Tick #8
10 years ago
Eight bites so far this year. I must have picked up this one while playing ball with my grandsons yesterday. It was between two of my fingers. Even with all my experience, I didn't look for the black dot right away. I thought I must have gotten into a little poison ivy. It's so hard to deal with ticks this small--and this one actually looks bigger because he's dead and his legs are splayed out.
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Getting tick-ed off! Every time I am out, I get a tick
Comments (21)I am referred to as "the tick magnet" in my household. It is not uncommon for me to walk across the lawn, spend 10 minutes in the veggie garden, and come in with a tick. I've gotten so I can spot a wood tick sitting on the top of a plant, waving its little legs and waiting to grab hold. I'm going to repeat what I said in the post from last fall that Claire linked. I live on an old farm with a mix of field, brushy growing-up field, and woods. I use bug dope with DEET, though I put it only on my clothing and I don't always use it. I own several pairs of the pyrethrin impregnated socks and I tuck my pant legs into them. (Along with my bug net during black fly season I usually look pretty dorky when I am out in the garden.) I don't really worry about ticks because during the height of the season I might find 6 or 8 on me over the course of a day, but I do take them seriously. Instead of worrying, I do a complete visual and touch check whenever I come into the house in the spring and fall. Clothes get stripped off and examined along with my body. I again do a complete visual and fingertip check at bedtime every night (until it gets too cold for the ticks to be active) standing nekkid in front of a mirror so that I can see places like under my arms and the middle of my back, etc. in case I missed any the first time around. I also comb my hair with a comb having close-set teeth and do a careful touch examination of my entire scalp. Clothing I take off doesn't go into the bedroom. I view that nightly 15 minutes as the dues I pay for being able to get out beyond the lawn areas at my house. When we first moved here I used to freak out about getting a tick, but there are so many (mostly wood ticks, though there are some deer ticks) that I just don't have the energy to get worked up about them. I'd rather put the energy in to doing careful checks afterwards since it takes a day or more for a tick to get seated and spread disease. I do this check religiously, every single night, even if I have not worked in the garden. It's part of my bedtime routine, like brushing my teeth. It is my understanding (and fits in with my observations here) that rodents are a large part of the cause of the "deer" (more accurately referred to as "black-legged") tick problem, so the tick tubes, which target the application of permethrin specifically to rodents, make good sense. I haven't used them, however, and studies vary in their evaluation of effectiveness. Last season was the first we had appreciable numbers of black-legged ticks, so we are just starting serious consideration of management for them. I haven't previously seen reference to nematodes as good for controlling ticks, so I did some reading. It seems like around here they aren't too effective since nematodes live in the soil, and when are ticks are in or on the ground, it's too cold for the nematodes to be effective. They are also more effective on adults that the nymphs that often spread disease. However, I did come across a fungus that it supposed to be better in this part of the country, Metarhizium anisopliae, that has met with EPA approval for tick control. Unfortunately, it appears to still be in the product development stages. As others have mentioned, keeping areas with brush or long grass mowed will help reduce shelter areas for ticks, and reducing areas like stone walls where rodents hide will help as well....See MoreAnother thing you can get from ticks: Anaplasmosis
Comments (6)Hello people here is the story that is currently unfolding as of 6/12/17: My 72 year old mother was telling me during a Mid June phone convo that her allergies had gotten the best of her. Headache, chills, nausea, bones hurting, etc. I told her, "mom that really doesn't sound like allergies." She then said, "well maybe I have the flu then?" I told her it would be really strange to be getting the flu in the middle of June. Mind you, just a few days before this I had read a news article online about a little girl who died from Rocky Mountain spotted fever and the rise of the powassun virus due to tick bites. I warned mom about prevention since she is always out in the woods and became a bit paranoid myself about those creepy little black legged ticks. I saw her a few days later and she was still out of sorts : fatigued, couldn't eat dinner, sunlight bothering her, and a bit loopy. I told her she better go to the doctor asap. She was now claiming that she must have gotten food poisoning. I asked her if she noticed any ticks on her lately and she said yes but the bite didn't have a red ring around it so she was not worried. I told her I was worried because the symptoms she was suffering from seemed a bit out of the ordinary even for the flu or what not. I told her how she was feeling sounded a lot like Lymes disease and she sort of agreed. I saw her the next morning and she seemed really out of it and had developed a red rash on her legs. I begged her to go to the doctor that very minute but she gave all kinds of excuses like....have to take a shower, have to sort my pills, etc. I told her I would call her in 2 hours and if she was not already in the waiting room i was gonna call the paramedics on her ! (but that was just really a joke to show how concerned I was and that she really needed medical attention) she went to the hospital, got her blood tested, received negative results, and they sent her home saying she probably just had little virus or something. she said she was feeling a little better next couple days but still fatigued and could not eat. I told her she better go see another doctor because there was clearly something amiss and I had heard too many stories of people thinking things will be just fine if they wait it out and end up really needing help. we live on a reservation so she decided to go to the IHS for a second blood workup... this time the doctor clued into the tick info and sent out for a bunch of additional tests. Results : she has had anaplasmosis for at least 2 weeks now and just started taking antibiotics. It is a serious tick borne disease and people can die from it (very few do but still very scary) morals of this long winded minimally punctuated re telling of my poor mom's run in with a disease carrying tick: 1. If you are feeling sick for more than a couple days with all kinds weird intense symptoms and you got bit by a tick: GO TO The Doctor ! And tell them you were bit by a tick! 2. Just because the word "hospital" seems to carry more clout than the word "clinic" don't believe the hype. Sometimes smaller is better. Always ask for a 2nd opinion if you are not feeling comfortable with the diagnosis or lack of diagnosis. Healthcare professionals in all environments no matter what background can misdiagnose even if they mostly give stellar care. Find a doctor with a good reputation and one who cares more about you than the ten minute rotational schedule or fiscal parameters they are forced to navigate due to a broken American healthcare system....See MoreTick or another arachnid
Comments (4)I'd suspect something in the Clover mite or velvet mite group. Certainly not spider mites. Clover mites often enter homes and are seen climbing on walls, curtains, etc. They are easily smushed and leave a red stain....See MoreIs this a bed bug or tick or something else?
Comments (15)Ticks front legs do curl, but those almost seem too perfect, lol. And they tend to to that more once dead- otherwise they are wiggling around. JG didn't mention it was a moving thing. And sometimes those little #$%$^&$'s seem to lurk on you- or around you. Take their time to get to their sweet spot before digging in. Ugh. It does make them easier to pull off during tick checks, but they can pop up later. Did you do a full check yesterday? Or bathe and fresh clothes after you were out yesterday? If not, it might have just been lurking around. And your showering and changing today triggered it to latch on. Perhaps washed off your scalp or higher up and it caught on around your knee. Tick season is open, so your doctor was right to err on the side of caution. This time of year till full winter we have ticks. Which reminds me, I need to put out the tick laundry bin :)...See More- 10 years ago
10 years agolast modified: 10 years agoToday I was out with my photo group. This flower is maybe an inch & a half, top to bottom. I was doing macro photography. I was told this is a tick.....? Susan...is it?
Alisande thanked User- 10 years ago
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