On 18/12/05 19:49, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:

In article ,
Sacha wrote:
On 18/12/05 19:42, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:

My guess is that the tendency of ticks to dig in is species specific,
but I have no certain knowledge of that.

It's pure guesswork but I think that how gorged the tick is might have
something to do with ease of removal, too, don't you?

Absolutely. Few people will let them gorge, though! I was referring
to the initial stages, up to and including the one where they cause
the white/red ring. My experience is that ones in that stage are
impossible to remove cleanly, but I can't swear whether that is the
stage of feeding or the species.

And I was talking Jack Russells, not Nick Maclaren. Sorry about that!

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

The sorts I have ever encountered in any part of Scotland, don't dig
in so deeply they can't be extracted (though I agree, in other climes
they do). Our sort get to the size of a currant then drop off, alive and
able to crawl along. Makes a bloody mess on the floor if someone
inadvertently steps on it.

I have picked up some in Scotland that dug in, but I agree that most
don't seem to.

Well, on human skin, I can get them out on the day they attached, (if
you spot them in time) and I would never knowingly leave them on
because of the Lyme risk. Our kids used to be tick-searched every night
at bathtime, in tick season. But the cats and dogs often get one on the
rim of their eye, in that fine dense fur. Then I let the tick swell for
a day so that it's easier to take, which minimises the pet stress of
doing it in such a sensitive spot.

The ones that cause me the problems are ones I don't notice until
the second day. It is VERY hard to check yourself for ticks in all
locations of the body, especially as you get old and stiff and lose
accommodation (visual, that is), in the very early stages.

IME, the bullseeye red ring doesn't appear while the tick is feeding.
All (UK) ticks let go and drop off naturally after a couple of days,
when they are full, to continue their life cycle. On the few occasions
when one of us got a bullseye, it came up after a delay of several days.

Many or most species of tick cause me to develop a slightly hard and
sore bullseye after about a day - white in the middle and red around
it. It is possible that I have developed a slight allergy to ticks
from repeated exposure.

This is not the small red mark that any tick bite leaves, it's a raised,
three inch bright red swelling, quite unmistakeable.

I don't get that.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

was getting this Manor House the direct result of having encountered a tick?


"Mike" wrote in message
...

I have tried pulling fast and slowly, twisting, oil and cigarettes.
None of those work. If I get a tick close to home, I may try meths
and white spirit, but can't carry those on the hills if I am flying
there. I am afraid that I am not optimistic.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

We moved into a house with a VERY LARGE overgrown garden in Leicester and
one of my daughters got 'something' on the back of her neck. This turned
out
to be a tick. What the hell is a tick? etc etc etc.

We had a Doctor living nearby and I went to see him.

Surgical Spirit, wad of Cotton wool, gentle pressure and a squeeze with a
gripping outward pressure. GONE :-)))

That was in about 1968. No after effects :-))

She now lives in a Manor House with umpteen acres and her problem now is
Badgers under the Tennis Court.

Surgical Spirit?

"I think not" :-))

Mike

Mike