Not tickled pink by these

Here's a couple of locals that I'm not so enamoured by.

First Ixodes scapularis. Cool name, nasty creature. Our friend the deer, or black legged, tick:


(Click the picture for a closer view)

He's a little hard to see, but he's pretty much just a bag of blood because he's been feeding on one of us. I think he is an engorged nymph, but it may be an adult male. Anyway, Il Capo managed to remove him without squishing him, so I could take some photos (before squishing him).

These guys carry Lyme disease, so are best kept exterior to your epidermis.

Now this lady is Dermacentor Variabilis, known to her friends as the American dog tick. I discovered her walking quite quickly up my shirt heading for my neck. I'd just been attending to Rayhound, who had just been running around our (and the neighbour's) garden.


(Again, click the picture to see her in her full glory)

She doesn't carry Lyme disease, but she does carry several others, among them Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and tularemia. Again, much better to intercept her while on my clothes, than allow her access to my skin.

We do have the garden sprayed to prevent these guys, but we have a wild area beyond the garden that the children and the dog occasionally stray into. Less often the better is now our rule. I have my photos so I do not need any more ticks thank-you.