In a Deer's Ear - My Ongoing Adventures with Jill.

[Phoenix]

Today, Jill, the same deer who took grain from my hand, allowed me to take the ticks out of her ear. She's been getting increasingly friendly, and is even teaching her little sister, by example to do the same. Today my husband said, "Are there ticks in Jill's left ear?" The answer was yes. There were three. After several friendly touches to the top of her head and muzzle, I managed to gently put my fingers in her ear. Then I tried again and connected with the ticks, and gently scratched them loose. It did not hurt Jill, but there was a little blood on my finger tip. The little bugs were just getting started, I guess. I wondered why she would allow me to do that, and my husband said that she probably thought I was grooming her. Animals do that to each other. The developing trust is so neat. It's a real high.

 

[fureverywhere]

Bless you for helping her. Ticks are nasty little buggers. Just be really careful, deer ticks can give humans Lyme Disease. If you pluck them and drop them in alcohol or a strong bleach solution you know they are dead. You've got yourself a new close friend

 

[Guitarist]

Make sure you get the whole tick out, including the head. Often people "remove" a tick but leave the head embedded.

http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html

 

[Phoenix]

Thanks. I forgot about the Lyme Disease. I was fortunate enough to get close enough to scratch them out with my fingernail. At this point there was no way she would have allowed me close enough to remove it any other way. But thankfully, the heads fell out as well. They were quite small and had yet to burrow in deeply.