Tics

[Padfield]

Joking apart, I would suggest anyone being bitten by Ticks get checked out.

Impossible! I get ticks almost daily in season. I had just removed one from my tummy (after being down the woods) when I read your post, and then felt that familiar tickling sensation on my arm so realised I had brought (at least) two stowaways back with me!

The second tick was on my right arm (I'm right-handed) in a rather inaccessible place, but I did manage to get a couple of pictures with my left hand of my pointy-nosed friend, for those who've never had the pleasure of meeting him face to face:





As this one hadn't penetrated yet I just blew him off into the bushes. He'll probably come back in later, on the cat...

Guy

[Paul Wetton]

I went to the docs with a septic Tic bite once.
He just told me not to worry and to come back if I got any other symptoms.
I only went as the area around the bite became very red similar to Limes disease bullseye rash which worried me a touch.
With many other tics I've dug them out with needles twisted them out and often left the heads in and bled like hell. If you're in a Limes area best get them out as fast as possible. Limes is only likely if they've been feeding for 48 hours or more.
Little b*****s.

[Rogerdodge]

I've dug them out with needles twisted them out and often left the heads in and bled like hell

Paul...
Please buy one of these!!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TICK-REMOVER-PKT2 ... 2a11440d2d
They come out really easily, and the jaws get left behind less than one in five - I know this as I have already had over 20 ticks this year.
Profits go to the Lymes Disease Support group - very worthy.

HTH

[Mark Colvin]

The tick removers really do a good job. Check out http://www.bada-uk.org for further information.

[Piers]

As Paul said, Lymes is unlikely unless the tic has had the opportunity to become engorged. But there are other ailments carried by tics.

Interestingly, tic bites have recently been linked to a nasty allergy to proteins contained in red meat. Of course, that won't be at all relevant to Guy...

Like Mr. Padfield, I used to get dozens of tics every year and just treated their removal as a tiresome chore. A couple of years ago however I suddenly began to react violently to their bites, and now I dread getting a tick bite and have to smother my skin in 'Pre-Vent'. If I am 'ticked' now by even the smallest individual, I develop a vicious ulcerous sore which burns like hell and lasts for weeks leaving a nasty scar.

Never be complacent when it comes to ticcy-wics.

Piers.

[Zonda]

These days i am so rotund, that to find a tick would have to involve several mirrors. I have been rolling around on the heaths and hills, on which it seems all butterflies live,,,, all season. I'm still poisonous to them. Clegs on the other hand,,,, give me terrible trouble.

[Paul Wetton]

Thanks for the info guys. Better get me some o them there tic removers.
My mrs works at a vets so might the doggy version ones. hmmmm.

[Susie]

What are the tiny black things, they are probably 3mm in length, they are long but rounded at the head end and pointed at the other? They are are around at the moment and they bite. Horrible things. Grrrrrr.

[grumpy]

Dont get me started on Clegs! I have a nasty reaction to them since I strapped a sleepy wasp to my thigh with a seat belt a few years back, it got me 4-5 times before I realised what was happening ! Leg swelled up like a football, now I come up in a nasty itchy oozing sore that lasts for ages and drives me mad. Not the sort of thing you relish when stalking insects this time of year!

Dave C (GRUMPY - very where Clegs are concerned!)

[JohnR]

Thanks for the info guys. Better get me some o them there tic removers.
My mrs works at a vets so might the doggy version ones. hmmmm.

The dog and I share those tic removers, except he needs a muzzle when his under parts are being investigated.

[Paul Wetton]

I'm OK without the muzzle but it depends on who's doing the investigating.

[Zonda]

I'm OK without the muzzle but it depends on who's doing the investigating.

LOL,,,, very much so!

[Susie]

I have tick tweezers but didn't use them when I pulled out what I thought was a small thorn from my tummy this morning. It turned out to be my first tick. I must have picked it up from Denbies yesterday evening.

[Gibster]

Check THIS out...yummy!!!!

[Paul Wetton]

That's had a real feast. Is it your blood in there?

[Gibster]

Nope, there's three small dogs, a rabbit and a long-haired guinea pig inside..but not me!

Actually I lifted the image from the internet, was on a poodle apparently. Probably used a crowbar and wrecking ball to shift it and a shotgun to dispose of it afterwards.

[ChrisC]

I took this in the garden the other day, great little creatures and very hardy. i don't like them but you have to respect them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba25Ml4jMt0[/video]

[Susie]

Great little vid there. I am glad I don't get deer and ticks in my garden.

[Pete Eeles]

I wanna see a time-lapse video of a tick feeding up - that would be awesome - and certainly make our ilk more aware!

Cheers,

- Pete

[Paul Wetton]

I can do the time lapse with my video camera so who wants to volunteer to be the willing host for the Tics.

Someone mentioned earlier in the thread about Tics going for warm blooded creatures. I remember seing an article in the RSPB mag about tics on the feet of herring gulls. I know they're warm blooded but I but their feet are probably pretty cold. I think they react to contact more than heat detection. Some of these poor birds had a complete coverage of tics on the bottom of their feet and these were actually causing death in some birds. The photos looked like something out of a horror movie. Remember the brain bugs in Star Ship Trooper. Definitely giant tics.

Lat year at Arnside Knott we found tiny tics waiting on the tips of grasses to attach themselves to the nearest passing creatures. Quite often me or the Mrs.