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Bodies, Boundaries and Vulnerabilities pp 81–98Cite as

Toxic Skin and Animal Mops: Ticks and Humanimal Vulnerabilities

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Part of the book series: Crossroads of Knowledge ((CROKNOW))

Abstract

This chapter draws attention to bodily boundaries between species of bacteria and the bodies of ticks, pets and humans, examining how ‘spot-on’ treatments for protection against ticks and fleas are used to protect human and companion animal bodies, relationships, and spaces from the threats of parasites. Such threats, it is argued, are controlled on the bodies of pets through the creation of ‘toxic skin’ that comes to serve as a protective boundary between human bodies and spaces and the threats of parasites. Suggesting that the parasitic relation can be used as an analytical tool for engaging with the politics of multispecies codependencies, the chapter addresses how parasitic relations challenge notions of human exceptionalism and the integrity of bodily boundaries. It demonstrates how spot-on treatments respond to such challenges by drawing lines through and around relations between human and non-human-animal bodies premised on the priority of particular bodily perspectives and ways of relating. The chapter concludes with the consideration that ticks, in spite of being an unwelcome parasite conceptualised and experienced as a threat, may be seen as the companion species par excellence as they bind together and are bound with a multitude of other species.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    www.Frontline.com/ (USA) http://uk.Frontline.com/Pages/default.aspx (UK) http://Frontline.se.merial.com/html/play/index.asp (SWEDEN). The adverts described have or will probably be replaced. Unfortunately, due to copyright restrictions, the images cannot be reproduced here; however, screen grabs are available for illustrative purposes from the author.

  2. 2.

    http://www.who.int/immunization/topics/tick_encephalitis/en/, accessed 3/5/11.

  3. 3.

    Although I recognise that the term pet is a problematic term, it is used here to avoid confusion between companion animal and companion species, which is dealt with towards the end of the chapter.

  4. 4.

    Mutualism refers to two or more organisms in close association where both organisms benefit directly – a prime example is the union between nitrogen-fixing bacteria and root nodules in leguminous plants. Commensalism is used to refer to organisms in close association where one organism benefits with no direct cost to the other. The mutualism, commensalism, parasitism distinction becomes less significant when considered in relation to longer time frames, and given the more dynamic understandings of parasitism described in this chapter, this distinction becomes less significant.

  5. 5.

    http://Frontline.us.merial.com/prd.asp, accessed 11-11-11.

  6. 6.

    http://uk.Frontline.com/products/spot-on/Pages/How-FRONTLINE-Spot-On-Works.aspx, accessed 11-11-11.

  7. 7.

    9.9 % of reported cases in cats and 3.3 % in dogs with a total reported cases = 316.

  8. 8.

    4.5–9 kg.

  9. 9.

    This is not to attend to the transgressive and usually illegal acts of beastiality, but acknowledge the social-, economic-, personal- and care-filled intimacies of choosing to live with other species (see Rudy 2011 for a discussion of this point).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Gender Research, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Jacob Bull

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  1. Jacob Bull
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Correspondence to Jacob Bull .

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  1. Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Lisa Folkmarson Käll

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Bull, J. (2016). Toxic Skin and Animal Mops: Ticks and Humanimal Vulnerabilities. In: Käll, L. (eds) Bodies, Boundaries and Vulnerabilities. Crossroads of Knowledge. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22494-7_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22494-7_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-22493-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-22494-7

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