Easily Ticked Off

I work for a state park in Missouri. A visitor asks me:

Visitor: “So, have all the ticks been tested?”

Me: “Tested? For what?”

Visitor: “For Lyme disease!”

Me: “Uh… no?”

Visitor: “That’s very irresponsible! You should only release ticks into the park if they’re disease-free!”

Me: “The ticks, like all the animals in the park, are wild, ma’am. We don’t release them or anything.”

Visitor: “Well, you should send people out to test them, then! So irresponsible!”

She wandered away shouting “irresponsible” while I was conjuring up images of medical professionals with a tent asking the local ticks to come in for a free medical screening…