Exile: A Plague of Ticks

We finally got tired of the barking keeping us and the neighbors awake and let the dogs sleep in the basement last night. It was their first time in the house since late Monday morning. The exile probably should have started sooner, but I was absorbed with writing a paper and not really paying attention. Eventually it sunk in that Duncan had some black specks clinging to his fur. Not the place you’d normally find ticks since they like to hide, but these were full and getting ready to drop off. Then I noticed some blood smears on our kitchen tiles where we’d stepped on some that had already let go. They were scattered all over the floor. I looked where I’d made him sit at the top of the basement stairs while his feet dried from the dewy grass. There must have been close to one hundred of them in that 2x3’ space, tiny, tiny (a millimeter at most), but round and glossy from their feasting.

Both dogs immediately found themselves outside and I got busy thoroughly vacuuming the house from top to bottom. Eventually I went out and examined the dogs. They were infested. Literally 10 to 20 of the buggers per square inch. It was a bit harder to tell with Bones since her coat is darker and thicker, but they were there. I thought maybe the ticks would all be full and dropping off within 24 hours, but the next day I realized there were two waves. I calculated back and realized why. The wife took them running in the woods for at most an hour last Wednesday then I took them for a 2 hour plus hike on Friday. What I found Monday morning was the first wave from the run. What’s still finishing up today is the much thicker wave from Friday. Our yard has got to be filthy with the creatures now, but I’m hoping the house is basically safe.

How ironic is it that Monday night we read/discussed Peeps for our book group, an updated take on vampirism in which the condition is caused by parasites with every other chapter telling the creepy but all too true story of actual parasites?