Eek! I didn’t expect to be writing this story in my real estate blog! But, I feel a sense of responsibility to my fellow citizens! EEk!! I can’t say that enough. My husband and I and our two dogs were attacked by dozens of ticks this evening. It was horrible! I think the dogs must have had at least 30 ticks on each of them.
We were walking the dogs in Younghusband Prairie at Baker’s Lake, the prairie preserve I wrote about a while back (I have already deleted the post). When we returned from our walk, we did a routine check of the dogs . . .and . . .ugh, there were ticks all over their little bodies!
At first, you couldn’t see them because they were in the dog’s hair; they congregated around their neck and under their collars. As we were picking the ticks off, we started finding them around our own ankles and on our shoes. It was such a creepy-crawly feeling. . .I felt like all of the hairs on my body were standing up. . .
We bought flea and tick shampoo at Walgreens and hurried home to take a shower with the dogs. We were freaking out a little, so we put the shampoo on ourselves as well, especially in our hair.
It was so ridiculous! The four of us were in the shower all lathered up with slimy green smelly shampoo (it smelled like Off and Windex), –standing there waiting for the necessary five minute waiting period to pass. Then we rinsed and did it all again, just in case.
After we dried off, we were still finding ticks on the dogs. We called the vet and they said to get Frontline, so Jeff immediately ran out and bought some while I continued to comb the dogs.
They seem fine now. We are still finding a tick here and there, but they’re dead (not the dogs, the ticks!).
We’re not going back to any nature areas, even with the Frontline. Beware! 
For more information on ticks in Illinois, see the state of Illinois site.
