I never even thought about it. Saving a tick for future examination. I know you’re supposed to. But I didn’t.
For some reason, I don’t get a lot of ticks. Neither does my dog. I’m not sure why. We don’t stay indoors. My dog usually has some of those topical drops on her neck to keep them away, although she is overdue at the moment. And this time of year in particular, I tend to give my legs a quick spray with deet. Just to keep myself from tasting too good.
But on Saturday, I found a tick. He was attached and seemed to be enjoying a nice little snack at the moment. I know it hadn’t been there long, because I also do fairly regular checks, but there he was. So I got my tick removal kit and took him off.
I’m not sure where I got this little kit, but I do like it. Although the only thing I ever really use is the part I like to call the tick spoon. It’s a little plastic spoon with a thin, V-shaped notch at the front. You get the body of the tick in the bowl of the spoon, get the notch down around his little jaws and give it a quick tug. Tick is removed and contained in the spoon.
In this case, I checked the tick, figured it was of little consequence and gave the little guy a nice warm reception. I threw it in the fire, which is where I believe all ticks should be.
But yesterday I noticed a fairly large red spot where the tick bite once was.
Since I had examined the tick and believed it was a dog tick, not a deer tick, I was fairly comfortable this wasn’t the dreaded bullseye rash, but it did look nasty. I was concerned I may have left tick bits behind. Since the location of the bite was a place I could see, but not very closely, I asked my wife to look and see if there were pieces of tick still with me. Instead, she insisted I go get it looked at.
So I had the pleasure of spending a couple hours in the emergency room. It really was a pleasure, since I got to catch up with a couple other people I know while I was sitting there, which was a bonus. And when the doctor checked, he said there didn’t seem to be anything left behind and asked if I had the tick.
This is one of those things we are told, but I hardly ever remember. I don’t tend to save ticks. If I wanted it for a pet, I probably would have allowed it to keep feeding. But at the time, I just wanted it to stop being a tick.
I did look at it, so when the doctor asked I told him I was pretty sure it was a dog tick, not a deer tick. You know. Red tick with red legs and the little white mark on his back. Not the little tiny black ones. Or the ones with the black legs. And there are new types that seem to keep arriving all the time.
So now I have to remember to save my ticks. Maybe start a collection. It might be a good use for all the little plastic pill bottles I have around the house.
If you ever drop by and see a bunch of little plastic bottles lined up on the mantle, don’t open them. What’s inside probably wants you more than you want it. And it would likely be pretty hungry.
