# wood tick or deer tick? with delicious tick goodenss



## Felton_Flyer (Dec 11, 2008)

how can you tell? i picked this hitch hiker off the back of my shoulder still alive, must have been there for about 30 hours judging from when my ride ended ... the little bugger was just out of arms reach (thx wifey =)

he's still alive and is now my prisoner in a specimen jar. hmmm, is it possible to waterboard a tick? is it necessary to put alcohol in there? ... 

anyway - should I get some doxy from my doc just in case? or just play it out as I have with all the other tick bites. this one was in there longer than any other so i guess I'm wondering what the general consensus is... 

some pics:


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## GPRider08 (Aug 22, 2008)

Really hard to tell. Deer ticks are pretty small, though. I'd put it in with some alcohol. If you start to have flu-like symptoms, go to the doctor and take it with you.


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## Hollis (Dec 19, 2003)

my guess...its a Deer Tick
check out this thread over at PhotoReview
http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=53417

*_shivers just looking at the pics_*


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## Circusjunk (Aug 20, 2004)

size is the key , deer ticks are really small, my guess would be a Wood tick judging that looke like teh size of that tick is about the same size as printed text.

Lyme Almost Killed me back in 2005, it is No Joke ! , so just be careful!



Hollis said:


> my guess...its a Deer Tick
> check out this thread over at PhotoReview
> http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=53417
> 
> *_shivers just looking at the pics_*


Hey Thats My Thread


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## cchase86 (Mar 7, 2006)

The deer tick that got me last fall was about the size of a pinhead by the time he was finished eating my blood for 2 days, that guy (based on the size of the text and your ability to photograph him so well) is a wood tick. Of course I think infection is still possible with a wood tick, I wouldn't worry too much, keep him and bring him along if you get sick.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

There are more tick-borne diseases than lyme, and they're all nasty. If that guy was on you for about 30 hours, it had PLENTY of time to transmit any diseases it may have been carrying to you. Personally, I'd go to my doc and get a full tick disease workup. Oh, and kill that thing however you can. I like mashing them between two rocks.


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## Megashnauzer (Nov 2, 2005)

a friend of mine is going through the 4 month antibiotic treatment for Lyme's disease. apparently it's regularly misdiagnosed. no alcohol for 4 months would probably do a lot of good also.


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## Raineman (Feb 7, 2008)

Here's some good info with Pics and cm scale.

http://www.oes.org/html/how_2_identify_different_ticks.html


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## Jcurl (May 7, 2009)

Hollis said:


> *_shivers just looking at the pics_*


ouch...


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## Cata1yst (Dec 27, 2007)

I just ran myself a full body inspection for ticks after reading this.
Thanks!


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## north20 (Nov 25, 2007)

Definitely take a trip to your doctor; worst case is you didn't get anything and you're out a few bucks.

Lyme almost took me out of the game several years ago. Would have left my wife with 2 kids and a mortgage to deal with on her own. As it was, paying for the medical care - which incidentally was pretty poor as it often is with Lyme disease - all but bankrupt us. 

If you do get sick, and your doc isn't super helpful (or downright scoffs over the whole thing) do yourself a favor and find a "Lyme Literate" MD. Having the doctor on your side is a big deal with any serious illness.

Am I trying to scare you? Yeah, maybe more than a bit actually. I still cope with it's effects. Effects that can be debilitating enough that I ride by myself as I wouldn't want any riding partners to have to deal with watching me hobble around when, for example, the tendinitis hits like a bomb.

So yeah, go get it checked :thumbsup:


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## icecreamjay (Apr 13, 2004)

Another site with more pics.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/MEDLINEPLUS/ency/imagepages/19660.htm

I can't really tell from your pics, but it looks like a deer tick to me. The dog ticks are wider and have some white markings on their backs. Adult deer ticks can be a couple of mm long (almost as big as dog ticks). The ticks go through different phases, the really little ones are the nymphs and they're the scariest because they're so tiny and can still carry lyme disease. Watch for a circular red rash around the bite area and I recommend getting a blood test anyway, Lyme can be really nasty if not properly treated early.


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## dogo (Sep 14, 2008)

Do you use deet products when cruising the trails??


