The tick that won’t die

[BlueMonk]

I pulled a tick off my back after a round today. Nothing surprising about that. But I wanted to compare it to one that I had found on me back on May 7th. I had put that one in a Ziploc bag and it stopped moving the next day. So I assumed it was dead. Except when I look at it today, to compare it to the one that I just found, I am astonished to find it is still crawling around and alive and well. This tick has been inside a Ziploc bag for more than two weeks and it is still crawling around.

How is this even remotely possible?

 

[Nova P]

Ticks are metal AF.

 

[hiflyer]

Name it Rasputin

 

[wolfhaley]

Why were you saving it anyway? I don't want them anywhere near me.

 

[lines]

Why were you saving it anyway? I don't want them anywhere near me.

Makes it easier to test if you get sick.

 

[BlueMonk]

Why were you saving it anyway? I don't want them anywhere near me.

As said above, just in case it might come in handy if I do get sick. This one is pretty clearly a dog tick, so Lyme is not a concern, but they carry other nasty stuff.


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[hiflyer]

Ticks are metal AF.

Agreed

 

[wolfhaley]

Makes it easier to test if you get sick.

Interesting. I had never heard of that before. I had a blood test for lyme about a month ago. Is it for identification purposes then?

 

[Armus Patheticus]

Ticks only eat a few meals in a normal life cycle; once before molting, again before molting, lastly before mating and death. Depending on how long it takes to find food, this cycle can be over in a few months. But they can also live for many months without food, so the life cycle may take years if they don't latch successfully onto dinner. They are tough.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Interesting. I had never heard of that before. I had a blood test for lyme about a month ago. Is it for identification purposes then?

For identification at the very least, but I think they would test to see what sort of presents it was carrying and was able to leave under your tree.

If you don't have a Ziploc bag, you can take a piece of tape, stick it on the tick's back, then fold the tape over so the tape adheres to itself, and entomb it that way. It ain't going anywhere, and you still have it to be tested should you get ill.

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

But you didn't even try to kill it? "wouldn't die" let me know if it lasts more than 2 seconds in the flame of a lighter, or after being sliced in half, or at least give it a squirt of alcohol or something. You just gave her a cozy quarantine home. I imagine she must have been bored out of her mind, maybe verging on going insane. Shoot, can you imagine an insane tick?

 

[jmdaire27]

One word: F***ticks. They can all burn.

 

[F.Luke]

Makes it easier to test if you get sick.

I would have to keep WAY too many ticks in ziplock bags in this case.

 

[DiscFifty]

Damn tick chewed an air hole in the bag. Smart little fkrs...

 

[biscoe]

I would have to keep WAY too many ticks in ziplock bags in this case.

Yep. God the little bastards have been horrible this Spring. I have been doing course work almost exclusively and probably average a bite a day.

 

[ohtobediscing]

We're having a serious drought in coastal MS. The sand fleas are just miserable, but strangely, the ticks haven't been prevalent.
I've had Lyme disease twice. The first time I was out of my boat scouting a rapid on the East Fk. Hood River when a feeling of utter exhaustion came over me, that persisted until bedtime. When I woke in the morning every major joint in my body ached terribly and I had a fever. 5 days before, I'd pulled a tick off my buddy's head, and that incident came to mind. I went to the hospital, they took a blood sample and said it would be a day for results, but put me on doxycycline anyways, just in case (treatment asap is critical). By the time I got the positive diagnosis, I was aready feeling much better.
But that morning when I woke up---I can't remember any other time of a feeling of such dread. And later I thought my joints might ache permanently, but I stayed active and felt fine in 2-3 months.

 

[discerdoo]

The powers decided my local course needed to be more difficult so they chopped about a five foot wide, 20 foot deep path into the nearest woods to set new baskets on several holes. I showed up for the weekly mini without knowing this and spent a lot of time crawling around in those woods after some errant shots.

Which resulted in me pulling the first tick in years off my nether regions last week. Bite area got a bit irritated and a small rash formed which was enough for me to do a free telemedicine visit and a $6 doxy prescription. Rash is gone and I feel fine.

 

[InnocentCrook]

Yep. God the little bastards have been horrible this Spring. I have been doing course work almost exclusively and probably average a bite a day.

They've been brutal around here too this year. I was wondering if it was just me.

Yesterday I pulled 4 off after about 3 hours of course work here at home. The adults I don't mind so much because they're pretty easy to spot. The nymphs are tough, smaller than a freckle sometimes.

We're probably pulling 4-5 per week off of our two kids after they play outside for any amount of time.

 

[ohtobediscing]

Seein's how we're on this subject, Wallyworld sells a $2 device called a Tick Wrangler that I've been using on the pets. Works awesome: pulls the head out, no squeezing the body till it pops, works on any animal including us.

 

[jmdaire27]

Yeah, I got a couple tick keys. Does the same thing. Anyway, went for a hike with wife and dog. So far 6 ticks between us. They do seem to be out in full force. Check yourself!