Ekerö Warnings Or Dangers

Those tiny spider like creatures that also exist in the Alps and Central Europe...In Sweden, they exist up to Gävle and then in a strip just along the coastline a bit further north. They are a nuisance if you walk in the grass in the countryside but wear bright clothes and you will soon see them. Good boots eliminates many on a forest walk. They are mostly harmless and only itch when they have found a nice and humid place on your body to stay. However, in the Stockholm, Uppland, Sörmland area - especially in the archipelagos and Lake Mälaren - they sometimes carry disease. One type is called "borelia" and is a bit like lymes disease. There is no vaccination for this but it can be cured with antibiotics. Symptoms are a bit like the flue. The other one is TBE but luckily fewer ticks carry this one. It CAN give you a sort of meningitis although usually it stays with flue like symptoms and you can vaccinate yourself against this. In fact, there are even special vaccination ships in the Stockholm archipelago in early summer. But don't let any of this stop you from coming to Sweden - if you are a forest walker, just check yourself in the evening so you spot them in time. Best way to get them off if they have already bitten you is NOT to pour anything on them but take a pair of tweezers and pull them straight out, then burn the buggers! What a pleasure that is even for an animal lover like me. I don't understand the existence of these ones!!!