Wednesday, February 21, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Son-of-a-gun, as I was
inspecting the back of my
hand I suddenly saw some-
thing dark on the inside of
my ring ringer and turned my
hand over. The “something”
was a split-second ahead of
me and swiftly went to the
other side of my finger, so I
turned it back, and whatever
the creature was darted out of
sight again.
We played that game of
flip-flop another three times
and then I put an end to it
by using the finger from my
right hand to prevent what-
ever it was from scampering
away from my line of sight.
What you see above is what
came into focus in my Canon
when I stopped it from run-
ning out of my line of sight.
That, Oh Best Beloved, is
not an animal you want run-
ning around on your finger,
hand, arm or any part of your
body. That’s a “True Bug”
and true bugs make a living
by sucking fluids from their
host. They have a mouth-
part that is truly hideous. It’s
a stabbing sucker that can
pierce any skin the bug wants
it to. Be it reptile, amphibian,
mammal, corn stalk, tomato
vine or elephant — depend-
ing on what the family and
species — a true bug can
pierce it.
It’s an insect you can
really call a “bug,” they all
have an “x” on their backs,
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
‘True bugs’ can
be kissers
So, there I was, just get-
ting into my old 4Runner
after dropping off some
French chocolate to my dear
old pal Fetty, at her place out
near Cascade Estates, when I
felt something touch my left
finger.
In spite of my pushing 90
I still have pretty good tactile
senses, so I knew it wasn’t
my imagination.
I looked at my left hand,
but couldn’t see anything,
so I buckled up my seat
belt, started that faithful old
machine, put it in gear and
started out of Fetty’s drive-
way. But then I felt some-
thing crawling on my hand.
“What the heck…” I said
aloud and shut off the igni-
tion, left the 4Runner in gear
and put my hand right in
front of my face and began to
slowly turn it.
and I think this one is a “kiss-
ing bug.” That doesn’t mean
it’s the least bit friendly, or
romantic; it means it has a
light touch when it pauses to
stab its a syringe-like device
into your flesh.
However, like the mos-
quito when it’s sucking your
blood, the true bug is also
pumping an anticoagulant
into the hole at the same
time, and among the chemi-
cals that it’s giving you there
could be an ensuing infec-
tion that ain’t pretty. Even
the feces of some of these
bugs carries bad stuff in the
form of a parasite. As far as I
know, the worst infection one
can get from a kissing bug
is chagas disease, a tropical
parasite — but there may be
others nastier.
OK, now that I’ve scared
the daylights out of you,
here comes the good news.
The particular bug that car-
ries that disease has not been
found north of the California
border yet. BUT, with Central
American butterflies show-
ing up in Texas, New Mexico
and Arizona, that could mean
that other so-called tropical
insects could also be coming
north, and among them the
kissing bugs.
So, when you head south
to visit relatives, go to a con-
vention, an air show, or race
motorcycles, be aware of any
dark, true bug-like insect
15
PHOTO BY JIM ANDERSON
If you feel this kisser on your kisser, get rid of it, quick — but save it!
— like that one above —
coming to rest on your sweet
body. They are not as noisy
as a mosquito, although they
do make a musical sound
while flying. Their touch is
light, as you would expect
for an animal that can inject
that monstrous mouthpart
into your flesh to suck your
blood and pass on some of its
chemicals.
Now you can do the
health department (and your-
self) a service. Should you
be bitten/punctured by a true
bug, please don’t smash it
and brush it away. I know
this sounds crazy, but please,
capture it and put it in a plas-
tic bag with your name, con-
tact information, date, time
and location.
Save it or ship it to me if
you like and I’ll pass it on
to the proper health depart-
ment, or you can drop it off
to a county health depart-
ment wherever you are, and
by all means, tell your doctor
what took place, especially
if you’re in Texas or the
Southwest.
I can be contacted at
P.O. Box 1513, Sisters,
OR 97759, or my email is
jimnaturalist@gmail.com.
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