Tick bites!

[ForestPaul]

Originally Posted by nightshade

If that is the case why do you finf Ticks on foxes?

And sheep. I can't see that colour can have anything to do with it.

[tom00_uk]

our light haired dog never gets them, but i think her short straight hair means they dont get a good grip and fall off

When i worked in Norway the lunch times were very drawn out affairs and the labs would try and time it so they could have the nice long company paid buffet, on hot sunny days i would often sit out on the wall or some of the boulders in the shade if the patio furniture was all used up. The only people that did this were the Brits, the Norwegians, Swedes, Icelandics, Swiss, Turks etc all had the fear they would be struck down by a ticks, never got one, and even walking though all sorts of wild places i seem to have stayed tick free, leeches on the other hand i have had a fair number, normally as i have happily watched them latch on when they have found me after wading about in ponds/rivers, they soon fall off after a feed

[The Woodman]

My two Labs are picking up ticks on a daily frequency. Like some others I swear by the O'Tom tick tool - that minature green plastic Gorilla Bar that comes in two sizes. Having read through this thread, I offer two bits of advice.

There is no pulling action with the use of the O'Tom. Slide the gripping claw of the tool to captue the head of the tick in the tapering slot. Do not pull or lever. Twist the handle between finger and thumb - twizzle might be a better description and the head releases and the tick is left fast in the tool.

For very small ticks it is easier to get a finger or thumb under a layer or fold of skin and "elevate" the tick - not easy to descibe in words! It makes sliding the tool around its head/mouthparts easier. There are some places on a dog where it is more difficult e.g. the edge of eyelids or inner ear.

I've noticed that the ticks that attach to the very edge of an eyelid on my dogs never grow.

Despite daily grooming, there's usually one tick that manages to remain undetected to gorge itself and drop off on the lounge carpet!

As for choosing colours, I don't believe a tick is capable of this. When they are at the top of a grass stem or other piece of vegetation questing - waiting for the next host to pass by - they don't get the chance to discriminate. I've seen them on all colour dogs and on most mammals, fox, badger, squirrel, polecat, mice, deer, even bats.

I've also given up with the topical application of flea and tick preparations due to fondness of my dogs with water. A swim in the river the day after application and the efficasy has gone.

There was a fascinating and informative article in British Wildlife a couple of years ago about ticks, species and lifecycles.

[nightshade]

A little terrier that picked up loads of sheep Ticks was taken out to sea and made to swim back to shore he arrived "sans Ticks"

[The Woodman]

Two more tick tales....

Nightshade, your terrier put me in mind of story I once heard about a foxes method of parasite removal. Alledgedly a fox was seen to gather a clump of sheep wool in its mouth, swim out into a lake and eventually let go of the wool with all the fleas etc on it.

I once watched an old boy remove a tick from a spaniels belly with his forefinger. He just rotated his finger around the gorged tick in contact with it for a few minutes and it simply let go of its host. I've tried a few times and haven't found it to work every time.

[nightshade]

I dont like Ticks, you see these millimetre in diameter things next they are the size of a flippin' hotwater bottle yeugh! (Leeches I am ok with)
I think I could do a little list; Keds, Fleas, Woodlice and those Louse fly horrors I find on birds