Download pdf - Little Pest, Big Problem Staying Ahead of Lice · Getting rid of lice Lice are hard to get rid of. Lice products sold without a prescription will probably not get rid of all the lice

© 2008 Universal Press Syndicate

release dates: November 15-21 46-1 (08)

from The Mini Page © 2008 Universal Press Syndicate

BETTY DEBNAM – Founding Editor and Editor at Large

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Please include all of the appropriate registered trademark symbols and copyright lines in any publication of The Mini Page®.

It’s a lousy day when you have to dealwith head lice. But many kids in day carecenters and school classrooms have feltthese tiny pests living in their hair.

The Mini Page talked with anentomologist (en-tuh-MAH-luh-jist), anexpert about insects, to find out moreabout head lice.Lousy choices

A louse is one type of insect with nowings. When there is only one, it is calleda louse. More than one are called lice.

Lice have been around for hundreds ofthousands of years. Different kinds of licelive on different kinds of hair. They don’tusually move from one type to another.For example, human head lice would notbe happy living on your pet.

Lice are even picky about what type ofhuman hair they live on. For example,head lice live on the hair on the head.They don’t live onother body hair.Head lice like finehair that growsfairly close toother hairs.

Lice are alsochoosy aboutwhich humansthey live on. One type of louse lives onthe hair of people with Europeanancestors. Another type lives on the hairof people with African ancestors.

Lousy way to liveA louse is a type of

parasite. A parasite is aplant or animal that lives inor on another living creature.This being is called a host.

But the parasite is not a welcomeguest of the host. The parasite feeds offthe host and gives nothing back. Someparasites may harm their hosts. Headlice do not harm humans.

Moving onMost of the time, head lice can live for

only about 12 hours away from the body.Some experts believe lice may be able

to survive for a short time on the haircaught in brushes andcombs. Lice may be passedfrom one person to the nextwhen people share battinghelmets within a couple ofhours during a game.

Little Pest, Big Problem

Staying Ahead of Lice

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An adult louse (left) is tiny, aboutone-tenth of an inch long. It isabout as big as a sesame seed.A baby louse (right and below) iscalled a nymph (nimpf).The female head louse laysabout 6 eggs per day. Each louselives about 32 days. Can youfigure out how many eggs onefemale louse can lay in herlifetime?*

*6 eggs x 32 days = 192 eggs

Did you know?Have you ever heard someone

say you were “nitpicking”? A nitis an empty louse egg. One wayto get lice and nits out of hairis to pick them out one by one. Butnitpicking can also mean focusingon small details and findingfault with them. For example,your sister might be nitpicking ifshe criticizes the way you hangup your towel in the bathroom.

Mini Spy . . .from The Mini Page © 2008 Universal Press Syndicate

Mini Spy is checking her little sister Mina’s hair for lice.See if you can find:

• number 8• lima bean• letter E• olive• carrot• ant• ruler• Easter egg• ladder• number 7• pencil• toothbrush


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Making contactLice cannot jump and only rarely fall

off a person’s head. They can’t survivein carpets or on stuffed animals.

A louse infests* a new host bycrawling from hair to hair. When one

person’s hairtouches anotherperson’s hair, alouse can crawl tothe new host.Lice can crawlvery fast, at aboutnine inches perminute.

For instance, if a kid’s hair brushesagainst his brother’s hair while they’rewrestling, then lice can move from headto head.*Infest means to spread in or oversomething in an unpleasant way.

Lice like kidsLice infest children more than adults.

This is probably because kids have morecontact with one another than adultsdo. They are more likely to come incontact with each other while playing,for example.

For example,three girls in onefamily kept gettinglice. Experts finallyfigured out that licewere being spreadat slumber parties.The girls would getin sleeping bags

and watch movies with their heads closetogether. Lice kept moving from one girlto another.

More About Head Lice

Girls are nice for liceGirls are more likely to get lice than

boys. Girls usually have longer hair,which means it may touch other hairmore often.

Girls brush and style each other’shair. Girls are alsomore likely to hugeach other ordance with eachother, so their hairmay touch moreoften.

Words that remind us of lice are hidden in the block below. Some wordsare hidden backward or diagonally. See if you can find: LOUSE, HAIR,LONG, GIRL, BOY, MONKEY, HEAD, EGG, NYMPH, COMB, CREEPY,CRAWL, BLOOD, ITCH, HATCH, SCALP, GLUE, WARMTH, CLEAN,CLASS, DAY, CARE, INSECT, PET, HANGING, INFEST, PLAY,BRUSH.

Head Lice TRY ’NFIND

LICE AREN’T NICE!

P H H G D N A E L C P L A C SP L A E I A Y O B G N O L C BC E A I A R Y M N E U L G R LR C T Y R D L L H H C T I A OE L E B R U S H H C T A H W OE A G B M O C H T M R A W L DP S G N Y M P H T C E S N I VY S G N I G N A H T S E F N IE R A C Y E K N O M E S U O L


Basset Brown

The News

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Lice are choosy amongmonkeys and apes, too.Different types of lice liveon different types of apesor monkeys. Ape lice areclose cousins of humanlice.Schmidt’s spot-nosedguenons pick lice from oneanother at the San DiegoZoo. This is called“grooming.” Monkeys andapes clean lice, pests anddead skin from oneanother. A monkey groomsanother monkey out offriendship or to makepeace.

