rocknrobn26 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 So Mrs. RR and I went to a forest preserve yesterday to takes some pics for our class. She got out of the shower this am and felt a small lump behind her ear. I looked at it, she was freakin' out thinking it was a melanoma or such. I looked at it, touched it, and I saw a leg move and told her I thought it was a tick (I never saw one before)! Took her to urgent care and sure enough it was a tick! When the nurse removed it, it had a piece of skin still in it's mouth. Did we over react? If we did, at least it gave my wife piece of mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 (edited) Next time, sticks a blob of petroleum jelly on it, and that will cause the tick to pull it's head out (it can't breathe) ... you wipe it off and flush it away. Also, we're getting insane numbers of ticks here in KC this spring so far ... more than I can remember ever. Or, at least my family is getting more tick than I can ever remember ... not sure if we're lucky or this is applying to the entire area... Edited May 2, 2007 by muck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geeteebee Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Funny you bring this up. My dog has never had a tick on him until yesterday. I removed it but he still has a big lump where it was. Don't know if it is just a reaction from getting bit or if there could be another one in there. Anybody want to weigh in? I burned the tick as that was what my parents used to do with them but I was told that I should have frozen it to see if my dog gets sick and then it could be tested for lime disease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muck Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I have a "bump" on my arm that itches like crazy from a tick I pulled off about three or four weeks ago. Its getting better ... and I think I got the head when I pulled it off ... not really sure why it's there ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 0ne Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Pulled a few off my dogs in the last few days. Wife also found one on her arm that either my son or the dogs brought in. The dogs are safe, they're frontlined, the wife and kids, not so much. I will spray my entire yard this weekend to kill them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrobn26 Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 Funny you bring this up. My dog has never had a tick on him until yesterday. I removed it but he still has a big lump where it was. Don't know if it is just a reaction from getting bit or if there could be another one in there. Anybody want to weigh in? I burned the tick as that was what my parents used to do with them but I was told that I should have frozen it to see if my dog gets sick and then it could be tested for lime disease. The clinic asked if we wanted it tested, but they also said regardless of the outcome, the treatment was the same, i.e. removal and a one time anti-biotic. We opted not to have it tested, as they wouldn't have any further treatment. GTB.....you may want to call your vet and get their opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 0ne Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 The clinic asked if we wanted it tested, but they also said regardless of the outcome, the treatment was the same, i.e. removal and a one time anti-biotic. We opted not to have it tested, as they wouldn't have any further treatment. GTB.....you may want to call your vet and get their opinion. Dog tick? Deer tick? Did they tell you what kind it was? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Ticks are not a big deal (unless you let them become engorged on blood). To remove, either: A:) cover with vaseline or wesson oil (I prefer) and wait a minute or so and then gently pull on it with tweezers. It should come off. Never rip it out or it will leave it's mouth parts in you which can cause an infection. B:) Heat up either a straight pin or tip of a knife blade. When it is good and hot, just touch the tick and he will usually let go because you just burned him. Just pick him off. I usually use this method because it is not as messy as the oil. Not a bad idea to swab the area with alcohol after you extract them. Throw the ticks in the toilet. I have had up to maybe 8 or 10 ticks on me at one time. You get that when you go into thick vegetation, particularly if it is a little damp. They will usually be in groups, so if you get one, you can often get several. Ticks prefer to stay in tight spots for some reason, so often they will be on you where you wore socks, along the lines of your underwear, hatbands, etc.. When I go relic hunting, I sometimes wear knee protectors like brick layers wear and they love to congregate behind my knees. I try to always spray myself with Deet if I am going into thick brush or in a forest with a bed of leaves and such on the ground. Just buy some insect spray with as much Deet as you can in it, spray anywhere you would come into contact with the ground. Usually just your shoes and around your ankles. Ticks with Rocky Mountian Spotted Fever or other such nasty diseases typically only carry it in the summer. It is a bit early in the year for it now. Just a quick spray of Deet based repellant and you will be okay. Ticks are not so much dependent on the time of year but the weather. If it is fairly warm, they are moving. I have gotten ticks in February before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I have a "bump" on my arm that itches like crazy from a tick I pulled off about three or four weeks ago. Its getting better ... and I think I got the head when I pulled it off ... not really sure why it's there ... The tell tale sign for Lymes is a red "Halo" around the bite. My friend almost died from Lymes. It is nothing to mess with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Holy Roller Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 The ticks are in abundance this year. Out in the turkey woods one of my sons picked 40 of them off his clothing. I had a total of 2. I use a product called Repel (Walmart has it) that you spray on your clothing the day before and it works great. I've dealt with ticks my whole life so they're no big deal to me. Everything DMD says is good info. Ticks are almost indestructable little critters. The Indians controlled them by burning the forests periodically. A tick on the dick is the worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh 0ne Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I sometimes wear knee protectors like brick layers wear and they love to congregate behind my knees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 A tick on the dick is the worse. I higly suggest the wesson oil route over the hot knife method in that case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BiggieFries Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 (edited) We had a tick problem in our home a couple of weeks ago. Brown Dog Ticks. These little monsters don't like living out in the bush so much as around building foundations and baseboards. Found a few fully engorged ones that just dropped off my dog. Not really sure where they were coming from but I did some research and learned that they like to live in the baseboards to hide until something warm and hairy is in the vicinity. Had to have an exterminator come out and spray our house. But since these little creepies can live without eating or drinking for 8 months or so, we're going to have to have the bug man come out again. They'll just hide until