Back from the bush after checking my camera-trap, and got home to discover I'd brought a passenger.
The last time I had ticks on me I wound up in emergency with a severe allergic reaction - but that time I'd probably been bitten by 3 or 4.
My son helped me freeze it with compressed air, then pull it out with tweezers. Always a relief to see you've got the head out as well.
@cetan All good. I took an antihistamine straight away. I have a bite where it was attached to me (like a largish mosquito bite), but none of the hives or numb face i had last time. I suspect last time I had quite a considerable dose of tick-saliva due to both the number of ticks and the time they stayed on me.
There's not really anything you can do to avoid them if you are heading into thick scrub. I wear gaiters, so they can really only get to my upper body, where they're easier to find.
@ProfundumPhoto Do they respond (or rather, not respond as it were) to insect repellent with DEET at all? That's the only thing we really can use here to keep them from "seeing" us when we're out hiking.
Glad you found this one early. I've had tick bites before from very small ones (pin-head sized) and with the threat of lyme disease it's stressfull.
@cetan Yes, I’ve heard of people using insect repellent to ward-off ticks. I generally hate insect repellant, but I guess the universe is telling me I need to get over that.
Supposedly we don’t have lymes disease here, but whenever you are bitten, you are getting a dose of the tick’s gut-flora, and sharing bacteria with whatever else it’s been feeding on. I’ve known people who’ve had some pretty disabilitating conditions from tick-bites. Not lymes disease - so hell without a name.
Gum on China’s Shoe
阜日木
cetan