Rookie Cookie’s RecipeDressed-Up Broccoli



Meet Bill MurrayBill Murray stars as Mayor Cole in the movie

“City of Ember.”Bill has starred in many other movies,

including “Groundhog Day,” the “Ghost Busters”movies and “Scrooged.” He was the voice ofGarfield in the Garfield movies.

Bill, 58, was born in Wilmette, Ill. He haseight brothers and sisters. He and his siblingsworked as golf caddies while growing up.

He went to college to study medicine, but then joined the“National Lampoon Radio Hour.” Other actors from that showwent on to start “Saturday Night Live” on television. Bill laterjoined them on that show.

He owns a minor league baseball team in South Carolinacalled the Riverdogs. He and his brothers own a restaurant inFlorida.


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Go dot to dot and color this nasty pest.

All the following jokes have something in common.Can you guess the common theme or category?

Lucy: What keeps your teeth fromfalling out?

Leslie: Toothpaste!

Lindsay: Why are towels so entertaining?Lisa: They have a dry sense of

humor!

Lauren: How did the germs spread?Lyle: They flu!

You’ll need:• 1 (10-ounce) package fresh or frozen broccoli florets• 3 tablespoons low-fat sour cream• 2 tablespoons low-fat milk• 1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise• 3 tablespoons lemon juice• 1/4 teaspoon sugar• 1/8 teaspoon salt• 1/8 teaspoon pepper• 11/2 tablespoons sliced almondsWhat to do:1. Cook broccoli according to directions (either in microwave or on top of stove).2. Once broccoli is tender, cut into smaller pieces.3. Place all remaining ingredients (except almonds) in a small blender.4. Blend until smooth.5. Pour mixture over broccoli; top with almonds. Makes 4 servings.*You will need an adult’s help with this recipe.

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Lice like it cleanMore kids are

infested with headlice than everbefore. Expertsbelieve this isbecause kids arewith other kids somuch more, in daycare, class and

after-school activities. Experts thinkbetween 6 million and 12 millionAmerican kids get head lice each year.

Some people believe that people whoget lice are dirty. This is not true. Infact, it is just the opposite.

Lice like clean hair. It is harder forthem to cling to dirty, oily hair.Bloodsuckers

Lice suck bloodfrom the host’sbody. They needto feed every hourand a half.

The blood-sucking causesitching andirritation in theperson infestedwith lice. People can sometimes feelthem crawling through their hair. Butlice don’t cause disease. They don’t evencause welts, like mosquito bites do.

Moving inA female louse attaches an oval-

shaped egg to a person’s hair about one-half inch from the scalp. That spot iswhere the best hatching temperature is.

The egghatchesafter sevento 10 days.When anegg hatches,the emptylouse egg iscalled a nit.

When theegg is firstlaid, it is alight yellowor gray. Asthe babylousedevelops,the eggturns todark brown. After the louse hatches, thenit turns white.

After a baby louse hatches, it lives onits own. It immediately heads for thewarmth of the person’s scalp.

Learning More About Lice

Getting rid of liceLice are hard to get rid of. Lice

products sold without a prescriptionwill probably not get rid of all the liceon someone’s hair. Head lice haveprobably developed resistance to theseproducts.

If people get head lice, they may needa special product from the doctor. Theycan also use a nit comb to remove nitsand live lice. This takes a lot of work.

The most important thing to do is toremove live lice and nits from theperson’shead. It isnot asimportant towash allbedding,stuffedanimals andclothing. Licecannotusually livefor morethan 12hours awayfrom aperson’s hair.

The Mini Page StaffBetty Debnam - Founding Editor and Editor at Large Lisa Tarry - Managing Editor Lucy Lien - Associate Editor Wendy Daley - Artist

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If you have been itching alot on your head or feelsomething crawling inyour hair, go to the doctoror the school nurse to getchecked. It is often hard tospot lice and nits. But yourmom or dad may be ableto spot lice by parting yourhair into small sectionsand then checking for liceon the scalp. Your parentsmay need a magnifyingglass and a bright light.

The Mini Page thanks Barb Ogg, entomologist,Extension Education, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, for help with this issue.

Site to see: http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/lice

Look through your newspaper for stories andads about pests.

Next week The Mini Page celebratesThanksgiving with a story about turkeys.

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The female uses a glue in herbody to attach the egg to thehair. The nit stays glued tothe strand of hair even afterthe baby louse hatches. It ishard to get it off.

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A nit comb has teeth veryclose together, so it can pulleggs and nits from the hair.There are no chemicals onit. It has special oils to helpit go through the hairwithout pulling.


Supersport: Katie SmithHeight: 5-11 Birthdate: 6-4-74

In the Women’s National Basketball Association championshipseries, Katie Smith played like a champion. With scoring spreesand clutch shots, she helped Detroit win its third professionalleague title in the last six seasons.

The Shock’s forward scored 25 points in the first game, 22in the second game, and then rallied her team with 15 second-

half points in the finals. Afterward, she hoisted the series’ Most ValuablePlayer trophy.

That didn’t shock anybody who has followed her career. Selected to theWNBA’s All-Decade Team in 2006, she has averaged 15.9 points in her nine-yearrun with Minnesota and Detroit (since 2005).

Before turning pro, Smith starred at Ohio State, where she earned a degree inzoology. Her jersey was the first female’s retired in the Buckeyes’ history.

Away from the court, Smith lists shooting pool and cooking as her favoritehobbies. At age 34, when some players are slowing down, she’s still “cooking” onthe basketball court as well.

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