Good to know.  Stay off the trails though, wait until they dry out!  Keep em nice for the rest of the season!

Also, I may add that each time was in early April.

The fleas are out, too :(

My cat graciously invited a few inside and they've been having a go at my ankles.

Sorry, I meant Woodtick, not Woodstock!  Must have been thinking of summer, music, warm weather...ticks.

Deer ticks and Lyme Disease are very controversial.  I have had/still have symptoms of Lyme Disease from a bite five years ago..  It is a very nasty disease and symptoms can last for years or forever (headaches, fever, dizziness, fatigue, arthritis, etc.).  Sometimes you think you are going crazy.  I have never had a serious disease in my life before this. 

It is difficult to diagnose (50% inaccuracy in testing), so be very careful because it is nearly impossible to get correct treatment and I can tell you from experience that the Drs. I have seen here in Duluth are not knowledgeable about the disease and the (one?) immunologist who is will not see you unless you have a positive test. So pretty much you are screwed and will have to figure out your own route of treatment. 

And there is only a bull's eye rash 50% of the time too.  This is really nothing to take lightly. And if we could eliminate the deer in city limits that would help keep them from dropping ticks in our yards who then  attach to our pets and subsequently to us, tiny things that they are.  I am not a medical dr, but if you get bitten some experts advise getting at least 8 wks of doxycycline to kill off the spirocheate--some experts say 10 wks.  

So using DEET seems like a small price to pay to me, I dose my boots and socks even when I am in my yard.  Ticks have made being in the woods a lot less enjoyable for me.

Now, I am not interested in a big debate on this, I just wanted to let you know my experience.  There were many days when taking a shower was completely exhausting and I thought I would never have a life again.  Fortunately, I feel better now, (I took 9 wks of doxycycline and still take Vitamin D) although there are still lingering symptoms. I am hyper-vigilant beginning as soon as the snow leaves.   

I am happy to give my email if anyone wants to contact me.  sonjud2003 AT Yahoo dot com

Jude, where did you pick yours up? I was hiking through the SHT just outside Gooseberry when I picked up a deer tick. sucker latched onto my side.

According to my doc, at the time I went in for it, actually second and third guessed his diagnosis because he'd only rarely heard of lyme cases north of here. adding to that, it first presented like a spider bite with necrosis at the bite. I think I was on three different antibiotics before he prescribed the doxy.

it presents differently from case to case and therefore is a difficult disease to diagnose without a definitive blood test, and the long term effects are still being studied. I personally deal with bouts of fatigue and joint pain...

Here is the link to MN info on LD
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/lyme/basics.html

Ticks are obscene and now I have the heebie jeebies about being in my yard which is full of deer poop. Dang things have eaten all my lilac buds already too! 

Hope one day they have a human Lyme's shot like the one I get for my dog each year.

Just for posterity, the DNT article, too: 
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/164682/

Ticks AND poison ivy! No one is safe anymore!

Went for a run on the Lester Trails yesterday, and today I found a deer tick embedded in my leg. Damn.

I did also see a butterfly, the first I've seen this year.

@zra Thanks. For all I know, it was in my leg for 24 hours. I'm worried about anaplasma, another tick-borne illness, too. My dog had it year before last, as did a pal of mine. My friend was deathly ill. From what I've read, you can get sick with no signs of rash or swelling at the bite site, and it can take up to two months for symptoms to show. Fricking ticks.

REFRAIN FROM USING HIKING TRAILS

THEY ARE VULNERABLE TO BEING DAMAGED WITH DEEP RUTS AND POSSIBLE EROSION 

Press Release:

The City of Duluth's Parks and Recreation Division is asking the public to refrain from using city hiking trails, snowmobile trails, cross country ski trails, the dog park and the disc golf course. Due to the annual spring thaw all these areas have become soft and are now vulnerable to being damaged with deep ruts and possible erosion.

The public can help prevent damage by staying off these areas until warmer temperatures and drier weather improve conditions. A notice regarding the reopening of the trails, dog park and disc golf course will be provided as soon as conditions permit.

Trails that are open to the public at this time are the Lakewalk, the Munger Trail and the Western Waterfront Trail. In addition, the far eastern part of Skyline Parkway near Hawks Ridge is also a good place to walk as well as the far western end of Skyline Parkway, west of Spirit Mountain. These portions of Skyline are still closed to vehicular traffic

Jude was right. My doctor offered preventive doxycycline. But I read up on it, and it seems to me that experts advise using doxycycline preventively only in a very narrow range of tick-bite cases, and mine didn't fall in that range (tick was not attached for at least 36 hours). So, in a one-person attempt to combat overuse of antibiotics, I'm just saying no. Am I crazy?

My fence goes up next week to prevent the deer from having their daily meetings in my yard.  I don't give a rip how cute those fawns are, they are not welcome here.  

With all these reports of thick ticks sad to say I have yet to venture onto a trail in the woods this spring. Just not worth the gamble for me. 

And I have never been able to figure out what place ticks have in the ecosystem except that a few birds munch them...does anyone know if they have even one redeeming quality?  

One spring our family went camping and the kids went into the woods to gather sticks for hot dogs.  That night our 10 year old daughter kept saying, "Dad, there's another one."   We lost count after we took 22 ticks off of her. By morning she was totally having panic attacks, and her whole body felt like it was crawling.  Well, we all felt that way, come to think of it.  Of course, the dog had been with the kids and then slept with our daughter.  It was like some Hitchcock movie, just horrible.  As soon as it was light enough we packed up and left that campground. Eeeeks, I hate ticks.