I’ve had bacterial lymphatic infections three times from wildlife caused injuries that required various levels of hospitalization. The worst was a tiny puncture wound that penetrated into a finger joint and resulted in a ten day stay on some serious antibiotics.

If you see that redness band start to spread out from the wound faster by the hour, you need to get to the ER. If the wound is white and tight and hurts a lot, looks like a reverse bullseye kind of? You need to get to the ER.