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## nhrider90 (Feb 21, 2009)

how bad is lyme disease, and can you cure/treat it? we got alot up here in new england, freaks me out


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## zach.scofield (Feb 18, 2009)

I just pulled one of those little buggers off my dogs ear today. It was about 3-4mm long. He hadn't bit yet but man I hate ticks! I've been creepy crawly all day since then.


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## Felton_Flyer (Dec 11, 2008)

dogo said:


> Do you use deet products when cruising the trails??


yea - that's the thing - i was slathered in a 40% deet product and it still found a spot for dinner ... little bastid!


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## One_Speed (Aug 3, 2007)

*The ticks in your area are hungry.*

I have gotten hit twice in a little over a month. Doc told me to watch for the flu like symptoms within next 4-6 weeks.

Is this some type of tick extractor?


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## Felton_Flyer (Dec 11, 2008)

north20 said:


> ... Lyme almost took me out of the game several years ago...


thanks - this is a powerful statement ... having decent insurance and all, i guess a trip to the doc is worthwhile. wonder if it's easier (read: cheaper) to just hand off the little bugger for testing? can they test a tick for Lyme?

anyway - thanks for replying =)

-ff


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## Felton_Flyer (Dec 11, 2008)

One_Speed said:


> ...Is this some type of tick extractor?...


yup - it worked great, pulled it out alive and ticking ... (weak!)

picked it up at a veterinarian in town ($5). we have no urgent care or hospital in town and my wife was at work. I asked the horse doc if he could help me out since I can't reach it, but he could not so I sat around the house for 4 hours cursing at the damn thing until my wife got home =)

-ff


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## Felton_Flyer (Dec 11, 2008)

Raineman said:


> Here's some good info with Pics and cm scale.
> 
> http://www.oes.org/html/how_2_identify_different_ticks.html


good info - from the pics i think mine was an adult female Western Black Legged Deer Tick ... could be a carrier, though the map showed I live in a 'low-risk' area. 
I grew up in NY and never had a tick till I moved to the Santa Cruz Mountains, go figure!


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## Felton_Flyer (Dec 11, 2008)

NateHawk said:


> ...If that guy was on you for about 30 hours, it had PLENTY of time to transmit any diseases it may have been carrying to you. ...


yea, that was a long time - though it didn't look engorged? 
and this is the 3rd bite for me this season already, though I plucked the others within a couple hours of biting me and none (including this one) was 'engorged' (yuck!)


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## icecreamjay (Apr 13, 2004)

nhrider90 said:


> how bad is lyme disease, and can you cure/treat it? we got alot up here in new england, freaks me out


Google Lyme Disease. I live in Southern New England and we have tons and tons of deer now. (When I was growing up in the seventies there were almost no deer, complete deforestation of southern NE in the 1800's along with a lack of leash laws made southern NE very deer unfriendly till the farms were abandoned and they grew in. Now second growth forests and suburban subdevelopments with their tasty shrubs and tame dogs are a haven for them.)

Anyway I got Lyme last summer after a session of trailwork. The little bugger was on my knee and was so tiny I didn't see it for 2 days even though I was wearing shorts. I got the bullseye rash a week or 2 later and rushed to the clinic for antibiotics. From what I understand if you diagnose it early and get antibiotics you should be fine. If you don't get treatment, you will get flu-like symptoms(sometimes mild), which will go away. Don't think you're out of the woods though, this is when it really ramps up the attack. A few months later you get a whole bunch of different symptoms , involving your nervous system, heart and joints. At this point it is very difficult to treat and sometimes these symptoms can be permanent, or at least recurring.

So its very important to diagnose and treat early, which is why its so scary if you get one of those little ones somewhere where its not visible, you may not even know you ever had a deer tick on you.

Fortunately (not for you Felton) the deer ticks need around 12 hours of sucking your blood before Lyme is transmitted, so as long as you check yourself real good after a ride, you should be OK. Just don't let those suckers stay on overnight.


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## Raineman (Feb 7, 2008)

Deer ticks are INCREDIBLY small. I had one on my upper thigh that I thought was a new freckle or spec of sand. I couldn't tell it was a tick until I used a magnifying glass. Since they carryu Lyme around here, it's reasonable to be aware, but not obsessed. We take far greater risks daily: driving, eating foods that cause heart disease, smashing into a rock outcropping in the middle of the woods at 20mph a la endo - and the risk from those is constant. Ticks are OK and mostly just a nuisance. I take deer ticks fairly seriously and check myself out withn a visual scan when my skin's nerve receptors indicate something is on me. I have realatives that won;t go on their own grass and won't let their kids play in the woods because they are paralyzed by fear. But they use all sorts of chemicals on their yard! Goofy and unreasonable.


