Building The Love Shack

We had our first Tick. I had never seen a tick before.  We looked down on Romeo’s tummy and there was this little pink bump on his tummy and it had a black dot in it.

Into the house, we went and out came the first-aid kit. I volunteered husband to take it out and he reminded me, I was the nurse.  With a pair of tweezers and piece of gauze in hand, Romeo kindly rolled over on his back to get what he thought was one of his daily belly rubs and in seconds out came the tick.

The tick came out not in one piece but in a few small pieces. Thankfully the tick was dead. At that point, I was glad that we decided to treat Romeo with flea and tick medication this year.

Normally I am not a big fan of chemicals for him or myself, but this year they had predicted with the late spring and heavy rain, that we were going to have more bugs than usual.

We have had an increase in mosquitos. We have seen more flies and a few that have been biting and now our first tick. It took three years, but I think this might officially make us cottagers.

If you have never seen a tick before or know how big they are, as I did not, these pictures may help.

If you should find a tick on yourself or your pet, the best way to remove it is to remove it with a pair of tweezers. Try not to jerk, yank or twist as you then run the risk of breaking it apart and leaving the mandibles and mouth stuck in the wound which can lead to some infection issues.

Have a white piece of tissue or gauze to place it on so that you can see all the parts as you get them out. Then remember to watch for signs of not feeling well, especially flu-like symptoms.

You could also have an allergic reaction to a bite, its rear, most people don’t have a reaction, if you are one of the unlucky ones, you should see your doctor or in extreme cases head to the emergency room.

This is a map of Ontario Tick/Lyme Disease Risk Map. Thankfully our cottage is not in the area.