Tips for dogsitters
Do not walk the in-law's dog up in the hills where the deer hang out. Oh, it was fun, and the view was great. But where there's long grass and deer, there are probably also ticks. And he's only a little dog, so it's not a big jump for them.
Oh yes. Five of them. Gruesome: big fat beige bodies, heads buried in the flesh, and awful spindly little black legs which move in the creepiest way.
The standard advice for removing them is to use pointed tweezers, grab the tick at the point of attachment (just below the head) and pull it straight out firmly. Well, what they don't tell you is how tenaciously the little buggers hold on: it takes an alarming amount of force.
Ick. I'm glad I was wearing long trousers that day.
(And a moral dilemma for dogsitters: do you confess to an infestation, or keep quiet? We confessed; the dog's fine; but I won't be taking him up there again...)
Oh yes. Five of them. Gruesome: big fat beige bodies, heads buried in the flesh, and awful spindly little black legs which move in the creepiest way.
The standard advice for removing them is to use pointed tweezers, grab the tick at the point of attachment (just below the head) and pull it straight out firmly. Well, what they don't tell you is how tenaciously the little buggers hold on: it takes an alarming amount of force.
Ick. I'm glad I was wearing long trousers that day.
(And a moral dilemma for dogsitters: do you confess to an infestation, or keep quiet? We confessed; the dog's fine; but I won't be taking him up there again...)
