posted
Evening All, After dinner, my scalp felt itchy, and while this sometimes happens due to the Lyme and parasites, this felt a bit different.
I ran my fingers through and felt what I thought to be a grain of sand or something. I scratched, pulled, and then dug a bit.
Guys, I think I pulled out a tiny tick. Are they, can they be, active at this time of the year?
I did go out into the backyard yesterday, and I did bathe one of our golden retrievers yesterday, though I did not notice any on her.
It was tiny, about the size of a small sesame seed, though black.
Has anyone heard of these malicious critters being out and about this time of the year?
-------------------- 'Hope' is a thing with feathers, that perches in the soul-- Emily Dickinson Posts: 160 | From Indiana | Registered: Nov 2012
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Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338
posted
Save it in a plastic baggie and sometime when you have access to a microscope, examine it.
tick battler
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 21113
posted
Ticks live for 3 years. They become active when the weather gets warm - over 45 degrees or something like that. I think that the tick could have been on your dog hanging out for the winter and perhaps it got warm inside and crawled off onto you?
Posts: 1763 | From Malvern, PA | Registered: Jul 2009
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posted
Thanks. I did put it onto a piece of tape to look at later. Didn't know that they lived for three years. We had some warm weather, and our porch got quite warm today and yesterday with the sunshine.
-------------------- 'Hope' is a thing with feathers, that perches in the soul-- Emily Dickinson Posts: 160 | From Indiana | Registered: Nov 2012
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- Ticks can be active even in snow, even freezing temperatures.
There is never a day of the year when they may not be active.
I am relatively sure that I've read they can survive to -12 F, that would be 12 degrees below zero -- as well as even through a forest fire by burrowing into mossy, hollowed out joints of trees to hide a way, or in pads of underbrush. -
[ 02-25-2013, 11:32 PM: Message edited by: Keebler ]
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
The photo to the left is an engorged Ixodes Pacificus, otherwise known as the western black-legged tick, notorious carrier of Lyme disease, sitting on snow one November day in Shingletown, California.
The picture was snapped by professional photographer Michelle Mahood, moments after plucking the insect from her dog, who had been frolicking in the snow.
It�s Michelle�s answer to all those medical professionals who perpetuate the delusion that ticks are never a problem in winter. -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96223 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Catgirl
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Member # 31149
posted
Let's put it this way, if the sun is out, they are out, even in winter. When they sense movement, they grab onto their next host.
-------------------- --Keep an open mind about everything. Also, remember to visit ACTIVISM (we can change things together). Posts: 5418 | From earth | Registered: Mar 2011
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- I know of two people who contracted lyme from their Christmas trees that provided rides for hitchhiking ticks into homes (but also beware of chemicals on the artifical trees). -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
- I know of two people who contracted lyme from their Christmas trees that provided rides for hitchhiking ticks into homes (but also beware of chemicals on the artifical trees & off-gasing of petroleum product - although that is more controllable to some degree with research). -
Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007
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posted
Ticks can absolutely be active this time of the year. My dog got out of the yard one winter when there was a bunch of snow on the ground. When we finally got her back home we ended up finding a tick on her. I was so surprised to find one on her in the middle of winter when there was snow outside. So you definitely have to be careful any time of the year.
-------------------- Sick since 10/2001. Tested CDC positive for Lyme 10/2008 through Quest and Igenex. Started treatment 1/2009 with LLMD. Lyme, Erichilosis, Chlamydophila Pneumoniae, Q Fever, Strep Syndrome and probably a few others I am forgetting. Posts: 451 | From Virginia | Registered: Feb 2009
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Lymedin2010
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desertwind
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 25256
posted
Yes. I have been bit in the dead of winter. I found a bloated tick on my dog a month ago.
Posts: 1671 | From Tick Infested New Jersey | Registered: Apr 2010
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posted
yes! Snow on the ground and my dog came in with a tick crawling on her back last week. They are out!!!
Posts: 238 | From new england | Registered: Feb 2013
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