Not a tick
This little fella came home with me from the forest preserve last night (and I found one on me while I was there):
Totally not a tick, right? Just a little creepy spider?
After our picnic dinner I convinced Steven to go off the trails with me, in to the tall grass, so I could show him the stream I crossed through a few weeks ago. Sigh. Steven is probably never going to step foot with me inside a forest preserve again if I keep that up. Time to stay on the trails (when I am with Steven).
Have you ever had a tick on you? How did you remove it?
It was heavily wooded where I grew up, and I basically roamed the woods all by myself from sunrise to sunset (<– a bit of an exaggeration). I did have a tick on me once when I was very little. I doubt I noticed it, I was so small. All I remember is my mom burning a match then sticking in on the back of the tick (which was on my head, of course) to get it off. I am pretty sure that is not how they say to remove them now?
And just for you Dad – how many ticks have you had on you?
Enough tick talk. Steven suggested we have a picnic, see the geesers*, and go on a walk, and it was the perfect evening. We noticed there was a “do not feed the wildlife” sign when we entered the preserve… but we had brought two slices of bread from home for the geese and were really excited to feed them. Since there was a forest preserve cop there we had to feed them in stealth mode. But they made it obvious we were feeding them:
Oh, silly geesers.
*Steven and I have a lot of made up words. We call baby geese geesers (and sometimes goslings**).
**Hey Girl.
Themocracy
That last line is cracking me up. I love that you wrote that!
My youngest had a deer tick recently and we covered it with nail polish and then pulled it out gently. We called the doctor because I was terrified that something bad would come of it and then I would feel horrible the rest of my life for not doing anything. I’m glad I called because the doctor said there are a lot of lyme disease carrying ticks in our area. He gave him antibiotics, which he hated, and then was fine. After all of that I read online that the match and nail polish methods of removing ticks are just myths and that you just need to gently ease it out with tweezers. You would think my CNA training would have covered this!
Ahh! Tweezers?! That is it?!
I have read a lot of articles about lyme disease and it kind of freaks me the heck out!
Lots, thanks now I feel all itchy. LOL
Yeah, that is how I felt last night. So itchy. Yet, I still didn’t take a shower. Hmm 🙂
I am not sure if I’ve ever had a tick attach itself to me but Delilah has. We just use tweezers and then burn them after they are removed. That reminds me I need to get more flea/tick meds for Lilah.
Ewww… I hate ticks! When growing up, my brother and I would play outside all day and have “tick checks” when we came in for the evening. Gross. Between them, mosquitos, and chiggers, I was a walking rash for most of my childhood summers.
Our house is on almost a full acre lot. We have a fire pit in the back and it is wooded along the property line. One morning after a bonfire, I felt something itchy on my side. I looked down and it was a tick! I was half asleep and my husband was still sleeping. The tick was paper thin/flat and I started freaking out. I just yanked it out which is not what you’re supposed to do. The head came out too so we were all good.
I also frequently groom the dog for ticks as she is always running around like a crazy. I’ve found a few on her and we use a hot tweezers to pull it out. Thank god for Frontline otherwise she’d probably have a lot more. Ticks are so gross.
Also that video of you and the geese is hysterical. They really like that bread! It was like you and Steven were geese whisperers!
We are the geese whisperers… especially since we were actually whispering in hopes that we would not get in trouble. LOL.
Yuck yuck yuck. That sucks that you have ticks in your backyard! I probably would have yanked it out too. Who wants to wait to do the proper removal procedure when it’s ON you?!
Ewww! You are creeping me out today…
I am scared to death of geese ever since I nearly got attacked by one on a run a few years ago!
I have a major dislike for ticks as well. We went off path at Mattesien State Park once and myself and my weimarner were covered in them. Still freaks me out thinking about them. I think we used the hot needle trick and then just pulled them all out with tweezers. I know we got over 20 off the weimaraner. That’s when I stopped using frontline and moved to advantix, which is leathal for cats but my cats and dogs aren’t exactly cozy with one another so it works out.
Yuck. Ticks. Pretty sure I’ve only ever had one latched on to me. On my scalp. My mom took care of it but I don’t remember what she did. Oh, wait, I just remembered that I got one on my back once, too. Jason had to deal with that one.
And didn’t you learn from feeding the gulls that there is no sneaky way to feed the birds? 😛
All I remember from that day is that I am not supposed to feed them while I am eating. Which I told Steven. And we waited until after.
LOL, kind of joking, but really, I did not think they would come running toward us like that. It was really funy.
I’ve never seen a tick before, but I’ve always imagined them to look like leeches for some reason. Either way, they gross me out, and just thinking about it is scary. I’m glad I’ve never had to worry about them.
Lol. You’re Hey Girl comment made me laugh.
The original “Hey, Girl” posts were okay, but I LOVE the newer “Hey, Runner Girl” ones. 🙂
Your. Not You’re.
The runner girl ones TOTALLY crack me up too. I love to quote them to my runner friends. Sigh. If only it was Ryan saying them. And not me. But to me. Ha ha ha.
Aww, Geesers! Ryan Geesers, hehe. I am ignoring the not a tick picture.
Heyyyy Girl, let’s go get some vegan cookies and b*tch about life 🙂
My mom and my cat get ticks all the time. My mom had to go to the emergency room to get hers off, but usually she can take the ones off the cat. She hates them though and has to wear boots and long pants and shirts when she is out in the woods now. Kind of scary. I do not like them.
Yuck! I hate ticks. I always use tweezers and then flush the tick down the toilet.
Eek! Ticks! *shudder*
(the “hey runner girl” posts are hilarious!