The Forestry Forum
General Forestry => Forestry and Logging => Topic started by: jrdwyer on August 26, 2003, 02:43:42 PM
I was in the woods on Friday. I drove my ATV through an unmowed bottom field in an area heavy with deer to get to the back side of the property. A day later I found a very small tick or chigger in a very personal spot. It was the size of a ballpoint pen dot on a piece of paper.
Ticks and mosquitoes don't really bother me much because I use a lot of DEET, but how do your tell the difference between a tick, a baby tick, and a chigger?
Chiggers are red.
http://216.83.169.90/kid/ill_injure/aches/chigger.html
Are you familiar with the "deer tick", and how small they are, and that they carry limes disease? Watch for a red "target" around where you found the tick (like a bullseye) if it was attached. This deer tick moved down from northern MN/WI rather quickly (3-4 years), so would not be surprised if it is in Indiana by now. They are very small, like the size of a pin head. Need a 10X lens to look at them. Probably a site that tells more, but attached one with pics.
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegallery/ticks/deertick.html
Sounds like a deer tick to me. We have had deer ticks in Kentucky for years and this spring they were very bad.
I've had both.
Chiggers will go to a place where there is a constriction, like your sock tops or belt top. They will dig in and itch like crazy. They form a small welt. To get rid of them, you put on a dab of nail polish. It suffocates them.
Deer ticks will give a small red dot, almost like a smaal burn, with no discomfort. Watch for the bulls eye. I got that as well. It is Lyme disease. It takes about 5-7 days for the bulls eye to form. In some cases they don't form.
Get your butt to a doctor, especially if the target forms. If caught early, then there isn't any problems. If not taken care of, you will have unbelievable joint problems in the not to distant future. I know several surveyors who can hardly walk.
They have blood tests for Lyme. They are about 80% accurate. Mine came back negative, but I might not have built up the antibodies since I caught it early. Lyme may not have traveled to your area. I wouldn't want to be the first case.