-food-allergy/meat-allergy

Anyway, those who have said you can be bitten anywhere are right, but obviously you're in a higher risk area/property. I'd recommend 3 months of counseling to see if you can overcome the fear/anxiety and truly feel peace in your home. If not, then I'd sell and move. Anxiety will ruin your life, logical or not, and there ARE lower risk areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you move and have a bad pregnancy, injure yourself, get sick, whatever - will you have to move again?

I don't know. I guess that's the problem...obviously you can't live life like that, right? IF the pregnancy were related to something in the environment, maybe? If I lived on a busy street and my kid got hit by a car? Probably. But I don't think we are paranoid about this....we send our kids to an outdoor-based preschool, for instance, and kids there get ticks on a regular basis. We haven't hermetically sealed them in a room or something. You just take the tick down to the town offices for a tick autopsy to see if it carries the disease. It's totally bearable. It's just not...very nice.

Basically, when we moved here from the city, we were making certain sacrifices and tradeoffs: giving up a walkable lifestyle that we knew we loved for a closer relationship with the natural world for us and our kids. So now that we no longer find the natural world to be so lovely to live in and contemplate, are the tradeoffs worth it? It's still safer here with nice kids and schools. You just have to drop your kid in the bath every time they come in from the outdoors. (At least, that's what people recommend. We're still too lazy to quite get on top of it.)

[Anonymous]

I don't think you're crazy to want to move. You thought you would love living in the country, you went thru a traumatic experience there and in general miss the city and want to move back. If it was just the house that bothered you and you wanted to move down the street, that would be silly. I also would think moving is silly if you would lose money on the house and have to go into debt to make this happen. But if you can keep your jobs and it won't upend your kids life, then go for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you move and have a bad pregnancy, injure yourself, get sick, whatever - will you have to move again?

I don't know. I guess that's the problem...obviously you can't live life like that, right? IF the pregnancy were related to something in the environment, maybe? If I lived on a busy street and my kid got hit by a car? Probably. But I don't think we are paranoid about this....we send our kids to an outdoor-based preschool, for instance, and kids there get ticks on a regular basis. We haven't hermetically sealed them in a room or something. You just take the tick down to the town offices for a tick autopsy to see if it carries the disease. It's totally bearable. It's just not...very nice.

Basically, when we moved here from the city, we were making certain sacrifices and tradeoffs: giving up a walkable lifestyle that we knew we loved for a closer relationship with the natural world for us and our kids. So now that we no longer find the natural world to be so lovely to live in and contemplate, are the tradeoffs worth it? It's still safer here with nice kids and schools. You just have to drop your kid in the bath every time they come in from the outdoors. (At least, that's what people recommend. We're still too lazy to quite get on top of it.)

I think you need some therapy. This is not normal behavior. Anything can happen anywhere. There are hazards all around you wherever you go.

[Anonymous]

I was about to suggest the same thing. You might benefit from counseling. Maybe get a referral to a psychiatrist. So many people shy away from therapy. However, it can be incredibly beneficial. And, you would be surprised by how many people are in therapy.

Anonymous wrote:Go see someone about your anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry OP. I totally get it, and I think people who haven't been impacted by tick-bourne diseases may not realize how much they are increasing in frequency, how severe they can be, and how hard it can be to get treatment. The difficulty of getting treatment is maddening, it's almost like gas-lighting by the medical profession. Old thinking (more than 10 years old) on tick-bourne diseases is woefully inadequate for the epidemic we're seeing now.

I have a family member who was bitten by a tick and now is allergic to all red meat. 10 years ago, this was unheard of and people thought developing a meat allergy later in life was impossible.
http://acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergies/types-food-allergy/meat-allergy

Anyway, those who have said you can be bitten anywhere are right, but obviously you're in a higher risk area/property. I'd recommend 3 months of counseling to see if you can overcome the fear/anxiety and truly feel peace in your home. If not, then I'd sell and move. Anxiety will ruin your life, logical or not, and there ARE lower risk areas.

+1 People are piling on, but back to the initial problem, I'm so sorry about this OP. I hope things improve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sorry OP. I totally get it, and I think people who haven't been impacted by tick-bourne diseases may not realize how much they are increasing in frequency, how severe they can be, and how hard it can be to get treatment. The difficulty of getting treatment is maddening, it's almost like gas-lighting by the medical profession. Old thinking (more than 10 years old) on tick-bourne diseases is woefully inadequate for the epidemic we're seeing now.

I have a family member who was bitten by a tick and now is allergic to all red meat. 10 years ago, this was unheard of and people thought developing a meat allergy later in life was impossible.
http://acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergies/types-food-allergy/meat-allergy

Anyway, those who have said you can be bitten anywhere are right, but obviously you're in a higher risk area/property. I'd recommend 3 months of counseling to see if you can overcome the fear/anxiety and truly feel peace in your home. If not, then I'd sell and move. Anxiety will ruin your life, logical or not, and there ARE lower risk areas.

+1 People are piling on, but back to the initial problem, I'm so sorry about this OP. I hope things improve.

Yes, thank you. I'd be mad at them, except that I was one of those people 18 months ago! I totally get it. And I am actually open to therapy. I just want to emphasize that I am not going around swaddled in garbage bags or something like that. I don't think about ticks all day, I go on picnics, etc. However, I also admit that this is about a psychological issue in the deepest sense, though not necessarily a pathological one: this place has just kind of lost its luster for us, and I'm trying to figure out if this makes sense to anybody else, or if all you guys would just suck it up. We moved here for non-valid aesthetic reasons, and because all of this happened before we made new friends, etc., we still have no real reason to stay. I also think our lives could just use a fresh start. But maybe that happens wherever you are.