Is this a tick bite?

Get the medication going just to be sure.

It's a cheap prescription for long term health
 
something may have changed since my last brush with Lymes, which would have been 12ish years ago. So, they may now be able to catch it sooner, but I'm 90% sure it took them over 2 weeks from the time of the bite to when it would test positive. My oldest son had the pure doughnut around a tick bite and got flue like symptoms. Had to send him with the practice wife to the doctor twice, telling him that he had Lymes. The first time, the Dr didn't believe it. So, I had to send them back the next day and demand the medication.

A couple side notes...First, if they are removed in less than 24 hours of attachment, the odds of even an infected tick transmitting Lyme are very low. So, I always check myself thoroughly at the end of each day in the woods, right before jumping in the shower. Then, I scrub hard with a cloth, in an attempt to peal any off that I may have missed. For the last 30+ years, I've picked hundreds of ticks off a year and never got Lyme, just by doing that.

Last year I got into what the locals in WC IL call seed ticks (picture baby deer ticks). I'd never heard of them and somehow had managed to avoid them. I no doubt had gotten them before and just never noticed, as they make deer ticks look big. I got into them 2 days in a row REALLY bad (I'm talking somewhere over 500 both days). The only reason I noticed is because I just started to itch like crazy by the end of the day, as I was getting so many little bites (side note, they wash right off with a wash cloth soaked in mouth wash).

Anyway, it was pure torture, maddening, and I vowed to never go through that again. Permethrin is a thing of great beauty. I don't think the brand matters, but I picked up 6 cans of REPEL at Fleet Farm. I just spray my boots, pants below the knee and a loop around my waist...I've gotten 1 tick so far this year (it was on my neck), and I'm always somewhere over a couple hundred by now. It has exceeded my expectations.
 
Yep. The few bucks to be sure pale in comparison to the downside.
 
You can get permethrin concentrate at Tractor Supply. I roughly figured u could whip up about 5 times as much at the cost of pre-mixed.
 
Hmmm.....I'd be getting to the Dr. for evaluation. The sooner you catch Lyme and start treating it the better.

I second that. It could be a spider bite also. Almost looks like 2 bites right next to each other. Usually ticks will only make one mark when they imbed in you. Spider bites can be nasty if you are allergic to them as I am. Had a spider bite on fore arm once that looked like I had a baseball inside of it.
 
You can get permethrin concentrate at Tractor Supply. I roughly figured u could whip up about 5 times as much at the cost of pre-mixed.

I went to Fleet with the idea of buying bulk in some manner, but they didn't have any other options and I was in a rush. No doubt it has to be a lot cheaper going that route. Appreciate you mentioning that, though. I'm a novice on the permethrin front. I was just amazed at how well it works.
 
I used it this year, but we didn't really have ticks when we were out. The pre-mixed stuff is around 0.5% permethrin. The concentrate is 20%.
 
I used it this year, but we didn't really have ticks when we were out. The pre-mixed stuff is around 0.5% permethrin. The concentrate is 20%.

Got the can sitting next to me (had to get it for my first post to know how to come close to spelling it)...0.5% on the nose. I can't remember what the cost was per can, but I do remember thinking it was a lot and I was throwing money away by not getting bulk (didn't even realize there was a concentrate). I should have just enough to make it through, but will definitely get a concentrate next year...Just mix with water and put in a spray bottle?
 
something may have changed since my last brush with Lymes, which would have been 12ish years ago. So, they may now be able to catch it sooner, but I'm 90% sure it took them over 2 weeks from the time of the bite to when it would test positive.

I looked this up, just to be sure I was right...It isn't 2 weeks, it takes 4 weeks after a bite for tests to come back positive.

Pretty good link, if someone is interested
http://www.mainelyme.org/i-have-a-tick-bite-what-to-do-now/
 
Whoops, I was only half right. It's called permethrin-10 at TSCO. It's 20x more concentrated than the premix, not 20% concentrate. I knew there was a 20 in there somewhere.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/permethrin-10-livestock-amp;-premise-spray-32-oz

A quart of this will make you make you five gallons of spray for $20 plus the cost of a spray bottle. Way better than my initial guess of 5x the savings. I haven't read up on the label yet, but my guess would be you just add water to dilute it down to 0.5%.

Here's the label: http://www.gordonsusa.com/pdfs/Permethrin-10-SL.pdf
 
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Thanks a ton, SD...I know I spent way more than that on the fraction of volume I bought. Always appreciate it when someone helps me save $.
 
Ooh, yep get that looked at.

Steve, if they brushed right off it sounds like you got into chiggers, nasty little creatures.

I do the permethrin concentrate also, got 1/2 gallon pump sprayer and I cut the concentrate to give me .5% to 1%

I drench my pants, socks and shirt in it then throw them in the dryer. Zero ticks so far this year. I've watched a tick crawling up my pant leg get delusional and die :) that batch might have been a bit strong.
 
My buddy sprays his tent and camp chairs too
He said no more creepy crawlers in the tent.
 
Looks like a spider bite to me
go to the doctor better safe than sorry
 
Wow! After reading all these posts, I hope you are still alive tooln ....

After a weekend of work in the field, I can't believe what I have had stuck in me ... sometimes I find 0.25" slivers is places of who knows where.

This has been a very lo tick year for us, I am surprised at 2 wide bite marks and no tick head still stuck in your leg?

Best advise is to see a doctor ... they can take blood tests and advise ...
 
My doctor would not give me the medication unless I tested positive.........twice. Problem is, the tests don't always work. So it is time for a new doctor for me!

Crazy! It's almost guaranteed that if you take the medication that you will not get Lymes. It's cheap and easy? Prevention
 
Steve, if they brushed right off it sounds like you got into chiggers, nasty little creatures.

I do the permethrin concentrate also, got 1/2 gallon pump sprayer and I cut the concentrate to give me .5% to 1%

I drench my pants, socks and shirt in it then throw them in the dryer. Zero ticks so far this year. I've watched a tick crawling up my pant leg get delusional and die :) that batch might have been a bit strong.


Unfortunately, I know chiggers all too well and have a very long history with them. the "seed ticks" were bigger than chiggers. I'm guessing that they are baby deer ticks, as I'd never heard of them before. It's just what the local guys I know told me they were.

On the plus side, permethrin works great on chiggers, as well...Haven't spent one night in bed this summer, frantically itching my ankles with my toe nails. I can't say that I miss that ritual at all.
 
Steve we call em seed ticks down here too but I would suspect you are correct that they are young deer ticks. We normally have deer ticks first then this time of year the seed ticks show up in full force. I follow the same procedure of spraying, tuck pants into knee boots and keep shirt tucked in pants. Every time I don't do that I end up with a load of them things.
 
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