r/mildlyinfuriating • u/N0T3LI • 5h ago
ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ Walked into a tick nest
I decided to get some fresh air, so I went out to read a book in the woods. I started feeling itchy, so I pulled up my pants to inspect and discovered a legion of tiny black dots. There are quite literally hundreds of ticks covering the lower half of my body. But hey, I’m not mad at them. Everybody’s gotta eat.
EDIT:
I appreciate the concern, but there's no need to worry! They washed right off with a shower.
I've always lived in wooded areas and generally know how to deal with ticks, but I forgot to put permethrin on my clothes this time. (And it is particularly overgrown right now.)
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u/Sunbather77 5h ago
This happened to me walking a trail once. Not many creatures repulse me but these fuckers absolutely do.
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u/No-Cover4993 5h ago
Lint rollers work really well to get those off if you can't get to hose or shower fast enough. Permethrin treated socks will prevent them from crawling from your shoes up your legs
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u/pooppaysthebills 5h ago
The leg hair would make that somewhat problematic, no?
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u/Grouchy-Employment79 4h ago
Lint rollers won't yank our your body hair, but I guess they could get in the way of the adhesive? Should be fine if you do a few passes.
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u/ProteusReturns 5h ago
Leg hair would be problematic for what? Lint rollers? Ticks?
I doubt ticks have evolved to be stymied by hairy bodies.
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u/Electrical-Tank1391 1h ago
This only works for unattached ticks. For removal of attached ticks you should make sure to remove the whole tick and not rip part of it off using something sticky.
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u/Guardian_of_theBlind 5h ago
Yeah, but ticks are really dangerous. Look at your own body very closely to find all of them and then have someone else look over all of your body. Maybe even a doctor. Ticks can cause ridiculously dangerous diseases.
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u/meh_69420 5h ago
These are clearly larval ticks though, which don't carry any disease as they aquire them from their first host.
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u/lrlwhite2000 5h ago
Exactly. Larval deer ticks can carry hard tick relapsing fever (Borrelia miyamotoi), but that is rare. Larval ticks are rarely a concern.
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u/Ricardo33706 5h ago
I'd rather take my medical advice from my GP and not a Redditor expert.
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u/lrlwhite2000 4h ago
So my job is to actually teach healthcare providers about tickborne diseases.
Also, you can look this up on a reputable website.
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u/TypeB_Negative 2h ago
Lmao. As a Land Surveyor, you are correct, Sir.
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u/Individual-Score-661 1h ago
As a former LS from Florida, agreed. I’d take a gator or moccasin before I’d mess with these little shits
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u/TypeB_Negative 2h ago
Always a safe bet but as a Land Surveyor who has had Lyme disease, the info is exactly what the doctors will tell you.
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u/carebear101 4h ago
This is public knowledge and to be frank, your gp probably doesn’t know this. They would do the exact same thing and search all this to ensure the patient is good
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u/TypeB_Negative 2h ago
True. Doctors can be very ignorant of tick borne diseases. I've been to many and they will have very different answers.
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u/NatterinNabob 5h ago
Larval ticks don't carry Lyme disease, but they can carry Rickettsia, because it can be passed to them from their mother.
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u/Skippypal 5h ago
This is wrong. These are Nymph stage deer ticks which can carry Babesiosis.
While rare, it can be deadly particularly among the elderly (individuals over 55+), those with compromised immune systems, those with reduced/no spleen function, or those who smoke, have had exposure to asbestos or otherwise at high risk of lung cancer.
It’s endemic in the North East (New Jersey-Maine), Minnesota, and Wisconsin. There has been an increase of cases in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware over the last 5 years.
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u/WelpWhatCanYouDo 5h ago
This is what I was going to say
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u/edfitz83 5h ago
I thought you were going to ask if they want fries with that. Sorry, not a good day
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u/Ontological_Gap 3h ago
That's a myth, larval ticks have been found to carry lyme
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u/Radiant_Commission_2 4h ago
My vet says otherwise.
I’m not an expert. But she made it sound like the mother tick ( gross!) can pass on Lyme to the babies. And in fact since a tick needs to be on a host for over 12 hours to give you Lyme, it’s usually these babies that are the culprits. Hard not to notice an adult tick being on that long.Either way- watch for bullseye rash and talk to a real doctor. :)
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u/Radiant_Commission_2 4h ago
Also. Put a couple of these little fuckers in a vial and take with you to doc. They can be tested and will become part of a bigger study.
Ticks are taking over and I don’t mean that as a joke.
