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Old 05-19-2010, 10:52 PM
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Ayatollahgondola Ayatollahgondola is offline
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Default The Attack Of The Ticks

Since there is no business and no job these days, my wife and I decided to take our two dogs out for a walk in the open area of the old Mather field, which is now part county park. I needed to start flexing the back muscles a little since they are recovering from the spill I took last week, and a walk is not overdoing it really. This park is built around a sizeable, or lake on rainier months. Lots of hip high weeds for miles, and plenty of depth for our retriever. We tossed the stick in the pond for the Golden several times, and then set out for the hike towards the far end. We got about 1/2 mile in when the little dog just came to a stop. Very unusual for this to happen. I picked him up and was checking the paws which had a few clumps of stickers when I discovered several ticks making thier way up his legs. Then I found more...and more. When my wife came over to help I spotted about ten crawling up her pants legs and a half dozen more on her back already. A quick glance on my own pants revealed at least a dozen climbing fast. We immediately called off the hike and headed back at a brisk rate, flicking ticks off as we went. By the time we got to the roadway we removed about two dozen more from us, and we decided to just do the dogs after we got home.

On the drive home several were found crawling on the car seat and our clothes. Once home, we immediately did an inspection and removed several, then drew water for the dogs tick bath. Countless ticks were found on the dogs, and we killed them with a hammer as we went. It took two hours to bathe both dogs thoroughly, and still a day later we turn a few up on them

I have never seen that many ticks in one spot before. There are thousands upon thousands out there, and there must have just been a hatching.

the slightest itch now sends me into paranoid shivers, and a desperate search for an offensive bug. Can't wait to see what nightmares dominate evening should I actually be able to sleep tonight.
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