Good tips, Andy- just one thing about the ticks. I wouldn't throw them in the garbage can still stuck to tape- they are resilient and might work their way off the sticky side, then settle elsewhere in the house. These little b#stards are tough critters. Better to pull them off the tape with tweezers and drop them in the toilet and flush 'em down.
Also if you've pulled an engorged deer tick off yourself, kill it by dipping in rubbing alchol or lighter fluid. If you have Lyme symptoms the tick is easier to test for the virus than human blood, and more accurate. I pulled one off after turkey hunting last year and sent it to the lab- already had Lyme as a teenager and not eager to repeat the experience
Luckily it came back negative.
BTW re: snapping turtles, be careful if you keep your trout on a stringer. 2 yrs ago a buddy & me were fishing the D&R Canal near Lambertville. He caught a nice fat rainbow and the hook shredded one of the gills, so it was bleeding pretty bad. We threw 'em on the stringer and weighed it down with a big rock to keep him from thrashing away.
A few minutes later the stringer starts rattling and the rock rolled off the chain- I couldn't believe a wounded trout could be THAT strong. Like a moron I ran down the bank to grab the stringer, which was almost entirely underwater by then (and the water was very stained and muddy per usual in the canal).
SNAP! A HUGE (and I mean HUGE) snapper had hold of the trout and was grabbing a free snack! It missed chomping my finger by about 6 inches. That thing has a head half the size of an alligator!
Needless to say, we never saw that trout or stringer again! Lesson learned.