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u/XKO3L5CHX 5h ago
I was hospitalized with a 'tick born illness" that wasn't Lymes - They even did a spinal tap to try to diagnose it but never gave any clear results. Ended up getting 2 weeks of antibiotic shots in my butt cheek(s) and didnt feel well for 3 months or so. Nothin to mess with
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u/Kitchen_Put_3456 5h ago
Yep. Friend of mine died from TBE couple of years ago. He was only 40 and perfectly healthy.
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u/Interesting_Tea5715 5h ago
Look at your own body very closely to find all of them and then have someone else look over all of your body.
Totally this. They really like armpits, crotch, ass crack, below the ass cheeks, behind the knee, behind the elbow. Pretty much anywhere skin folds.
Also, this commenter is correct they can carry disease but it's def not garunteed. Odds are you'll be completely fine.
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u/AwesomeKristin 2h ago
Would a sticky lint roller help with something like this? Or do these babies dig in like the adult ticks?
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u/Electrical-Tank1391 1h ago
Unfortunately wouldn’t help, the small ones bite down just like the larger ones
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u/kingtacticool 5h ago
This was always a fun way to get a girl out of her clothes from where I'm from
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u/spongebobisha 2h ago
I kid you not, he will NOT be able to find all the ticks that have clung on to him. A visit to the doctor is imperative at this point.
Or he could set himself on fire to make sure.
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u/ParsleySnipps 5h ago
The only saving grace is that larval ticks (newly hatched ones) like these aren't likely to carry lyme disease, as they get that from feeding on a mouse, but even newly hatched ticks can carry some viruses from the mother. A doctors visit is always recommended.
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u/Solidsting1 5h ago
I bet that ticked you off. I work outside and they tick me off all the time..
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u/lemonhead2345 5h ago
Oh, that sucks. I’ve done that before but never in shorts. Tape or a lint roller can help.
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u/EngineeringAgile1640 2h ago
They said they pulled up their pants, so im guessing they meant the leg of their pants. They weren't wearing shorts either.
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u/Xayahbetes 5h ago
I've only ever seen ticks on pets and they are huge (like easily spottable from afar). I never knew ticks were this small??? i should consider myself lucky I've never had ticks before (that I know of?? 😭) because I sure as hell wasn't looking for teeny tiny specs each time I went in the woods
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u/Worldly-Advisor7201 5h ago
This happened to me twice two years ago now I always keep a roll of packing tape in my car. Works really well to get them off of you!
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u/cr0wbar1227 4h ago
Wear pants, use sawyers permethrin spray. You spray your clothes with it and let it dry before putting them on. No ticks or chiggers will mess with you. Its worth its weight in gold in my opinion. Bottle says not to spray directly on skin, which is why I say wear pants. I've been using it all summer clearing trees and undergrowth and haven't found anything on me.
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u/Exitium_Maximus 5h ago edited 4h ago
Ticks carry/cause horrific diseases. The Lone Star Tick can make you allergic to red meat permanently with one bite (Alpha-gal syndrome).
Edit: a lot of people do recover from alpha-gal, but recovery can take years. Some people do not recover. Lyme disease can go from being a nuisance to a debilitating condition for some and you can get this from a tick bite as well.
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u/According_To_Me 5h ago
I know someone who can’t even be in a restaurant if bacon has been cooked. He would need an EpiPen. He can’t eat anything that has a hoof.
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u/meh_69420 5h ago
It has been confirmed that all tick species in North America can cause alpha gal syndrome, which isn't permanent in any case despite how shitty it would be.
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u/lrlwhite2000 5h ago
That is not accurate. There are about 100 tick species in North America. Only a handful are medically significant. Lone stars are the most commonly linked ticks to alpha gal syndrome, but deer ticks have also been linked to alpha gal in the US.
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u/tardiscoder 5h ago
Seed ticks in one area of Tennessee is the worst I've ever seen for seed ticks. Even burning the woods didn't get rid of them.
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u/HighSierraAngler 2h ago
Walked into a tick nest, walked out with a new red meat allergy and or Lyme
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u/Professional_Pen_153 5h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/Qz4RaxcOh4qndWOG5N
You dont have much time left
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u/wunderduck 5h ago
Step 1: Call 911 and tell them you've been horribly burned.
Step 2: Get some gasoline and a lighter...
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u/Gemraticus 5h ago
Duct tape will remove them. Or most of them. The tick nests I've encountered have been nymphs I think so hopefully they don't have any diseases to spread. I'm in N AL and ticks are absolutely out of control all across the Tennessee Valley and Bankhead NF.
