On our last morning at the lake, I found a tick on my stomach. The bugger had buried his face in my skin and was working extra hard to get to the blood beyond my new layer of lake fat. He looked like a watermelon seed. I did eat a lot of watermelon at the lake, but our watermelons were seedless.

In all my fifty-two years of going to the lake, I’ve had plenty of chiggers but no ticks.

I yanked him out with tweezers, head and all thank goodness, and swabbed the bite with bourbon because I had no rubbing alcohol. You might be a redneck if…

I flushed the blood sucker down the toilet. The whole thing freaked me out enough that I didn’t take any pictures. Hard to believe, I know.

The following picture came from Wikipedia. I’ll just warn you, it’s disgusting—the tick before and after feeding. No wonder we say full as a tick!!!

Two days after my tick incident, I have a dime-sized red spot on my belly, much like a spider bite. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about because a) I consulted Dr. Google; and b) my tick, and I don’t mean my in an endearing way, didn’t have time to fill up and transmit disease.

But still!!! Is that not disgusting?

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Brad Paisley – Ticks