The Tick.

It can officially be said that I will go to great lengths and even chance death to get the best shot for my clients. No kidding. So I was bit by a tick. In short, it sucks (pun intended). Honestly, one of the more frightening things to ever happen to me. Of all the diseases that they carry, Lyme is the most lethal. Scary, scary.

It happened while shooting a super duper senior session, (Steph, I took one for you sweetie). As some might have guessed, I got it while in grassy/wooded area not far from my base. If you've been on a shoot with me then you know I spend more time on my back and stomach than on my feet. Funny thing is, I didn't notice the pinch or bite right there when it happened. It was about an hour AFTER the session in my kitchen while making some tea that I became ridiculously itchy. Everything itched! My face, legs, body. Itch-o-rama! It was just above my hip that I felt the tick clinging on. Immediate panic! Though I've never been bit by a tick before, I knew that when they are on you are NOT supposed to just yank them off. The proper way to remove a tick from humans or animals is with tweezers at the very base of the where the head is entering the skin. You can also "burn" it off with a extinguished hot match. The heat causes them to slowly unclinch. So what did I do........ I freaked out. The fact a bug was on me caused me to react immediately and I just yanked it off. Bad.

The last few days have been quite miserable. Flu like symptoms, fever, weakness. I had to cancel three other shoots during the week due to sickness. All this happened on Wednesday of last week, and I had a wedding I had to drive to 5 hours from me that Saturday. I never even mentioned it to the couple. They'll read this here for the first time. Relax guys, the pictures are awesome. :)

That said I took some pictures of the critter below. To think that worried me the most is whether the head was still in or not. I Googled some pictures of fully membered ticks and was relieved to see MY tick was still intact. Dead, but intact. Lucky for me as it is not common to yank one off and the head be intact.

I decided to keep him and make this blog post. I am also buying a bug case for him and leaving the dude on my desk as a memento of the danger of being a photographer. **chuckles to himself** Help me name this guy. Post any name you feel fitting in the comment bar below. Curious to see what you guys come up with. Cheers folks.

~Sam

Shot of an INTACT tick I found on Google.

My Tick. Help me name him. Best name gets to pet him during our next photo shoot together.
I had my wife shoot this of me just before removing the tick.You can CLEARLY see the tick to the left of my 6 pack. The redness irritation shows minutes after a tick bite.