But now it got cold again, so I hope they go to hibernation back!!!
It's been the first tick since end of November.
She has tick repellents, as usual, so the tick was not very happy (like without it's shiny color, so it was going to die, i suppose).
when they are healthy, they shine!!!!
No kidding!!
I know these little critters for more than a decade! Posted by LymeLearned (Member # 20565) on :
I didn't know they shined.
Creepy little things! I always fear tick repellent will cause them to gravitate to someone else in the house, or crawl across the bed off of a cat. Does this happen?
My hemiplegic cousin got it from my mom's indoor/outdoor cat in her bed, as it was the only thing she ever did that could give her a tick.
Posted by Brussels (Member # 13480) on :
I mean, not shining like a firefly, but their skin color is shiny! Very shiny, when they are healthy and strong.
But when they get weaker, first the shiny part disappears, they look more pale (like us, humans!)
If they die biting the cat, they dry out and the cat scratches them off. Totally opaque color.
I keep my cat's ticks in a jam jar and observe them.
I just put them on baking soda, sort of disinfect them before burning them once a year.
There are tick repellents and tick repellents.
The one I use is not exactly a repellent, but just an oil that somehow poisons the cat's blood (it's though said to be natural oil).
Ticks will still bite, but they die after starting to suck.
Cats drop ticks any place, with or without repellents.
If you saw those videos about ticks, you'll understand that not all ticks are made equal! Female ticks do not behave like male ticks.
Male ticks tend to drop faster, even before biting.
I'll see if I find the video, it's hilarious!!!
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- I've seen photos - candid shots by ordinary folks - of a tick crawling on glazed snow during a winter's walk in California.
Ticks can survive minus 17 F and still be fine.
They also can survive some forest fires by burrowing into damp moss in the crooks of trees, or under the layers of forest floor. Often the fire does not get all the way into some of the layers.
These things are amazing. I wish that their bite could be changed to spread love, peace . . . health and happiness. What a nice ecological twist that could be, eh? -
Posted by Brussels (Member # 13480) on :
Keebler, maybe ticks are changing and adapting and now will be able to go snowboarding ??!!
I've never seen a tick on snow, but who knows!?
What I know is that in very dry countries, I rarely catch ticks.
I lived 2 years in South Korea, and my area was so dry... I often went to stroll in the nearby mountains (sort of chain of hills), every week, for 2 years, and have never seen a single tick.
Here in Switzerland, if winters are cold enough for a while (sustained cold for at least 2 weeks), next spring will not be nightmare.
If winters are mild (like last year, and this year, so far), spring will look like tick infestation.
Like last year...
Posted by steve1906 (Member # 16206) on :
Anti-freeze proteins, that's why they live through the winter months. I've only listed two sites, do a search, hundreds of study's out there. And they live way below minus 17.
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