r/MadeMeSmile May 20 '26

ANIMALS Forever grateful

By @abbyandersonmusic

141.8k Upvotes

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1.1k

u/Big-Active3139 May 20 '26

Ticks for everyone!

93

u/greina23 May 20 '26

No for real, this was my thought - it's cute and all, but what about ticks? She's been living out in the wild - there's bound to be ticks on her

145

u/WisconsinGB May 20 '26

Ticks would be the last thing I'd think about in this situation. Your pet just came home and you'd purposely stay away from it because of the chance to get a tick on you? You know they are easy to find and take off? I've had hundreds of ticks on me from going through the woods and the small chance you actually get something from one is so worth this encounter.

69

u/[deleted] May 20 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

11

u/BigDiggy May 20 '26

Or better yet alpha gal :)

4

u/Deaffin May 20 '26

Yeah, her either. Super toxic.

108

u/lastscholar_golb May 20 '26

city folk think getting a bug on them is a literal death sentence.

meanwhile they all "love" hiking.

55

u/myeggsarebig May 20 '26

I’m a farm hand deep in the country and I don’t care to see deer because of the ticks. Several people on the farm have gotten lymes, and are forever altered bc of it. Most country folks know this. Guinea hens have since been added, and no more ticks. But not everyone can handle the noise of them.

15

u/RetroPRO May 20 '26

Also tick populations are way up this year.

20

u/reallovesurvives May 20 '26

I grew up in the woods. My whole family has had Lyme multiple time and my parents both have alpha gal allergy from a lone star tick. Anybody with any sense stays the fuck away from deer ticks. City or country.

9

u/Big-Active3139 May 20 '26

Fair enough, but what country folk hug the wild animals?

28

u/enmaku May 20 '26

I'm a city folk who actually does love hiking and I gotta tell you how right you are. The number of trips I've been invited on only to be severely disappointed in what some people call "hiking" is disturbing.

I live in Vegas, you can drive like 2 hours in any direction and have access to a dozen wildly different natural environments, but sure, let's walk in an oval around the tiny mountain at the edge of town. Maybe we can even climb it and take in the majestic view of the nearby industrial gravel pit.

3

u/Mindless_Flower_2639 May 20 '26

Renoite here and same same 😂

10

u/GorillaGlizza May 20 '26

Yea hiking to the Dutch Bros 2 blocks away

2

u/boobers3 May 20 '26

Lyme disease won't kill you, but you probably don't want it either if you can avoid it.

1

u/reallovesurvives May 22 '26

It can and does cause long term neurological damage.

0

u/mothmantra May 20 '26

Everyone says 'ticks' like it's going to cause an infestation, just check the deer over and it'll be fine 💀

1

u/Fruloops May 22 '26

Not taking ticks seriously is dumb as fuck.

1

u/slut-for-pickles May 20 '26

Yeah I’ve had over 10 ticks on me this year alone and that’s just from walking my dog. I haven’t even taken any real hikes yet.

1

u/action_nick May 20 '26

As a city person helping my mom out with her new country house this is 100% true. I’ve had to remove a few ticks so far and they freak me out but I’m trying to be less of a baby about it. ANY TIPS WOULD BE APPRECIATED.

2

u/lastscholar_golb May 20 '26

You can put permethrin on your clothes. Keep a set of "outdoor" clothes, i.e. long sleeve shirt, sneakers and jeans, spray them with that let it dry and you'll be far better off.

Non-pesticide advice: get her some chickens, though admittedly this comes with a different set of problems, but they will eat all the ticks.

Also advise showering more. Ticks will crawl around for a while and if you can shower and check yourself quickly you have a good chance to find them before they latch onto your skin.

1

u/biglymonies May 20 '26

Reverse-wrap duct tape around your ankles and wrists. Use tick repellent. Avoid areas ticks like, like tall grass or overhanging branches/vegetation (they hang out on it and transfer over when you walk by). Stay on trails. Throughly inspect your body after being outside. If you find a tick, remove it quickly but don't rip off the head.

If I find a tick crawling on me, I strip down and throw my clothing in the dryer on high and immediately shower and inspect every inch of my body (and my wife inspects my blind spots).

1

u/myeggsarebig May 21 '26

Guinea hens!

-4

u/StayTheFool May 20 '26

That's because their version of hiking is walking around a park where there's sidewalks and the trees are trimmed and the grass is cut.

2

u/Single_Cancel_4873 May 21 '26

I live in suburbia and take walks in wooded parks and the ticks are all over! I live in PA. It’s bad here.

4

u/KillHonger1 May 20 '26

I worked with someone who has Lyme disease transmitted from a tick. She didn’t know she had it for a while so it went untreated and now has chronic fatigue and nerve pain. Better safe than sorry

4

u/stayin_aliv May 21 '26

I've had multiple friends with Lyme disease, and one with lifelong Lyme. Nah, you don't fuck around.

5

u/HornlessUnicorn May 21 '26

Wait until you get Lyme. All it takes is one where you don’t see it. I was sick for 2 months and had several rounds of antibiotics. I’m not talking like having a cold. Cannot get out of bed, cannot go to work, cannot function for weeks on end. It’s the absolute worst and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

3

u/tehForce May 20 '26

You know that tick nymphs are about the size of a poppy seed?

3

u/Single_Cancel_4873 May 21 '26

As someone who lives with deer all around, yes I would worry about ticks! Lymne disease is not joke!

2

u/PickleInDaButt May 20 '26

I’d be more like “Oh this sucker is going to get hit by a car in no time.”

2

u/myeggsarebig May 20 '26

No, if you’re a county person or farmer you do not like deer ticks bc they cause lymes. They are small and not always easy to find and “take off”, and it doesn’t take long to develop lymes.

3

u/Live_Angle4621 May 20 '26

Dogs can also have them 

1

u/its_all_4_lulz May 22 '26

Can have them, for deer it’s far different.

A few years ago my wife hit one and we had to move it out of the road. There were hundreds. Not just a few, literally every few inches on the entire side of this thing.

2

u/GinOlive May 21 '26

I was literally thinking “I wonder if you can give her tick treatment (not sure you can for a deer) and convince her to pop back in once a month!

1

u/AristarchusTheMad May 23 '26

The crazy thing about opposable thumbs is the ability to easily remove ticks.

-1

u/ssjjss May 20 '26

If they are on her then they stay as they have food