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I have been running my female hard the last 2 weeks. Usually I check to make sure she's healthy, check her eyes (they tend to cloud up and swell). Clean it out each night, etc.... Well 2 days ago, the top of her head (hair) didn't look smooth, I mean it had looked like there was bumps all over the top of her head and the hair didn't lay down flat (sleek like)
hard to explain...
anyways I let her in last night to give her a better examination and I found that her head and ears (at the base) was full of "TICKS??" if that's what they're called. They weren't like the big ticks(deerticks) that fill up with blood and you can pull them off with your fingers/tweezers. These looked like miniature ticks about 1/16 inch in size. Some were white but most were black/brown. And they were only one her head I didn't find any on her back or belly area. I must've pulled off over 100 last night and I don't think I made a dent.
Can anyone explain this? What are they? How do I get rid of them? How did she get them? Has anyone had this happen?
Greetings Sue,
What you have ventured into is what we call the "turkey tick", They showed up here, when the state brought in the turkey to be released in southern IN. The state says there's no such thing as a turkey tick but this is where they came from and I have run these woods since a boy and never ran into anything like them till the turkey came here. You are right, they are no bigger than a course flake of pepper and they come by the hundreds. They are anywhere the turkey go and now are surely spread by all animals that roam the woods. They have a itch to their bite that is rivaled only by a chigger and will leave you scarred where they have bitten, and to make matters worse, they bite more than once, you will not always find them at the first itch but you will find them. Once they have latched on they will dig in almost making themselves look like a very small mole or freckle but the itch will give them away. The state says they are a deer tick but the deer have been well established here since the early 50's and we've never had anything like this before.
They have also deemed that we need rattle snakes and I can hardly wait till the wolves come, but wait, what's that howling outside my window.
Spray down with paramone and check yourself often, dip the hounds with paramite dip.
The big ticks you mention are what we call dog or wood ticks. Deer ticks are very, very small. If you took a very sharp pencil and made a mark on a piece of paper, that would be about the size of a deer tick. Deer ticks are a pretty big problem a little south of where I live.
Incidentally, deer ticks are the carriers of Lyme disease. And if I remember right, they must be attached for 24 hours to pass the disease. If you still have one, take one to your vet to make sure, and I would recommend an antibiotic treatment to fight off the Lyme disease. If you wait too long, your dog may become lame, and can develop kidney problems, etc.
Also deer ticks around here inhabit hay fields and overgrown grassy areas. I treat my hounds with Front Line Top Spot to prevent tick infestation.
John
If you can't run with the BIG DOGS stay on the porch!
We use Frontline. Once-a-month drop between the shoulder blades, and we basically stop after the first freeze and start up again in the early spring. When we do a nightly tick-check, we find nothing but dead-ones or nothing. They fall-off after being dead for a little bit, too, so we'll find one now and then on a bed. I don't know how fast it will take care of hundreds!