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## zipzit (Aug 3, 2005)

After seeing those maps of Lyme disease, my first thoughts are to think twice before traveling to the major mountain biking meccas in the state of New Jersey and North Western Wisconsin! Who knew?

zip.


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## zod (Jul 15, 2003)

For those who don't have to deal with seed ticks which are smaller than a flea........feel lucky.


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## cesslinger (Oct 23, 2008)

You should put a little bit of vasaline on a tick bite. The tick will suffocate and fall off within an hour or so.

If you pull on the tick and it is decapitated and left in your body, the infection can get to be pretty bad. Might as well choke them out and allow them to fall of on their own.

Works great for dogs too.


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## lpranal (Mar 14, 2007)

looks like a bullseye rash. Don't get a test for lyme diesease, find a doctor that will treat you without testing first for it. The doctors who know lyme disease will always believe a bullseye rash and / or symptoms over a negative test result, because the tests do not show all strains of the disease. Sadly, not all doctors are not so enlightened.


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## speedmetal (Feb 28, 2007)

So, how do you keep from getting ticks on you? If BugOff doesn't work, what does? I ride in heavy deer country (Central Utah) and don't want to get bitten. Or if I get bitten, I don't want to get Lyme's disease.-Danny


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## Strafer (Jun 7, 2004)

speedmetal said:


> So, how do you keep from getting ticks on you? If BugOff doesn't work, what does? I ride in heavy deer country (Central Utah) and don't want to get bitten. Or if I get bitten, I don't want to get Lyme's disease.-Danny


The map shows Utah is virtually free of Lyme.


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## lpranal (Mar 14, 2007)

speedmetal said:


> So, how do you keep from getting ticks on you? If BugOff doesn't work, what does? I ride in heavy deer country (Central Utah) and don't want to get bitten. Or if I get bitten, I don't want to get Lyme's disease.-Danny


Just to clarify, most good insect repellents will keep ticks away. I use lemon eucalyptus oil based ones and (depending on the location / activity) a high percentage DEET ( >30%)


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## Raineman (Feb 7, 2008)

cesslinger said:


> You should put a little bit of vasaline on a tick bite. The tick will suffocate and fall off within an hour or so.
> 
> If you pull on the tick and it is decapitated and left in your body, the infection can get to be pretty bad. Might as well choke them out and allow them to fall of on their own.
> 
> Works great for dogs too.


Please refer to this guide. It specifically directs not to use petroleum jelly.
http://www.aldf.com/lyme.shtml#removal Came across it today after I pulled a deer tick off this am...


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## 92gli (Sep 28, 2006)

Jeesus !!! I just went to the bathroom here at work and noticed a black mark on the head of.... it. First i thought it was a skin abnormality that just came out of nowhere (had half a panic attack thinking I had skin cancer on my unit). Then looked closer and noticed that it was a deer tick nymph about 1 to 1-1/2 mm.  It wasn't engorged yet and I pulled it off intact. I was riding yesterday but it wasn't there when I took a shower last night. My damn wife has been letting one of our cats outside lately, against my wishes, mostly because he'll cry by the door constantly to go out again. I bet he brought it back to our bed. :madmax: Guess I'll call the doctor.


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## WTF-IDK (Feb 23, 2009)

92gli said:


> Jeesus !!! I just went to the bathroom here at work and noticed a black mark on the head of.... it. First i thought it was a skin abnormality that just came out of nowhere (had half a panic attack thinking I had skin cancer on my unit). Then looked closer and noticed that it was a deer tick nymph about 1 to 1-1/2 mm.  It wasn't engorged yet and I pulled it off intact. I was riding yesterday but it wasn't there when I took a shower last night. My damn wife has been letting one of our cats outside lately, against my wishes, mostly because he'll cry by the door constantly to go out again. I bet he brought it back to our bed. :madmax: Guess I'll call the doctor.


we have a winner...
that is the worst place to have any thing bite in.

good luck man:eekster:


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## 92gli (Sep 28, 2006)

Winner ? gee, thanks. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me to take some pics. 

