Snakes, Spiders, Ticks...Research them, Be aware...What's in your backyard?(updated)

I would like to write a little bit of advice on something that has happened to us in the last year, a couple of times...This morning this again affected our home and we are all just hoping this turns out for the best...

What I want to write about is Ticks and our experience with them...

We Live on the side of the great dividing range smack bang in the middle of tick country...These are something I knew about but have never really dealt with until we actually moved here...Since i have been here for just over a year we have seen at least 4 and this mornings events is what prompted me to write this article about the tick and our experiences with it...

Ticks are parasites and they connect to their host and feed on their blood while growing for anywhere up to ten days...Animals or humans can be their host and they are not predjudice to either...The first tick we saw here was when my 13 year old had been playing outside with the other kids and came in for a shower...She was drying herself and had a pain under her arm...She came to me with her arm up and showed me this little  thing she thought was an ingrown hair..On closer inspection we realized it was a tick that was fairly newly attatched under her arm...This was removed and the doctor was called...We were told what to watch for just in case there was an allergic reaction and we did that...she was fine...

The next time we saw a tick was when my 16 year old son and his girlfriend had been having a picnic in the back yard on a blanket...A couple of days after the picnic he came to us with what he thought was a swallon gland in his groin..Again upon inspection by my husband we had to take him to the doctor to have this tick removed...Obviously it had attached itself to him and had been there for a few days with out his knowledge until it become a little engorged from feeding from his blood...

The next time we again saw a tick was on my 7 year old...She is always outside so I could never possibly narrow it down to when but during a bath once she started yelling to me about the dirt in her belly button and how she couldn't get it out...I told her I would be right with her after I finished doing what I was doing...She was happy with this...When I got to the bathroom what I saw in her belly button was not dirt at all...It was a tick..Another trip to the doctors to remove another full engorged tick from one of my kids...Now we are so careful and as soon as the kids come inside they shower and have a quick check over themselves to make sure they are all good and tick free....

Well this morning another of our family was affected...Shyenne came running in this morning with one of our cats in her arms...Her eyes were wide open and seemed quiet normal but her breathing was hard and she was like a rag doll...Her tongue was hanging from her mouth and was dry and a little swollen...We did a quick check of her as my husband put her in a box and we called a vet...They had one look at her and pulled a fully engorged tick from her head...How we missed it I will never know...Within 10 minutes of her having the antivenine for tick poisoning her tongue had gone back in her mouth and her heart beat had improved...She is still not out of danger but she is improving...

From now on We will not be only checking our kids on a regular basis we will also be looking at our animals...Do you live in a tick area too?

We live out of town on a half acre block of land...I love it here...There is bushland all around...In that bushland are snakes spiders and ticks so we need to be fully aware of what is around as it seems we have learnt this the hard way two times now (for the other read this article here)

My advice to you is...Live where you want to live but makes sure you are aware of the natural species in that area...If it is an area for snakes take precautions, If there is a certain spider known in that area take the time to learn about them and what to do in case...etc. So guys Do you live in a tick area??

UPDATE 21 0f march 2007...Sparkles our cat came home today after the tick on her head and she is doing great!!! $407.50 later I have learnt an expensive lesson...Please be aware of what is in your backyard....

Have a great day
Cheers
Angie