Flea and tick season is here, or at least right around the corner. The last two postings covered flea and tick prevention with chemical products and natural alternatives.
How does animal communication fit into flea and tick prevention? In the book The Voice of
the Infinite in the Small: Re-Visioning the Insect-Human Connection, Joanne Elizabeth Lauck tells the story of a performance artist who worked with a flea circus.
Have you wondered how she trains the fleas to perform? First of all, she glues costumes to their tiny bodies. Then the fleas are attached, with ropes, to a toy train, many times over their weight. Next they are subjected to light. Fleas don’t like light, so in their frantic attempt to get away from the light, they pull the train.
There is also a flea orchestra. The fleas are glued to their chairs, and the instruments are glued to their legs. Again, as the fleas struggle to escape, the impression is given that they are playing the instruments.
Lauck says “Our dislike for these creatures and our vague anxiety about their disease-carrying potential (although the flea that likes to feed on people rarely carries the plague bacteria) suppress what might under other circumstances invoke a response of outrage to such acts of cruelty to living things.” (p37).
According to Lauck, ticks thrive the best in disturbed environments. As we disturb the environment and the ecosystems, we are creating environments that are favorable for ticks. When there is a greater diversity of small mammals, the tick population drops naturally.
As I read these stories, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the fleas and ticks. Is it possible that we humans have played a role in the way they attack us? Just a thought.
In an earlier posting, we discussed seeing life from the animal’s point of view. I invite you to go one step farther in seeing life from the animal’s perspective. Connect with either a flea or tick and look at life through their eyes. By doing this, are you able to speak on their behalf? Do you find yourself feeling empathy towards them? This may not keep the ticks and fleas off you and your pet(s), but it will go a long way in healing the gap that lies between the mammals and the parasites.
Here’s a tip that can help keep the fleas and ticks from attaching themselves to you and your pet(s): Before you go out, place an imaginary permeable shield around you and another around each of your pet partners. Set the intent that air can come through, but fleas and ticks aren’t able to come thorough. When you have finished with your outing, remember to remove the invisible shields. See how that works for you!
Harmony,
Janet Roper
