The Loch Ness Tickular is still alive.
Now that it has shrunk in size I can quite clearly see it’s a tick. When I first yanked it out it was round like a tiny balloon filled with my blood. After several days of starvation it has shrunk and all the limbs are clearly visible now. I’m amazed it’s still alive. I thought it would die without a food source in 24-48 hours but it’s now Sunday and I pulled it out on Tuesday night.
Perhaps I should put it out of its misery and squish it but I don’t want to open the jar in case it leaps out and attacks me. What is reassuring is all its body parts are still intact which means I pulled it out whole. I’m curious to see how long it can survive without a host.
We went to the allotment today for the first time in too long. We’ve had so many busy weekends and holidays away that I haven’t had any free Sundays to go there. Needless to say it was an overgrown mess. It was in such a state that I briefly contemplated giving it up. Not only that but someone had dumped a whole heap of tangled chicken wire and dead shrub on it. Ben spent most of his time untangling it. I was thankful to have the extra pairs of hands. Even the kids got to work digging up weeds. There’s still much to do but at least we can now see some plants in amongst the weeds.
rachel.blog 
It must have been in a state if you even contemplated giving it up. That tick does look much less threatening now it isn’t so big.
It was just a fleeting thought to give it up but after spending a couple of hours cleaning up I changed my mind 🙂
Hi Rachel,
If there is a lab available where you live, you could bring the tick in and have it tested for lyme disease to be on the safe side.
If it was on you long enough to engorge itself with your blood, it could have passed along lyme or some other disease. Ticks carry other diseases too. Also, the classic bulls-eye rash pattern doesn’t always show up.
I can’t see any place to send in the tick but I guess I could have a blood test myself at some point.
My mother in law has a pathalogical fear of ticks after watching a documentary about them several years ago.