The doc called me back. Since it was on me for less than 24 hours and wasn't engorged at all he doesn't want to give me anything unless the area gets irritated or changes over the next day. He's a real minimalist type, which I usually appreciate. But given the ahem, affected area, I'd gladly eat a whole bottle of antibiotics if he said so.


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## BadHabit (Jan 12, 2004)

92gli said:


> Winner ? gee, thanks. Too bad I didn't have my camera with me to take some pics.
> 
> The doc called me back. Since it was on me for less than 24 hours and wasn't engorged at all he doesn't want to give me anything unless the area gets irritated or changes over the next day. He's a real minimalist type, which I usually appreciate. But given the ahem, affected area, I'd gladly eat a whole bottle of antibiotics if he said so.


Spray Permethrin® on all riding clothes, especially socks. It will last through numerous washings. Do not use Permethrin on skin! Use DEET on skin when you use Permethrin on clothes.

DEET is a repellent. Ticks will leave your skin and crawl on clothes. Permethrin will then KILL the ticks (and mosquitos).

I recall that the U.S. military conducted tests that show that a DEET/Permethrin combo can actually eradicate mosquitos in a given area.

Harsh Permethrin warnings:
http://www.safe2use.com/poisons-pesticides/pesticides/permethrin/cox-report/cox.htm

Ticks are opportunistic. They drop from leaves above game trails to find a host. I am not sure you can outride ticks as you can mosquitos.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

For those of you who think you're safe in areas that map says are low risk for lyme disease...think twice. Lyme is NOT the only tick-borne disease. There's Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ehrlichiosis, tick paralysis and dozens of others. Deer ticks are NOT the only dangerous species. Certainly in lyme-prevalent areas, lyme can almost be predicted. But in other areas, get a FULL tick-borne disease test. ALL of them are frequently misdiagnosed, and most doctors don't know what the F they're talking about with them. Honestly, most veterinarians know more about parasites on humans. If a doc wants to wait for a bullseye, leave and call around for a 2nd opinion because any Dr who knows crap about lyme know that MOST lyme cases NEVER show the bullseye. If there's no bullseye, you need to be tested for lyme and other diseases because you don't have any other hints.


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## bvibert (Mar 30, 2006)

My understanding is that a blood tests won't always necessarily detect Lyme disease, especially in the first few weeks after a bite. That's probably why most doctors wait for other signs to show up.


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

92gli said:


> The doc called me back. Since it was on me for less than 24 hours and wasn't engorged at all he doesn't want to give me anything unless the area gets irritated or changes over the next day. He's a real minimalist type, which I usually appreciate. But given the ahem, affected area, I'd gladly eat a whole bottle of antibiotics if he said so.


Doctors here are not very familiar with Lyme.

Single doze of doxycycline within 72 hours is 95% good at preventing Lyme. Since transmission is unlikely so soon (but still possible, whatever they say to you), multiply those chances by 0.05, and it is likely you will be fine. No real downside to getting a dose of doxy. There is a lab, I think in Santa Rosa, that is good at detecting Lyme in ticks - you put it in a plastic bag and your doctor can send it to them. Insist on it, it is a cheap test. They found Lyme in a nymph my wife pulled of herself when 7 month pregnant. They did put her on some safe(r) antibiotics after that.


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## Corner-Carver (Nov 20, 2008)

92gli said:


> Jeesus !!! I just went to the bathroom here at work and noticed a black mark on the head of.... it. First i thought it was a skin abnormality that just came out of nowhere (had half a panic attack thinking I had skin cancer on my unit). Then looked closer and noticed that it was a deer tick nymph about 1 to 1-1/2 mm.  It wasn't engorged yet and I pulled it off intact. I was riding yesterday but it wasn't there when I took a shower last night. My damn wife has been letting one of our cats outside lately, against my wishes, mostly because he'll cry by the door constantly to go out again. I bet he brought it back to our bed. :madmax: Guess I'll call the doctor.


Been there, done that... definetely an eye opening experience when you see one.... there.:eekster:


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## Jrkimbrough (Sep 27, 2008)

just this past Friday I noticed a bullseye starting to form near my ankle, went to the doctor first thing Monday morning and they gave me some meds and took a blood test. Haven't heard back from the test yet but luckily there is a doctor there who specializes in lyme disease. Here is a pic of my leg I took last night, the bullseye is beginning to clear up a bit...










