Today, Gary and I went for a hike on yet another section of the Mountains to Sea Trail with a couple friends.  We don’t feel as worn out as the first couple of hikes . . .  4.2 miles, 309 feet elevation gain.  There was this big bug on my head that one of my friends saw, and Gary whacked it off my head (photo below).

It is tick season now . . . there was a baby one on one of my friends that he saw at our resting point.

When I got home, I combed through Gus, every bit of him and found a good number on him – took about 30 minutes.  Luckily I had bought a tick twister before the hike – though a lot of them were already dead (thank you frontline).

If your dog is outside or goes hiking with you, our vet said they can get frontline every 20 days instead of every 30 days.  Gus is due for another dose then.

When I came inside to shower, there were 2 ticks on my back, and one on my hip.  I’m not sure if they got on me when I was finding them on Gus or on the trail since I was wearing a pack.

Gary was able to get the off me with the tick twister that I had gotten at Petco before the hike.  REALLY glad I did, it worked really well and am going to get another one or two of them for each of our packs and Gus’s backpack.

It works well because it surrounds the tick and instead of with tweezers where it could squeeze them, it pulls the tick out cleanly when you rotate it.  I think it took them longer to get to Gus’s skin because he has so much hair.

SO . . . if you are going hiking, make sure to check yourself and your dog for ticks after.  Pack a fine toothed comb and a tick twister, and make sure your pet is on some sort of flea and tick protection.