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?)

What happened to the sun?

Hi Woofers!

Daisy & Holly here again!

We were up early this morning, we heard a cat outside messing about in the bushes, so we crept up to the window and let out a BIG WOOF!

You know, we even managed to wake Old Two Legs up as well, but he went back to sleep!

Our morning run was good, we went all the way along to the Power Station and on the way I managed to jump into the mud a little bit.

It was Holly's fault, you see she just turned too quickly as I was chasing her and I sort of overshot, a little bit and got just a little bit muddy!

Look Muddy Paws!

Holly was having loads of fun on the beach bit, tearing up and down and digging holes as well!

Holly doing a Sprint!

I tried to muscle in on a sniff and we had a 'Pretend Fight' over possession of the sniff!

MY Sniff!

Then Holly started to show off good and proper, she ran down the beach and kept jumping into the air shouting out that she was 'Flying'!

I'm Flying!

It was then that we heard a terrible noise over the top of the banking, we hadn't heard this sound before, so we went to investigate.

What do you Reckon?

There were some strange looking cows in the field, they looked all odd looking and their horns were pointing in the wrong direction, sort of like the handles on a wheelbarrow!

Strange looking Cows!

OTL said they were Water Buffalo and you could make mozzarella cheese from their milk. OTL is a clever Two Legs, sometimes, 'cos we reckon these were Bulls!

Well we woofed a couple of times and left them alone!

We got to a bit that stuck out into the river and Holly said that as I was muddy already, I ought to take a running dive and land in the mud, just for fun!

Go on, you jump first!

I declined the offer!

Lunchtime the tide was in and everyone was out with their fishing rods. The first family we saw looked like they had loads of food, so I woofed and said 'Hello' to everyone while Holly checked out the food stock.

Any Food?

 All the food was gone! We must have been a bit late 'cos the next one we tried also didn't have anything either!

Got any Nibbles Mr?

 It just wasn't our day!

Never mind, we can always mug OTL tonight!

See you tomorrow!

Luv,

Daisy & Holly

Lazy Saturday!

Hello Woofers!

Daisy & Holly here.

We've had one of those lazy sort of days, after the morning run we had some fun trying to stay awake while watching Old Two Legs working away in the garden!

It was terrible hard work, staying awake I mean, not what OTL was doing!

Lunchtime came and off we went again, down to The Sea Wall and the tide was right in!

I got down there and suggested to Holly and OTL that we should go for a swim.

OTL said it was too cold and Holly said it was too wet!

Fancy a Swim?

That was it, all I could do was mooch along looking for new sniffs. I found a dead crab that a sea gull had eaten for lunch, it was a bit off, but these gulls will eat anything!

Yucky Dead Crab!

A bit further on I found some stuff left by the Two Legs and the flowers were really horrid Prickly Things. Not very nice when you get close for a sniff, then if you get too close, the prickly bit pokes your nose and makes you jump!

Prickles!

Holly and I came across a couple of Two Legs gathering Sloes for their gin! Whatever turns you on as OTL says!

Nibble or Sloe?

Trouble was, they had three young Spaniel dogs that were too interested in sniffin my tail!

I gave them a woof and even snapped at them but they wouldn't stop, so OTL crouched down and I jumped up on his shoulders out of their reach!

That sorted them out and they were put on their leads, that sorted them out good and proper!

When we got back, OTL carried on with the garden but had to give up in the end as he had filled up the two rubbish bins for garden waste, so that means he gets a rest until next weekend when he will have to start again!

No plans for tomorrow yet, we'll have to have a chat with OTL tonight and see what we can do!

See you tomorrow!

Luv,

Daisy & Holly

Frantic Friday in The Forest!

Hi Ho Woofers!

It's us, Daisy & Holly again!

What a rush around day this has been. First of all we chased a couple of Rabbits on The Sea Wall this morning and Holly was so excited she almost forgot to have a wee!

Back home, Old Two Legs had to leave us 'cos he went to see a customer and didn't feel safe leaving us in the car park on our own!

He came back and then we went off collecting and delivering and stuff like that. After all that we decided that it would be a good idea to visit The Forest again!

Well, we haven't been there for some time and Holly wanted to know if it had changed, I wanted to Hunt Squirrels!

