A Seriously Yucky Post today!

Hi Woofers!

Daisy & Holly here!

Now, I don't want you to read any further if you get all 'Wobbly' about spiders and creepy crawlies, like wot Old Two Legs does!

This is not a very nice blog today, but, it shows one of the many hazards us dogs have to put up with, just to stay as wonderful as we are for you Two Legs!



Ready?






Are you sure?





Are you really sure?







If you are really, really sure?






OK, I'll begin!











Don't say I didn't warn you!







Well, yesterday Holly and OTL and me went on a longer than normal walk, being it was Sunday morning and we went all the way up to the Power Station and I got muddy, (Holly's fault) and Holly and me had a good time chasing things in the hedgerows and in the bushes and stuff, remember?

Well, unknown to Holly OTL and me, she managed to pick up a Tick. Now this Tick must have been real sneaky 'cos OTL didn't find it when he gave Holly a brush, so we reckon it was small and hiding in Holly's muzzle and hanging on with all it's eight legs, well, it is a spider!

It must have been chewing away at |Holly all night long!

This morning we went out for our normal run along The Sea Wall and Holly was saying how she had felt a twitch on the side of her muzzle but couldn't shift it. It didn't cause her any pain but was just 'irritating'.

I said that sounded like a Tick, ('cos I've had several of them before and I know what they feel like!)

Wanna look at my Tick?

Holly said that they must have followed us down from Scotland!

Now that's scary!

We were having a bit of a laugh about it but I'm a bit 'twitchy' where Ticks are concerned, I don't like them and I don't like OTL digging them out!

When we got back to the car Holly jumped up on the back shelf and said that she could see loads of them running up the path after us!

Quick! They're following us!

That was it, I jumped up and woofed for OTL to 'get the woofing car outta here!'

Quick! Get going NOW!

Holly was laughing all the way home, but I was keeping well away from her and wondering what OTL would find later!

Well, I got a brush first, I wasn't going to have the brush after her, not without the brush getting a good inspection and sterilisation first!

Then it was Holly's turn and sure enough, there on the side of her muzzle was this spider called a Tick, or to give it the correct name 'Ixodes ricinus' or Castor Bean Tick...........YUK!!!!!!!!

That was it, OTL called for his 'Tick Removal Tools' and set to work removing it!

Really, it is a simple operation, you just slide the tool under the ticks head and next to your skin and 'Unscrew' the tick!

Out it comes, all in one bit and leaves a little bit of a hole where it has chomped away at your skin to suck your blood!

The hole left is about the size of gnat bite when you knock the top off!

Well, that's what it does, so it has enough food to reproduce more ticks!

It is small to begin with but as it feeds the abdomen gets bigger and bigger until it is the size of a small pea!

This time OTL was allowed to keep the tick as he wanted to take some photographs of it.







SO.........................Here is your last warning.............Yucky Tick Pic's to Follow!







I'm warning you!






Sure?






OK then, here we go!











This was the first attempt to photograph the tick using some extension tubes and a 35mm lens. Depth of Field was not too good so we switched to a 105mm lens, set up two flash heads and removed the tubes!


Now we have just found out that the Tick doesn't have any eyes and if you can visualise it, when it first lands on you and before it starts to feed, that big grey abdomen is in fact the same size as the dark circle above its head!

First Shot of the Tick

You know, as OTL unscrewed the Tick, it hung onto a bit of Holly it had been chomping!

Cheeky Tick!

Well, now OTL was well into this 'Bug from Hell'

The Bug from Hell!

This shot head on was to find it's eyes, but we found out later, it has none!

Coming for you!

This shot looks like it was heading for OTL but we had stood it on the back of a sticky label, so it was dragging it's butt on a gluey surface, that slowed it down!

More observations!

Now as the tick couldn't run away, OTL started to study the abdomen and what it was doing. OTL said it was 'Breathing' and could see the abdomen contracting as it breathed out, so just to prove it he took a photo as the body contracted. Next was to find out where it was breathing in!

Air goes in here!

So, here is where we reckon the air goes in and there are other holes around the other side.

While OTL was in the mood, he rolled to tick over onto it's back and took another photo and this showed some interesting 'Bits'!

A Ticks 'Bits'

At first we thought the top hole was it's mouth where, like a crab it shoved the food but pretty quickly, with the aid of Google and Wikipedia we soon found out it was in fact the Genital Aperture!

So, following down the abdomen, the remaining hole must be it's Anus!

Holly said that it looked even more horrible upside down because the legs were waving around trying to turn its body over!

Making a run for it!

OTL turned it back the right way and you know that the cheeky Tick tried to make a run for it but it had forgotten about the sticky surface and soon skidded to a halt!

Just for the record, OTL took one more shot, from above, so you can get the general layout of the tick!

Next stop the loo!

Then, finished with his photography, he did what The Missus had instructed, wrapped it up in loo paper and flushed it away!

So, somewhere, halfway down the sewage pipe heading for the coast, sitting on top of a ball of paper, floating along, is a Tick, going on a cruise on the North Sea!

We had a late walk this afternoon but that was OK 'cos we spent most of the time asleep on OTL's bed!

The tide was in and there were Two Legs all over the place having a restful afternoon on the beach.

First of all, we crept up on this one who was watching the boats go by, it was ages before he realized that Holly was standing next to him!

He doesn't know I'm here!

 Holly was grinning all over her face!

We came across a couple that were having a picnic on the beach but no matter what we did, they wouldn't give us a nibble!

Oi! Gissa Nibble!

When we got to the fishermen, even they told us there was no food for us!

Sorry, All Gone!

That was it, I was showing off, no nibbles, no food, late walks, ticks on the march.

I decided to sulk and sit on the concrete 'cos ticks don't like concrete!

Right Fed Up!

It was only when Holly came walking past, she reminded me that we can mug OTL for some diner and make up for all those greedy Two Legs who wouldn't feed us!

See you tomorrow!

Luv,

Daisy & Holly

(I wonder if the Tick has reached the sea yet?)