Being eaten by a tick that is being eaten by another tick? New Record?

[caddisguy]

I bagged the a tick I pulled out of my ankle yesterday. I was thinking I might start taking the ones that bite me into the doctor so they can send them for testing (and prove lyme is real in BC) but don't feel like waiting for hours at a walk-in clinic. Figured I'd make sure it was dead and flush them where they belong.

In doing so, it became apparent that I was bit by a female deer tick which had a male deer tick engorged. So... I was being eaten by a tick that was eaten by another tick. Should get some sort of trophy for that?

I knew it was possible for ticks to feed off other ticks, as last year I had 15 or so in a small container. A few of the males started feeding off some of the females. I thought it might be a mating thing until I looked it up. Nope, it is what it looks like.

What are the odds of being eaten by a tick that is being eaten by a tick in the wild? I have no idea. Is there a B&C record for this kind of thing?

[ActionJackson017]

caddisguy, you just love giving a guy the heebee-jeebees right before bed, don't you?

lol.

[gutpile]

You should see a doctor if you have been bitten , you don't want to get lyme disease

[caddisguy]

caddisguy, you just love giving a guy the heebee-jeebees right before bed, don't you?

lol.

Lol I have some video of it in my leg and then some video of the two ticks after I separated... will be sure to post it up right before bed time... maybe on a Sunday night after everyone has been stomping around in the bush all weekend

[caddisguy]

You should see a doctor if you have been bitten , you don't want to get lyme disease

I get bit around 20x each spring... hundreds over the years. Mentioned it to half a dozen doctors but damned if I can get even one to blink an eye and send me for a test. Not that the tests in Canada are useful anyway. That's what our public health care system amounts to. Might explain the high white cell blood count (always 10-16), swollen lymph nodes, persistent low grade fever, intermittent sore joints and palmar erythema but apparently all those things are non-specific and don't warrant further testing. Come back when it seems like it's terminal or organs are failing then we'll have a look is how things seem to work.

Some doctors will give you antibiotics if you tell them you got bit by a tick (I'd be on antibiotics April to July) but actual lyme testing is rare and chronic lyme (anything beyond popping a few pills) is not acknowledged or treated in Canada as far as I can tell. I suspect it is the cost. It's very expensive to treat chronic lyme, let alone short term or long term disability. Doctors all seem to have the same script. First they tell you there is no lyme west of the rockies. Then you point them to stats showing lyme hot-spots in the Fraser Valley and in some areas 20% of ticks are positive. Then they tell you ticks only transmit lyme some small % of time they are attached. Then you tell them you have been bitten over 100x, then they tell you it's only the ticks that are engorged over 24 hours that you have to worry about (partly true) ... but it's really bizarre that you can see half a dozen doctors and they are all following this same script and act really awkward when it comes to this subject whereas they have no problems asking about how your poops, man stuff or whatever.

Sites like canlyme and are also full of poop. They pumped that "careplus" tick test kit that turned out to be something like 98% inaccurate and wouldn't retract.

Crazy world we live in. And to think there is actually a lyme vaccine that is not publicly available because of "lack of demand" or something. Ridiculous.

[Ohwildwon]

I've only seen a couple dozen in my lifetime, thankfully...

Where I hunt in 2-6, nothing..

[browningboy]

Stay out of the long grass, that’s what they like

[monasheemountainman]

Just an FYI to everyone someone I know recently committed suicide. He had Lyme and it deteriorated his body to the point where he couldn't go on living. I also have another acquaintance who has it equally as bad and she cannot find anything to eat that doesn't make her sick. Fkuc the doctors and the Canadian government for not doing anything about this EPIDEMIC. Keep an eye out people if you have any sort of rash that you think could be a tick bite you have about two weeks to get antibiotics then you could be in serious trouble. This is not a joke! Be careful out there and raise awareness please. This is something that needs to be tackled at the federal level.

[Ohwildwon]

Just an FYI to everyone someone I know recently committed suicide. He had Lyme and it deteriorated his body to the point where he couldn't go on living. I also have another acquaintance who has it equally as bad and she cannot find anything to eat that doesn't make her sick. Fkuc the doctors and the Canadian government for not doing anything about this EPIDEMIC. Keep an eye out people if you have any sort of rash that you think could be a tick bite you have about two weeks to get antibiotics then you could be in serious trouble. This is not a joke! Be careful out there and raise awareness please. This is something that needs to be tackled at the federal level.

Yes , I agree, this is no joke...

A lady that lives in my Mothers building, her daughter, has been bed ridden for a couple of years, because of misdiagnosis...

Thankfully her body is fighting it, along with the drugs etc, and slowly getting her life back.. scary...

And there's this...

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/h...T.nav=top-news

[albravo2]

Caddis, stay healthy. You might already carry it but your body is (mostly) able to deal with it.

I probably had it for a dozen years before I had a motorcycle accident (deer tried to kill me, how ironic is that?) and the resulting concussion let the Lyme get a head of steam.