Piques are parasitic fleas that live in soil and sand and feed intermittently on warm-blooded hosts. In order to reproduce, the female flea burrows head-first into the hosts' skin, usually around the toe nails. It is recognizable by a black dot with a white egg sack around it. During the first day or two, the host may feel an itching or irritation. As the sack grows bigger under the skin, it may be very irritating.
In Paraguay piques are the norm and we get them quite often (on a daily basis). In fact, if a task is easy, the Paraguayans have a saying that it is as easy as getting a pique out.
1 comment:
I remember those piques! If customs only knew I had smuggled them in once. Boy my mom was "thrilled" one afternoon having to get them out in our little apartment in Arlington, VA :)
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