. 864 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. THE SHEEP TICK-MELOPHAGUS OVINUS. Some writers on sheep and their numerous troubles, have said that this insect seldom causes much damage to the sheep in any way. Experienced shepherds wi:l difier in this. They are well aware that this insect does very serious injury to the sheep as being both the direct and indirect cause of not inconvenience, but disturbance of the health and prosperity of both the sheep and the lambs. They interfere with the growth of the lambs by crowding on to them as soon as the ewes are shorn, and then *^' ^^' begins a mostly unsuspected
. 864 THE DOMESTIC SHEEP. THE SHEEP TICK-MELOPHAGUS OVINUS. Some writers on sheep and their numerous troubles, have said that this insect seldom causes much damage to the sheep in any way. Experienced shepherds wi:l difier in this. They are well aware that this insect does very serious injury to the sheep as being both the direct and indirect cause of not inconvenience, but disturbance of the health and prosperity of both the sheep and the lambs. They interfere with the growth of the lambs by crowding on to them as soon as the ewes are shorn, and then *^' ^^' begins a mostly unsuspected drainage of the life blood of the hope of the liock, as the ancient writer well called the lambs. The lambs, suffering seriously from these blood suckers, one hun- dred of which on a lamb will easily drain it dry of blood in a few days, cannot prosper, and soon become emaciated and weak, and never after recover the loss of vitality thus inflicted on them. This insect is a degraded fly in every sense of the word, hav ing no wings, but six legs only. The species differs from the true ticks, which belong to the spider family, while the sheep tick is a member of the diptera or tAvo-winged insects, which have only six legs,the spider families having eight legs. Like many other flies, as the deer fly, the horse fly, and the mosquito, the sheep tick is a blood sucker and an exceedingly hungry one. Sixty drops are the usual measure of one liquid ounce, and an inch tick will easily draw several drops of blood from a lamb in twenty-four hours, always having its pump in operation, day and night, and it is by no means rare that a hundred of these pests may feed on one lamb, it is easy to figure out the problem, how long will so many ticks drain a lamb dry of blood. \^^ien the ewes are shorn, the ticks migrate immediately on to the lambs, burying themselves in the thick, short wool and im- mediately begin active business. This serious view of the case of the ticks against the sheep, is not
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectsheep, bookyear1900