I've been doing quite a bit of trail work lately and didn't really notice it because I had quite a few mosquito and chigger bites on my leg, all of that cleared up and then this started forming. I've pulled a lot of ticks off lately but don't remember pulling one off from this area though.


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## rlb81 (Aug 18, 2008)

zipzit said:


> After seeing those maps of Lyme disease, my first thoughts are to think twice before traveling to the major mountain biking meccas in the state of New Jersey and North Western Wisconsin! Who knew?
> 
> zip.


What about those of us lucky enough to live here? I'm never thinking about it on the trails, but it pops in to my head from time to time. I have my girlfriend check me all of the time, but unfortunately they're so easy to miss (deer ticks at least). She all but refuses to go in to the woods w/ me because she's paranoid.

I can't decide what is worse...Taking the risk on getting & treating lime, or upping my risk for cancer by routinely bathing in pesticides.


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## Raineman (Feb 7, 2008)

Took a deer tick off my chest last night. I'd never let it stop me from riding and it's treatable, if Lyme happened to come along with it. Relax and check yourself out a bit after showering.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

It's not such a relax situation if you don't know if your doctors know $hit about Lyme. My wife (a veterinarian) knows another vet whose whole family got infected. None of them got the bullseye, and other Lyme symptoms are so nondescript you can't really sit on your laurels and wait. The vet figured he had Lyme, since he saw it in dogs & cats all the time, but his doc REFUSED to test for it. He said screw it and submitted his own blood for testing along with cat & dog blood tests. It came back positive, but he had it so long because of stupid doctors that he can no longer work. He's on disability now because of the chronic effects. Not sure how his wife & kids made out (they all had it).

If you can treat it fast, it's not too big a deal, but if your doctor is a moron and arrogant (won't test you for it even if you ask), then you could have a problem on your hands.


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

NateHawk said:


> If you can treat it fast, it's not too big a deal, but if your doctor is a moron and arrogant (won't test you for it even if you ask), then you could have a problem on your hands.


Tests are not very reliable. Single doze of Doxy after a bite, or a ten to twenty day course after you suspect symptoms would not hurt that much. You will not breed any resistant strains, as with staph and other human to human transmittable bugs, as you can not infect others (unless you feed tick larva and let them fall off you in the woods), and doxy is mild enough for people to take it for malaria prophylaxis. Ask your Mexican friends to bring you a box.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Like I said, if you get it taken care of quick, no problem. Some doctors will refuse treatment without the bullseye, even though that sign is not prevalent. If you get a doctor who refuses tests or even to give doxy without a test, you got a problem.


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## jcufari (Jun 20, 2008)

this thread is really creeping me out and making me nervous


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## Broccoli (Jun 11, 2008)

jcufari said:


> this thread is really creeping me out and making me nervous


No need to be nervous, but Lyme is not fun, and it pays to be aware.


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## shopcat_cycles (Dec 28, 2007)

Funny this thread comes back up within the last day or so...

I got my blood test results back today and they came back positive for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. I have been on Doxycycline for 10 days now and my prescription is going to be out in 4. They told me to come in two weeks from today and they are going to draw more blood. I'm not sure I agree with their advice, but I am sure that they don't run into this much and are not very experienced at treating it. Should I get a second opinion? 

The tick was picked up in the Raleigh area of NC, but I live on the NC coast.


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## M_S (Nov 18, 2007)

Deer Tick?

Great band.


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## Felton_Flyer (Dec 11, 2008)

M_S said:


> Deer Tick?
> 
> Great band.


Great vid


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## jeebus (May 1, 2006)

To the OP... it was a deer tick. I was an entomologist for part of my life (and then I became a vet). Before vet school, I also worked in a tick research lab looking for those nasty diseases that ticks carry!:thumbsup: I had bazillions of deer ticks, lone star ticks, gulf ticks, dog ticks in humidity controlled chambers... I never showered so many times daily in my life! I was paranoid! (it's not like I could wear pesticide sprays to work... I'd lose my study participants )

Don't F around with tick bites. Better to deal with them sooner than later... and if possible, prevent the ticks from getting on you to begin with. I'd be loading up on doxy or whatever expensive version they give people.


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