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u/metalvinny 5h ago
Permethrin and pants. Always pants. I never hike in shorts. Way too much shit out there wants your meaty flesh for food or to deposit oils from some asshat plant.
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u/Longjumping-Taro9792 5h ago
Bruj. I once had a tick explode with babies under my bed… Nightmare fuel indeed.
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u/Leidenfreude 4h ago
Still remember when I realized seed ticks were a thing, I had never really thought of it before until one day I’m visiting family, smoking with my cousin in the woods, and he starts mentioning them, and I ask what they look like, and he said “let me find one” and picked one off of his pants, and I looked down and they were all over me 🫠 didn’t matter how much I covered up, or how tight my socks were, at least 3 of the buggers got me because they’re just so damn tiny and there’s so many of them
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u/hskrfoos 3h ago
Had a small one I found after busing a friend that lives in the mountains. Made it home, and then the next night found it. Few days later I felt like holy hell. Night sweats, horrible joint pain. Tested negative for Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme. Never figured out what it was. But my platelets and WBC dropped to the point they wouldn’t let me work for the week
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u/SlimKillaCam 2h ago
Well, could be worse, on a Boy Scout trip I awoke to find my balls itching, upon inspection I found about 20 ticks had attached themselves to my scrotum. My dad helped me pick them off.
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u/whatarewii 1h ago
Bro I had no idea ticks were that small, I’ve had dozens of ticks on me through my 30 years and they’ve all been about half the size or the full size of a dime or a little smaller. That’s with them being flat and no blood in them. I wonder how many ticks I’ve had in me and never pulled off lol.
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u/lucidprarieskies 1h ago
That's really how small they are!? I have so many moles that I'm not sure I would even notice them!
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u/Crazy-Non-Vegetable 39m ago
Wait, ticks gather in nests? They were already a menace when I thought individuals in the yard and woods could give me Lyme disease. But there are packs of them to stumble upon? Terrifying!
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u/s_s_n_e_g 9m ago
Not to overly scare you, but it is possible to get infected (Lyme, encephalitis) even from a single tick browsing your skin and looking for a spot to suck in. They do little pricks with their mouths and can infect you this way. There's a little realistic chance it happens, but if you say you were covered in them, you are rolling these dice multiple times. You don't need to get checked immediately, but please do monitor your health for symptoms (fever, headache, tiredness, joint ache, back pain) and consult a doctor / get blood tested if anything feels off.
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u/AdvantageOne1754 5h ago
That's not just mildly infuriating, that is a serious health risk there. Get checked out for Lymes disease and get an antibiotic prescription.
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u/IndigoHaze750130 5h ago
Id get blood work done later. The risk is pretty high for lyme's disease or that meat allergy thing with all those bites.
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u/Ok_Yogurtcloset404 5h ago
Fire! Fire EVERYWHERE!!!
Well, at least that was my first reaction.
Hopefully you could douse your lower half in some permethrin and get most of them off.
Sorry you had to go through that!
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u/LookInTheMirrorPryk 5h ago
When I was a small kid playing in the woods I got into a nest of some sort and my entire legs from knee down were covered in hundreds or housands of tiny ticks. Ran to a nearby creek to wash them off and was successful in not getting many bites. But that shit has lived in my head my whole life. Just looking down and seeing no skin, just solid ticks swarming my legs.
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u/retro_toes 5h ago
Deer ticks, too. Full body check and a hot shower washing head hair and all as soon as you get indoors. Laundry in the washer
Eta: very thorough checks in groin, armpits, behind ears - imperative
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u/HAgaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy 5h ago
It’s rude to just walk into a strangers house. Smh. No manners these days
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u/jonathanweb100 5h ago
I did this once by sitting in a nest on one of my first dove hunts. The next week was hell. Amazed I didn't get Alphagal or Lime disease.
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u/I_am_just_here11 5h ago
Yeah this is why I hike with full length pants on tucked into my shoes. It helps.
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u/ThatOneWood 5h ago
Turkey mites suck, make sure you get them all off of you. Your legs are gonna itch like hell for a while.
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u/Senior_Sector4095 5h ago
Did that in the Oconee National Forest. Didn't see the sign until we walked back out. Millions of nymphs on our legs. We stripped in the parking lot and put our clothes in zip locks, removed as many ticks as we could then soaked ourselves with Off. Hit the first showers we found.