First of all there was the 'Sniffin' to see who had been around lately, most important to know who might jump out on us!

This is a New One!

After that we set about looking for 'Sniff Signs', you know, 'A Squirrel passed this way'

Sniffin for Squirrels!

We could detect squirrels but it was difficult 'cos leaves had fallen and we were not sure if we were sniffin 'Squirrel on The Ground' or 'Squirrel trod of this leaf and leaf has fallen off tree', and you thought it was just sniffin for squirrels!

OTL was more interested in trying to photograph a Hover Fly, hovering!

Not very good are they!

We carried on with our task, 'A Squirrel before we Leave'

One has been here today!

OTL was still more interested in taking photos than hunting squirrels and started looking through the trees!

Dartford Bridge

Holly and I got fed up with waiting for OTL and off we went. I saw one squirrel on the ground but he got up the tree before I got to him, sneaky squirrel!

Just come back down!

We were following the path when Holly suddenly stopped and pointed at a squirrel sitting on a log, with it's back to us, brushing it's whiskers!

That was it, we were off like a couple of 'Puppy Powered Rockets'!

The Chase is on!

The Chase!

We chased that squirrel around the trees and didn't let him too far ahead of us, I raced around the trees one way and Holly went the other way, it was great fun!

Then the squirrel seemed to disappear! I mean. one moment he was there then, poof, it was gone!

Holly climbed up a tree and had a look around but still no sign of our squirrel!

Sneaky Holly Spotting Squirrel!

While we were doing our squirrel thing, OTL wandered off again and we found him photographing the first Bracket Fungi of the year!

First of the year!

On our way out he found another on the trunk of an Oak Tree, even we had to admit, it looked pretty!

Pretty?

Back home we went and got fed some super beef, well they were off cuts from OTL's curry that The Missus was cooking up. See, she makes a vast vat of curry and then freezes dinner size portions so OTL can have a curry any time without too much effort!

Holly and I had a super dinner, beef followed by some chicken stew left over from dinner!

We are going to sleep well tonight!

See you tomorrow, OTL is back in the garden, digging!

Bye bye!

Luv,

Daisy & Holly

OTL has been out to work!

Hello Woofers!

Daisy & Holly here!

Guess what? I've had Old Two Legs on the go again!

We went to bed as normal after our run around the garden. Holly decided to sleep at the bottom of OTL's bed until she got kicked off and I curled up in my basket. Around two fifteen Holly and I decided we wanted a wee, so we both did our 'Get Up OTL' woof and soon we were in the garden. OTL was still asleep, we could tell that 'cos his eyes were closed  all the time!

Back to bed and as soon as I heard him snoring gently, I did it again, my 'I Wanna Go Out' woof, you know, gentle but with feeling!

Out I went again while OTL stood at the back door, watching, me, in the garden. You know, I don't like being watched while I 'Go', so I jumped into the bushes and came out later, relieved!

OTL had been watching and had the kitchen door closed, so I couldn't go upstairs to his bed. Well, not until I had to submit to my backside being washed!

I think I must have eaten something that was in a hurry to get through me!

We were up good and early and down to The Sea Wall, I was looking for Monsters and Holly was looking for rabbits!

Is that a Monster I see?

I had a good look but didn't see any and Holly said she didn't see any rabbits either!

A bit further along the beach we saw these four sitting there looking out to see. Holly said they were on their break and should have some sandwiches or cakes.

Look out, there's a dog watching us!

Holly said I should go and sit with them and sniff out any food and if there was some, to give her a call and then we could both do some mugging!

What you looking at?

Needless to say, no food, no mugging and one asked if I wanted to go for a swim!

I tried my best but, if there's not food then there's no food!


Holly said that we shouldn't give up,'cos she had seen the Fishermen a bit further on and they always have food!

Look, a Dogfish!

I was just about to start my 'Got and food' question when one laughed and said, 'Look, we got us a couple of Dogfish!'

I wasn't too sure what they were on about, we were dogs but not fishes, so how could we be Dogfish?

Then one of them told us that there was a fish called a Dogfish and it was a sort of shark that tasted nice with chips and didn't have any bones that could get stuck in your throat!

Holly, who was right behind me said that we had lots of bones in our body so they couldn't eat us!

We all had a laugh and off we went!

