Tick Tock

We've had two incredibly lovely warm days - and not just somewhat warm, but record-shattering warm: upper 60's yesterday and today. After any winter, it feels so good to get outside without needing to wear 20 layers and enjoy the sun and warmth, so there was no way I was going to waste the fabulous weather. This afternoon, I was enjoying the sunshine in my backyard. I set up the rain barrel since we're supposed to get rain tonight and early tomorrow. I checked the back garden, pulled out the plastic Adirondack chairs, and watched the birds and the red squirrels for about an hour. When I went in, I headed to the bathroom and got an unpleasant surprise - there it was crawling up my leg - a tick. It's small - smaller than ordinary woodticks. It's dark near the head and reddish with stripes at the back. I'm not sure if it's a deer tick or just a young wood tick. At least it's off of me, although I still feel crawly several hours later. Too early to be plucking ticks...


About 1 mm wide and 3 mm long