I HATE TICKS!!!!

[Judymae]

Well get ready. I just heard on the local news that lyme disease is at an all time high already this year. I live in central/east Texas area. Time to get rid of them!

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

Grotesque tick question: My mil swears that ticks burrow under the skin (not just the head, the ENTIRE tick). Now, I've seen a lot of ticks in my day, I've pulled off a lot of the disgusting things (and don't bother to go for paper towels unless they look like they are ready to.. well, you know). I have never seen one mostly under the skin, etc etc, let alone had a lump that turned out to be a tick.

My personal feeling is that yes, ticks CAN hold their breath for quite awhile (which is why the alcohol, etc doesn't work). BUT at some point they do need air. So.. a burrowed tick would die. Second, our bodies are good at dissolving things that don't belong there.. had that happen with a splinter in my finger.

Anyone know if there is any truth to this burrowing thing? I know there are plenty of parasites that DO, I just don't think ticks are one of them.

Makes me itchy and creeped out just talking about these nasty bugs!

-Meghan

 

[Judymae]

I don't think I've ever seen a tick totally submerged under the skin. I have seen them submerge their whole head though. We remove them by using a hot match held close to them. It makes them let go. If you just yank them out the head can stay stuck to your skin and then it will swell up and make a hard lump. That can be nasty and become infected. It'll even happen on your dogs skin if you just yank them out. Gotta be careful!

 

[blossom hen]

Quote:
It's an old urban legend. And it wasn't emailed to you personally by a nurse, that's part of the general story for the myth.

http://www.snopes.com/oldwives/tick.asp

Actually IT WAS E-MAILED TO ME BY A NURSE who happens to be one of my best friends. Sorry that I didn't know it was an urban legend and neither did she! So pardon me for putting the info she sent me out here.

 

[rufus]

Meghan, she was probably referring the chigoe flea that burrows into the skin like a chigger. They are common in central america and the carribean. They are arthropods, not arachnid.

Rufus

 

[Judymae]

Ticks are arachnids???????!!! Do you mean to tell me they are spiders?? Am I missing something or are they really spiders? I'm going to die. I didn't know that. Please someone tell me they are NOT spiders!!!!

 

[Queen of the Lilliputians]

Rufus,

I think my mil is just confused.. LOL! No, I'm sure she wouldn't know about chiggers. She honestly thinks just plain old ticks burrow their entire bodies. You would not believe how many stories she has to tell about it happening around here to people she knows (but whom I've never met).

Yucky, though. Glad they don't grow those in Maine. See.. our cold weather and snow are good for something!

-Meghan

 

[merryreader]

I haven't been out in the woods lately, but in my back yard I haven't gotton a tick on me or the dogs in over a month. Thats a good sign! My chickens are penned up so thats not the reason. Maybe I have just been lucky. Haha. Maybe today I will get one! I use Frontline on the dogs, so I only find dead ticks on them anyway. I haven't seen any on the horses. Merry

 

[sundance]

We live in middle Tennessee, I think this is the tick capital of the world, and they are really bad this year. I have been trying to find some food grade de locally, even wrote Lowe's main office to find out why they don;t carry it(They just haven bothered to answer yet) and so far my babies are to small to range far enough to get most of the ticks, we also have an abundance of red bugs or chiggers but i have found that head lice shampoo will kill the chiggers if you take a bath in it as soon as you come in from the woods. The lady at Wal-marts looked at me sorta funny when i bought 2 bottles of lice shampoo, but at least we don't worry about chiggers, JUST THE TICKS FOR NOW.

Mother to 24 RIR's, 1 yorkie, l poodle mix, 1pitt bull and one very dear loving husband

 

[MTchick]

Tick and spiders are both in the arachnid family. This is like saying humans and mice are both in the mammal family. You can't say that humans are mice, as we all know. The same rule applies- you cannot say that ticks are spiders.

Ticks don't burrow entirely under the skin. They can, and do, burrow their heads most of the way in there and it can look like they are about 1/2 way buried. Repulsive.

Best way to get any tick out is to firmly pull them out from as close the skin as possible using slant-tipped tweezers. Slowly and firmly away from the skin until they come out. It can be painful if they are embedded but it always works.

-MTchick