public service announcement to those who spend time outside

[serenissima]

Yesterday afternoon, Chris and I went for a hike in one of the state parks in his area. We had a nice time enjoying the scenery. This morning, while taking my shower, I discovered a tick attached to my upper chest. Having dried myself and checked some more, I found another on the back of my leg, though that one had not dug itself in. A little research revealed, to my great relief, that ticks have to be attached for at least 24 hours to transmit Lyme disease. However, this incident leads me to offer the following tips:

1) If you're going to spend time in the outdoors, use bug repellant. (Water bottles and sunblock are good, too.)

2) If you've been in an area where ticks live, after you get home, take off your clothes and examine yourself thoroughly. I had checked my legs and ankles before leaving the park, but I would never have thought to look under my shirt. Plus, somehow I missed the one on my leg.

Comments

[kavasa.livejournal.com]

And the only ones that do it are deer ticks, teeny tiny little orange buggers. These were probably the bigger, darker colored variety, I'm guessing?

Still: ick! God how I hate ticks. Urrgh.

[copperwolf.livejournal.com]

These could have been deer ticks. They were tiny, about 2mm in diameter, and very dark brown or black -- looking not unlike the male tick in the little photo on this page: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme There was a sign by the parking lot warning that deer ticks carrying Lyme disease might be around.