Tick Season 2011 has begun

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ticks

I pulled two ticks off my dog this week. They appeared to be dog ticks , not deer ticks.
 
Pretty sure they were dog ticks (brown, not black), even though there are a lot of deer walking the woods next to my house every day.

My kids were the ones that picked up the ticks. Both felt them crawling around ears and/or necks, about 10 minutes apart, during dinner. Neither was attached... For some odd reason, the kids get them more easily than I do.

Tim
 
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The increase in tempetures brings them out in force, to all you dog owners, dont let your dog down, use FRONTLINE now. My dog has lyme disease, you do not want that believe me.
 
Pretty sure they were dog ticks (brown, not black), even though there are a lot of deer walking the woods next to my house every day.
There are other hosts for deer ticks than just deer, mice for instance.

For some odd reason, the kids get them more easily than I do.
Ticks climb up on foliage and wait for you (or some other potential host) to brush up against it. Somehow, I'd guess that young kids are more likely to brush up against foliage than are adults...

Doug
 
My quick identifier for deer ticks is a) small size and b) do they have a kind of "shield" marking on their lower backside (like a crescent on the edge when they are really tiny, but covering most of their lower back when they are full size, which is still small). Dog ticks have a marking on their upper back.
 
I believe white footed mice carry the ticks to places deer can't easily get to, like your fenced back yard.
According to Bookah's vet, even winters aren't safe and it's the snow cover not the cold that keeps the ticks temporarily at bay.
Trying to I.D. ticks by color this time of year is very tricky as it's not only tough to see the tiny nits, even harder to determine what type of tick they are without magnification.
Good advice about protecting your pooch. Mine receives an annual Lyme test, a vaccine, and Frontline.
There are a few areas around here with sandy soil and are so tick infested I never hike or walk there.
 
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