Not really. But I do like that song by Brad Paisley. It’s officially flea and tick season here at our house….well mainly ticks, and we seem to be finding them EVERYWHERE!!! They give me the heebie jeebies.
A couple nights ago, Steve wanted me to come look a bug on our wood floors that he at first thought was a piece of dog food. He told me to look at it from afar to see just how much it resembled dog food. I agreed and decided to get a closer look. That’s when I realized what it was.
An engorged TICK!!!!!
Isn’t that disgusting?!!!! Eww, I’m getting the shivers just looking at it. That’s a dog treat that Steve is holding it with.
Here’s the tick next to Steve’s finger so you can see the size of that monstrosity!
I just want to know where it came from. It’s obviously full of someone’s blood who lives in our house, because I don’t think that a fully engorged tick would just mosey on in and plant itself in the middle of our wood floors for no good reason. It had to have fallen off one of our animals, or worse……one of us!!! I checked all the furbabies, and none of them had any fleas or ticks that I could see, but I doused them with flea and tick medicine so that hopefully this won’t happen again.
However, I can’t douse myself with flea and tick medicine….they just don’t make that stuff for humans, and when I came in from picking up dog poop so Steve could mow the lawn (I know, gross. Sorry.), I found a TICK crawling on my hand!!!!! Luckily it hadn’t implanted it’s head into my epidermis yet, and was in it’s small shrunken state, but nonetheless…..I was grossed out! And the thing was, I couldn’t just brush it off me because then it would have landed on the carpet and who knows where it would of gone and to which host it would have attached itself. So I coaxed it onto a piece of paper and threw it into the garbage can outside. Hopefully that will deter it from coming back in our house. I don’t think I can deal with any more ticks in my house.
Oh man! That would be enough for me to stay out of the yard!!! Be sure to use a good Frontline or whatever really repels them. I know fleas are preventable, but maybe not ticks. I know they are not just in Tennessee. Susan and Ray are always pulling them off of their dogs, too, especially when they go hiking. Those disgusting little buggers!! You know about the hot match trick, don’t you? If you see a tick embedded in your pet’s skin you just hold a hot match (no fire) to it’s bottom and it will pull out of the hole in a hurry. 🙂
Yah, we use Advantage. Seems to work better on our animals. We’ve tried Frontline before and it doesn’t work. Even our vet said that he thinks the bugs are getting tolerant to Frontline since it’s been used so much. It’s supposed to prevent fleas and ticks, hopefully. I’ve tried the hot match trick before and it’s never worked. We always just end up pulling them out with tweezers. Luckily, the only animal we’ve ever had to pull a tick off of was Coco, and that was back in CA. I’ve thoroughly brushed and checked both dogs and haven’t found anything. The ticks just seem to be finding out way into the house without being attached to one of our animals.
eeewwww, eeeeeewwwwwwww, and *gack* EEEEEWWWWWW!
however, having 3 pups and being a foster home for others, I know it is only a matter of time….
BUT – there are things – natural things – that can be done pro-actively! flea & tick prevention on the dogs, of course, is the first step
I have also read/heard that spreading diatomaceous earth thru the yard or even just around the perimeter will keep the buggers out; gravel and wood chip barriers work, too. you can even use plants – plants with really strong smells (mint, garlic, citronella) or their essential oils are supposed to act as a repellent
I think I’m leaning toward the mint essentail oil….. it sounds so spa-like. but being able to throw out that I’m looking to get some “diatomaceous earth” while at Lowe’s might work, too….
I have heard that strong smelling plants does deter the bugs….mosquitoes too, which is a big plus for me since I always get eaten alive every summer. I’ve never heard of that diatomaceous earth before. Might just have to try it. Thanks for visiting my blog!
I got the heebies just looking at that pic! I think I would have had a heart attack if I had found it in the house!! Couple things I have learned in Fl during flea/tick season…
check your dogs’ paws…ticks love to get between their toes and hide there…
have a pest control company come out and treat the lawn for both fleas and ticks…
here in FL at least, just flea/tick treatment alone does not work during the summer…you have to pair it with a flea/tick collar (you can get them for $4 at Target). We use the new Advantix II and a Hartz flea/tick collar
Always check your curtains…momma ticks like to go up in the liner (or up in the middle) to lay their eggs…guaranteed infestation waiting to happen.
Good Luck!!!
I’m about to have to start doing all that too!!!
Ticks totally repulse me, and that picture did nothing to help their case…GAG!!!! What a nasty little (er, big!) creature. I’m glad you’re diligent about keeping them off your pets and out of your house. My mom is dealing with what the doctors think is Lyme Disease right now, and I wouldn’t want anyone else to have to go through what she is. Keep being careful, girl!
Again…GAG! 🙁