Always Check For Ticks

One thing I have learned living on the east side of the Cascades is when in tick country, you need to check for them thoroughly. I just had an absolutely horrifying experience at the Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge. 

It's a flat 2-ish mile hike. I never did find a good map, but once you are there you can follow the signs that will lead you in a loop out past the maintenance shed. The "trail" is basically a wide road mowed in the field. There is tall lush grass in the riparian lands around it, but I felt pretty confident I was safe as I was walking in the middle of the wide cleared path.

Then I got home and was doing some training with my dog in the yard, and discovered a tick on my shirt. Then another one. Then inside I found one on my neck. I went out to my roommate and asked "are there any more on my neck?" They were like "um...yeah" and picked on off my bra strap.

Cue me running back into my room and stripping down where I found one in my sock and two more in my bra. I was screaming as I went into the shower!

I thought I had them all. I went over to my boyfriend's house and while we were cuddling I ran my hands through my hair....and found four more on my scalp!

EWW! EWWW! EWWWWWW!

I don't know how they got up on my torso/head area as I was only walking through low grass but alas, use my horror story as a warning. In hindsight I think some bug spray would have helped. (My old bottle exploded/expired and I have neglected to replace it yet.)

The best thing to do in tick country is to do a tick check before you head home. Which I apparently did not do diligently enough.

I was lucky that none of the ticks on me had embedded yet. If they do, you want to use tweezers to apply firm pressure but don't squeeze! You don't want the tick to throw up in the wound as it could be carrying pathogens like Lyme disease.

Try to save the tick in a small sealed container like a pill bottle if it embeds so you have it for the doc if you need to go in. If you catch it in the first 24 hours, your chances of getting Lyme disease are slim. Keep an eye out for a classic "bullseye" rash and if you see it get to urgent care...that's a big clue you might have gotten Lyme disease!

The ticks I found on me were dog ticks, which don't carry Lyme. In Washington State, black-legged ticks are the Lyme disease carriers (though it's uncommon...0-7 cases are believed to originate in our state each year). While the ticks that were on me aren't known to carry Lyme, they can carry other nasty stuff, most notably Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Fortunately in Washington State, only 0-3 cases are reported each year, so my risk was minimal. 

Even if the risk is low, ticks are still just GROSS! So check yourself before you wreck yourself! Or your roommate will have to put up with your screams coming from the shower!

If you'll excuse me, I need to go burn all my hiking gear now...