Have a look at this creature!
I came inside from working out in the yard yesterday afternoon to find this engorged tick crawling on the kitchen floor, next to Ms. Trixie's bed!
Even though this dude was blown up and full of blood, it was surprisingly still mobile, although slow. However, when plopped into the toilet, NOT so mobile after all -
Interestingly, last week Emilie found a tick behind one of Ms. Trixie's ears. It was dug in and had started to fill and balloon up! We removed it and washed out the area with hydrogen peroxide. We did a quick check and didn't notice any others at that time, so not sure if we simply missed this dude or if she picked it up afterwards.
The Google machines states that adult ticks can grow from the size of a poppy seed to about the size of a pea in 7-10 days, an increase in size by up to 120 times, so it's possible the critter above was after.
Naïve of me for thinking Ms. Trixie wouldn't pick up any ticks since she's relegated to the fenced in pool area. I'm sure there are many ways ticks can get into the pool area, with wild rabbits and squirrels being the most likely, as they're regular visitors to this area.
The other more likely culprit is that both Emile and I have taken Ms. Trixie out during the numerous open houses I've had over the past couple of weeks. I've taken her to the school just down the street and we've spent time walking the ball fields. I've seen foxes and deer in the past in the same field, so there's that...
She'll be getting a tubby this afternoon and a thorough inspection to ensure she's tick free, for her sake and mine.
Makes me rethink letting her sleep next to me at night, geesh!
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