the spray wears off and then come back out. Nasty little things. Edited May 2, 2007 by BiggieFries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliaz Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 my wife had lime disease for years before they found out about it. Scary stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Wife found a tick on herself about a week ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Funny you bring this up. My dog has never had a tick on him until yesterday. I removed it but he still has a big lump where it was. Don't know if it is just a reaction from getting bit or if there could be another one in there. Anybody want to weigh in? I burned the tick as that was what my parents used to do with them but I was told that I should have frozen it to see if my dog gets sick and then it could be tested for lime disease. It means the head is still in there. The body will absorb it but it is best to put neosporin on it so it doesn't get infected until the immune system takes effect. If it is a deer tick that carries Lyme it will be teeney tiny, the size of a pin head or smaller. Many people don't know they have Lyme because the tick is so small, especially if it is in the nymph stage so they never know they've been bitten. I used to pick about 40 deer ticks off my dog after running in the hills between Oakland and Walnut Creek in the Bay Area-Las Trampas hills. They'd be crawling all over me too. I'd get most of them off my dog before they bit him, but a few I'd miss and have to remove them. I found the easiest way to remove them was just get my fingernails right down to the head and pull straight out. It worked for me better than tweezers because I could feel where the head was. The problem with deer ticks is they hold on much tighter than the dog tick and will die easiy if you pull on their body vs their head-and they are so small it's hard to get down to the head. If you get them removed within 48 hours they have not released the bacteria-borrelia burgdoferi. I didn't have too much to worry about because in Contra Costa County since only about 4% of the deer ticks carry the bacteria in the county-although a school kid in the neighborhood got it. In Santa Cruz County something like 30% of the deer ticks carried it. In New England area I've read something like 93% carry the disease. Ticks thrive in moist environments with thick vegetation, and in No. Cal seem to thrive where it is heavily forested with oak trees, so I could go to the Mt. Diablo region, only 2 or so miles as the crow flies from Las Trampas and never saw a tick-so took my dogs there most of the time. It could just be the areas where it is moist and heavily forested is where deer, mice, and pack rats flourish-which are the main reserviors that harbor the disease. I have a friend who got Lyme in Willamatte Valley here in Oregon. The docs didn't catch in soon enough and she is constantly feeling achy and she hurts all the time. She even went to a specialist in NE who didn't help her much, just put her on a low carb diet and supplements to boost her immune system. Another friend of mine got it twice in the Sierra Nevada foothills, but was treated right away with no ill effects. Both of these people never got the bulls eye rash-not all get the rash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H8tank Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I had to remove a tick off the life partners taint once, to say the least, it was an enlightening moment. Urget care? Why didn't you just call Puddy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broncosn05 Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 I wpuld've picked the little SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS !!! apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrobn26 Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 Man.....Lots of good info here! After 30+years of having dogs, I've seen lots of fleas, but never a tick, so when I saw it I guessed. The nurse removing it was funny. She said "I have no problem with blood, guts, broken bones, vomit or diarrhea. But these ticks just gross me out!". The preserve we were in isn't that wooded and we were in the sun most of the time taking pics of the river, and distant trees. FWIW....some additional info.....they recommended a one time anti-biotic (2 pills). We could have sent the tick to a lab to test for Lymes, but the Doc and the nurse both said that the antibiotic is all they would/could do and that as long as she takes that, the results of the test would be moot. They also said watch for redness around the wound, but I know they got the whole thing as it wasn't gorged in blood and it still had a piece of the wife's skin in it's mouth! It was about 0.125" dia., so probably not the deer tick as SM described. I'm a city boy as Mrs. RR is a city girl. I can tell you how to walk safely thru a bad neighbor hood, make a magazine or keys into a weapon, and where it's safe to walk or not walk around in Chi, but Ticks????? F' that, the convenient care center works! Thanks DMD and SM for your extended explanations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrobn26 Posted May 2, 2007 Author Share Posted May 2, 2007 I had to remove a tick off the life partners taint once, to say the least, it was an enlightening moment. Urget care? Why didn't you just call Puddy? Read above post! Roughing it for us is staying at a Holiday Inn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoopazz Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Global warming is exploding the tick population Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czarina Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Ticks are opportunists and will find you by hitching a ride...they perch on top of grass, tips of branches etc, and jump on when you brush by them. The local pharmacy will likely have a little tick remover tool you can get that's supposed to work better than tweezers, etc. Freakish how hard those suckers are to kill. Blech. I have yet to spot any up here yet this year but I don't doubt that they're out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugar Magnolia Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Ticks are opportunists and will find you by hitching a ride...they perch on top of grass, tips of branches etc, and jump on when you brush by them. The local pharmacy will likely have a little tick remover tool you can get that's supposed to work better than tweezers, etc. Freakish how hard those suckers are to kill. Blech. I have yet to spot any up here yet this year but I don't doubt that they're out. An interesting fact: ticks can climb up, not down. So they crawl until they can't anymore. That's why common places for ticks are found on the top of the head, behind ears, under armpits, in crotches, if sitting down, behind the knee, etc.-thats why the are found on tops of grasses and vegetation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Holy Roller Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 I've often thought of the lonely life of the tick. Climbing always climbing. Then waiting...waiting...waiting. Mrs. RR comes by after what seems a thousand tick years and the tick takes a mighty leap. Climbing, climbing. Here's a good spot. Bite, suck, suck. Aarrrgh! Somewhere on a lonely blade of grass another tick waits... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polksalet Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 I pulled 16 last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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