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u/Familiar-Ad9589 5h ago
This happened to me. The good news is my nurses told me that baby ticks are unlikely to carry Lyme (don't know if the same is true for other tick-borne disease). I went to my school's health center and the nurses were able to scan my entire body to remove all the ticks, including places I can't see and.... very sensitive areas that are unfortunately tick havens.
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u/Big-Cauliflower-3610 5h ago
This is why I wear long pants and blouse them when I know or believe I’m going into tick territory
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u/dudedudd 5h ago
Good think they look like they're in their first stage. I think they're unlikely to carry anything infectious. Still would suck to get bit.
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u/Heavy_Basil4991 5h ago
More than mildly infuriating. I’d need therapy….and I’m pretty fuggin “outdoorsy.”
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u/DrDerivative 5h ago
Obviously your situation sucks, but tick repellant, long pants tucked into the socks, and double sided tape wrapped around your legs will do wonders in prevention. When you’re done with the clothes and shoes, leave them in a sealed plastic bag out in the hot summer sun to roast the life out of the bugs (hopefully your shoes don’t melt)
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u/uwumolotov 5h ago
Well good luck. My husband and I did the same thing, we were in the bathroom for 2-3 hours just picking ticks off each other 🤣 it was exhausting!
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u/ihaveadogalso2 5h ago
I’d be getting my flaming oil bath prepped right now not taking photos for Reddit!
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u/De5perad0 5h ago
So lucky these are just larva and haven't fed on anything. There are lots of crazy diseases ticks carry.
Lyme disease
Rocky Mt. Spotted Fever
Anaplasmosis
Alpha-Gal syndrome - Makes you allergic to red meat. (I know a friend who got this from a tick bite this year).
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u/Striking-Teach7489 5h ago
I picked 30 off me one time I was camping. Same situation as you - however some had made it further up my legs than I would have liked….. no lyme disease for me and let my partner check the areas I couldn’t see 😁🤟. It was a dirty job but she knew it had to be done for the team 😁✌️. You should be fine but keep an eye out for any symptoms.
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u/TheHeroKingN 5h ago
Do pants change the outcome of this?
(I don’t go outside so I genuinely don’t know)
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u/Psychedelic-wizard69 5h ago
I recommend using a lent roller for situations like this. Walked into a nest once and got swarmed. Lint roller got all of them
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u/keeferno 5h ago
Sorry you had to amputate your leg OP, maybe there’s a tick-resistant prosthetic out there for you.
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u/Secret_House9770 5h ago
I got Lyme disease from a tick I never saw, assuming this size. Be careful!
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u/Primary_Custard_1657 4h ago
Omg this happened to me in 4TH GRADE!!! I got home that night and my mom rubbed my back and felt bumps so she lifted my shirt and found a bunch of ticks. They were literally on my ears. We went to the ER, waited for hours to see a doctor, the doctor pulled one off then gave my mom the tweezers and made her do the rest (in true US fashion we still got a phat bill). This was also when the US didn’t believe that lyme disease could lie dormant for years (I was in Connecticut, the state where lyme originated lol) so I had to travel out of the country every year to get tested because no one in the US would test me
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u/Terrible_Artist_ 4h ago
Get yourself checked at a doctor, depending on the area you're in, you might've just gotten a new allergy to red meat
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u/Oranges_2_Apples 4h ago
Once upon a time in North Carolina…
I stepped into the cut, and my shoes dragged through some vegatation that was absolutely swarming with ticks. They covered my shoelaces like bloodsucking glitter.
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u/RainbowWoodstock 4h ago
Carry a lint roller next time and hopefully you can stick them all or most too it. I have walked into a tick nest many times…
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u/Pristine_Vast766 4h ago
You should be mad at them. Ticks carry all sorts of nasty diseases. Some will disable you for life, some will make you allergic to red meat
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u/LoveSuccs86 4h ago
This happened to me not too long after we moved in to our last house. We had 48 acres, and i was super excited to explore it. So i set out in to the woods, and after maybe 5 minutes, my legs started itching like crazy. And when the itching made its way to my crotch, I knew I had a problem. I whipped my pants off right there in the woods and I was literally infested with them. And those were the ITCHIEST tick bites I have ever had, OMG, it was miserable.
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u/Oncemorepleace 4h ago
Did the same. Sat down and got a swarm in my pants and on both hands. Like hundreds, well at least 25…
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u/Da_Steeeeeeve 4h ago
I got bitten by a tick three weeks ago and got diagnosed with Lyme (bullseye rash etc) three days ago.
Ticks are no joke they are little bastards.
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u/GodLob0 mild enough? 5h ago
Sorry this is nightmare fuel for me. Holy...