oops, i meant arachnid not arthropod! ticks and spiders are both arachnids so i assumed there could be a similarity in one or two species. i am sorry, i meant to type the size but forgot. it is no more than 1/8-1/4" body size and it "carries" its legs on the sides like a tick (think wood tick, only i recognize these and it isn't a wood tick). i also know that ticks will rear their front and spread their legs to grasp whatever is going by while this unknown rears the other end. it's legs are also short, and it moves like a tick. i found it while on a afterdark earwig patrol. i have since found 3 more on different nights. they are on our wooden privacy fence along with several unmistakeable spiders. i live in town and have never seen ticks in my yard. it is a mottled brown, somewhat round, and flat. sorry i don't have a better description, it is too small to get a real good look at, and it is dark outside. i am going to have to prepare myself with a small dish next time i go out. i just don't want to kill a spider, but alcohol may be in order to clarify this mystery. looked up rove beetle, nope. thanks!

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.

Roxanna, just so you know....there isn't any pesticide that takes care of only the ticks. As a matter of fact, the ticks are pretty darned tough. The person you spoke to was either lying or misinformed. I would suspect the latter, if he was just the applicator. The comment about using 'only ten ounces for a hundred gallons of water' is a smoke screen.....a meaningless response that sounds good to the customer. The dilution rate depends upon the concentration of the active ingredient. I promise you, the rate that you were quoted was exactly what is needed to get the job done. It may very well have been 10 oz./100 gal.....or half that! The only thing that counts is what comes out of the hose and that will always be just what it takes to kill ticks, the tough guys. The non-target animals....the butterflies, lightning bugs and their beneficial larvae, bees, any insect, as a matter of fact, frogs, toads, lizards, and salamanders are all very sensitive. They came at peak bee activity time, judging by the time of your post. Bees end up taking it back to the hive. Grrrr, that's a cardinal rule for pesticide application: avoid spraying when bees are active. Cats, because they clean themselves, are probably the mammal most likely to be affected....other than those individuals who are very old, ill, immune deficient, very young, taking medications that affect the liver, and more. Pyrethroids have been found in milk. Alisande, the unmarked vans are hilarious.

Woody, you need to get rid of the chipmunks. They are a carrier of deer ticks, possibly more so than deer. Where there's two or three, there's so many more behind them. Gosh, they breed like crazy! We've gotten at least 75 this year, and that's only when we see about six at any one time. They just keep coming! NH is one of the worst states for Lyme, so it's pretty serious here. We have a son with a genetic disorder, so we have gone so far as to spray each year for ticks and mosquitoes. I'm not a fan of chemicals, but we can't take any risks. I've watched my garden over these years and still see all sorts of bees, including honeybees, butterflies, dragonflies, etc. No ticks or mosquitoes though. I actually had a therapist tell me that some in the naturopath community up here think spraying is a good idea, even though it is chemical, compared to the risks of so many tick and mosquito borne diseases that are out there. We also have Triple E...deaths associated with it in NH. My mom recently met with a company that sprays for ticks, and they have issues with chiggers (seriously, that would be grounds for me to move! LOL!) and they have been applying a natural spray mainly consisting of garlic. They have seen a great reduction of ticks. Whenever I've worked in their garden I would have multiple ticks on me throughout the day, and many times find them on me on the plane ride home! Yikes! So for them to say they haven't had any ticks on them since this garlic treatment started makes me think it must really work. Seems to keep deer away too. Our spray regimen does as well because there are aromatic oils in it. If you check with a local pest company they might have organic sprays that might be worth looking into. Over the course of a season it is quite expensive though. But, if you don't pull ticks off you regularly after working in the garden, maybe you don't really have a major tick problem? We started spraying when every time I came out of multiple areas of the garden I'd have four or five ticks crawling on me. And I wasn't even working in tall grasses or woods. I guess the good thing about Lyme is that you have a bit of a warning with the bullseye, so there is time to get meds before running into real trouble. Deer ticks are tiny so tick checks are so important. Although, I have such a head of hair (I suppose much like your dog, only blonde!), I don't think I'd ever be able to find any ticks on my head........ Good luck with whatever you decide to do. T2D (Susan)