At Baxter’s annual check up, I had lots of questions for the vet about ticks. He wasn’t too concerned about them. Then he looked in Baxter’s ear and found “a passenger.” We went home with new anti-tick medication, tick removal tools and instructions to check him over carefully after each walk.
Then a few weeks later I felt a bump on my back. I thought, “Gee that pimple came up really fast. And it feels weird.” The mirror confirmed that there was a black dot–not a red one–in the middle of my back. I gathered a container, tweezers and Baxter’s tick tools and went to find Matt. Sure enough, he confirmed I had a passenger of my own.
Ewwww.
I didn’t feel the tick bite me, but he certainly had a good lock when Matt went to remove him. It hurt more than I expected. And Matt found that the vet’s tick removers didn’t get a tight enough grip. The tweezers worked best.
The tick (who was still alive–double eww) went into a jar and was immersed in rubbing alcohol.
My brother-in-law the MD provided assurances that I probably was going to be okay and gave me the symptoms to watch out for (which caused a Google search that I can never unsee–seriously, don’t look).
It’s been a few weeks now, and Baxter and I both seem to be fine. We’re waiting for Matt to have his turn with a “passenger.”
It seems to be a right of passage in country living.
Anyone else ever been bitten by a tick? How common are ticks in your area?
Home on 129 Acres 
We have lots of ticks out in Prince Edward County. Libby has had one earlier this year but several last year. Molly had upwards of fifteen or more in her life time.
The vet gave me a thing to remove them which is quite effective. I have gotten over my squeamishness. Fortunately, I have never had one on me (yet)
I can see why you’d get over your squeamishness after that many ticks. It was a different kind of squeamishness when it was on me.
We’ve never had a tick, but I have a TickKey just in case…I’m not quite sure I trust those tick tweezers or twisters, and I definitely wouldn’t use regular tweezers
The tweezers were recommended by the vet and Matt found they worked quite well. I guess you do have to be careful not to squeeze too hard. 😛
We have lots of ticks on the Prairies every spring and the beginning of summer. I have found 4 crawling on me this year and my dog gets tons every year. I tried a medication from my vet too, to keep the ticks them off the dog, but it didn’t seem to work. I wish you luck with yours!
Thanks for the heads-up about the medication. I’ll still be extra vigilant.
Oh, that must have been so gross! Poor you. Bear’s had a few ticks that I’ve pulled off. They’re horrible! Hopefully that will be the last one for you.
Gross and horrible are definitely the right words.
Oh girlfriend YES! We live in Pennsylvania (tick central) and must do “tick checks” on the kids evy single time they play in theh yard and I have found them on myself as well. ICK ICK ICK ICK and ICK. I hate them!! We ar considering buying some guineas to help eat them up!
Desperate times call for desperate measures!
Can’t count how many I’ve had. I’ve had them on my scalp, in my belly button, even my ear. They crawl until the reach an obstacle, then bite (waist band, bra strap, etc). They don’t survive the microwave.
Ewww. Fortunately, I’ve only had the one on me. I keep finding them in my shower though!