After lunch OTL loaded up the car with all his tools and went off all afternoon and didn't get back until this evening. Seems he has been working again on the Dustbin lorries and we know that 'cos when he got back he Ponged!

Early to bed tonight 'cos we have got to get up early 'cos OTL is off again to do some more work in the morning!

Busy busy, poor lad!

Bye bye for now!

Luv,

Daisy Dogfish and Holly the Halibut! (Sounds Fishy to Us!)

Mr Spider Gets a Meal!

Hi Ho Woofers!

It's Daisy & Holly back with you again!

Today has been an 'Interesting' sort of day. First of all Old Two Legs left early to take the big car down to the menders. So, The Missus took us out over The Fields for our morning constitutional!

Now, this morning, about two, we were woken up by something, we weren't too sure what it was but it was worth a few 'Woofs', just in case it was a Burglar or a Fox.

Then about five we decided to have another 'Woof' just as a follow up to the previous 'Woof'.

OTL got out of bed and staggered down the stairs, I'm sure he was still asleep, and opened the kitchen door for us to go out for a wee. Well, we dutifully went out and wee'd down the bottom of the garden, back in doors and straight up to bed, stopping only to pick up a half chewed carrot each that we had left downstairs, last night!

It was about six that OTL's alarm went off and he awoke and shoved us off his legs where we were resting our heads, then he said it was 'Time to get up'.....wot! Is he off his rocker? We've been up all night and need to catch up on our sleep!

Off he went and took the big car and we promised to follow later to pick him up in the little car!

Only problem was, he was a bit early and we were a bit late, so, that means OTL started to walk towards home so he can meet us.

About three and a bit miles later, he got picked up!

Well, he needs the exercise, all that  sitting in the office is bad for him!

When we got back home it was just time to go out for our lunchtime walk but the clouds had gathered and the wind was beginning to blow a bit, so, we reckon it was good rabbit chasing weather!

Needless to say, not a single rabbit was seen, not even a fresh pile of rabbit poo, nothing, absolutely zilch!

OTL however got lucky!

First he spotted a Dragonfly dancing around the plants, then it suddenly stopped.

Another Fine Mess I'm In!

It had flown into a spiders web, not a big web but enough to hold it. On the end of one of the webs anchor strands sat a spider.

Gotcha!

The Dragonfly tried to get away but the spider was on him in a flash and injected the Dragonfly with venom. It was only a short time before the Dragonfly was not moving at all.

This won't hurt a bit!

We left the spider starting to wrap the Dragonfly up in a cocoon to save it for later, a sort of seven day, dinner, midnight snack and breakfast, all wrapped up in one package!

Yuk! Says Holly, I don't fancy a Dragonfly for dinner, those legs would tickle  my tonsils!

We were having a sniff at some grass we found interesting and OTL had wandered off on his own, (that normally means trouble!)

We got around the corner and there he was, giving this great big Alsatian a tickle behind the ear!

She was big, I mean, she could eat us both and come back for seconds!

'Hello Girlie's' she said and then told us she had been down the vet to be 'Done'.

I said I felt sorry for her and remembered back to when I was 'Done' and how sore I felt as well. Holly said she couldn't remember being done, but she has 'cos she has got the scar!

I'm a Bit Sore

I asked where she went to get 'Done' and she had been to the same vet as me!

She said that the next time she is taken down there, she may sink her teeth into the vets backside and see how sore he feels!

Next Time!

We left her and followed OTL up the path, then, he stopped and pointed out a Ladybird, 'Look' he says, 'A Harlequin Ladybird'

Harlequin

Then he tells us that it is an invader and is threatening our own Ladybirds because of it's size and how it can drive our own Ladybirds away.

I suppose it's a bit like Holly giving me a shove to get at my food bowl. I don't take any nonsense and just barge her back, but I suppose our Ladybirds are too polite to do that!

For the rest of the walk we kept our eyes open for Harlequin Ladybirds and kept telling OTL as soon as we saw one!

Look! Another One Here!

The car menders phoned up and said that OTL would have to wait for the car to come back 'cos they have got to get the new parts shipped in from Germany!

That all sound expensive and OTL won't like that, will he Precious!

Never mind, we will give him lots of cuddles tonight to make him feel better and then he may stop crying!

See you tomorrow!

Luv,

Daisy & Holly