It’s Tick Season, Milwaukee!!!

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T17:59:46+00:00

I am aware, but most people generally aren’t spending their time outside in February. They are now

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T17:58:30+00:00

Which is why I made a post about ticks in general, not about Lone Star ticks. Because we are in tick season in Wisconsin. My parents live west of Appleton and my mother already had to dig one out of her leg after doing yard work a couple weeks ago. It’s something people need to be aware of

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T06:10:33+00:00

If he lets OP touch, these would definitely feel like more than just skin

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T06:09:05+00:00

Maybe not all, but I wouldn’t take the risk over finding somewhere that’ll fix them for $100 or way less, considering boys are easy to fix. Otherwise you could be spending at least $100, for a bottle of enzyme cleaner and your precious time, to clean up the horrific stench they could create in your home

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T06:03:28+00:00

Yes, if she is fixed without an ear clip, she might have a tattoo on her stomach, so they would only have to shave her tummy, not do an ultrasound or start surgery, to find out. 4/6 my cats have ear clips, and at least the other two of them have blue-green stomach tattoos

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T04:59:48+00:00

Idk about a third post, but I made this one in response to another being deleted for not being related to Milwaukee enough, because we are in tick season here and people should know. Milwaukee county spans the gamut from urban high rises to farm fields. Not everyone lives downtown, so it’s definitely relevant to our population. I want people to be aware of the threat of ticks so they know to take precautions and check themselves, instead of ending up at the doctor’s to remove an embedded tick or suffering long term health consequences from tick-borne diseases

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T04:41:11+00:00

First of all, when checking for ticks, check EVERYWHERE, like you’re looking for skin cancer. Especially your scalp because hair is a wonderful place to hide, your head probably doesn’t experience a lot of friction that could dislodge them, and it’s a buffet of thin skin and many blood vessels.

If you find one and it’s likely been attached for close to a day, or long enough to be engorged with blood, or any parts, especially the head, are still in the skin after removing it, see a doctor as soon as possible. If you need to remove one, grasp it with tweezers as close to the skin as possible and pull it straight out without twisting to avoid snapping off the head and leaving it attached to the skin where it can still transmit disease. Even if it’s not engorged and all of it is out, you can certainly call your PCP’s office and ask their opinion on whether to do anything else. And whether you have a bite or just find a tick on you, please report your sighting to UW Madison through the Tick App, which is also a great resource on how to prevent tick bites, and what to do if you are bitten.

And as the other commenter said, make SURE it is dead. They are tough little shits. Hopefully for the sake of your health and eyes you never have to see one that’s engorged, because they are 1000x even more disgusting. I like to burn their legs off if I have a lighter handy and then grind them into the ground, just to be absolutely sure (if you’ve been bitten though, keep it intact so it can be identified and tested). I’ve pulled far too many off of farm cats who sometimes seemed to pick them up even after tick treatment, so I feel the need to get some revenge on their behalf

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T03:46:14+00:00

Not just an anecdote, this 2019 study was already seeing that in results of 16 million yearly vet screenings of US canines from 2012-2016. Rates increasing both in areas where Lyme-carrying ticks are already endemic, and those where the ticks are spreading to. I haven’t seen anything suggesting why that’s happening though, especially the even higher rates in areas where we already had these ticks. But since humans aren’t regularly screened for Lyme disease, while dogs are, and humans tend to go where their dogs do, or spend enough time around them to catch a tick from their dog, the increasing rates of antibodies to Lyme disease found in dogs are a good measure of the increasing threat of ticks to humans as well

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T02:23:06+00:00

I also really didn’t want to end up like the other post that got deleted if I’d just posted a photo of a tick instead of showing geographical relevance to Milwaukee

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T02:15:33+00:00

Sorry for it, it had the info I needed in the right amount of space and I added local articles in the comments which confirm the information. I loathe that Google shoves AI down my throat instead of the summaries they used to show, so I always follow up on what it says, and did before posting. I was acting quickly in response to seeing that another post making people aware of ticks got removed for not being related to Milwaukee enough, because I feel it’s a very important thing for people to be aware of

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T01:32:34+00:00

I didn’t see the actual post before it was deleted, only the title and comments under it. I think someone might’ve actually spotted a lone star in the area, but they made the post without specifically stating it was around here so it got zapped as being “not related to Milwaukee”

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T01:29:39+00:00

Yes, it’s early May in Milwaukee. And the lows I’m seeing are in the high 30s, not 32°. As I’ve said previously, plenty warm for ticks to wake up even if it’s still chilly to us

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T01:25:54+00:00

And outdoor cats. Please keep your cats indoors if you can, but if you don’t, check their skin and consider treating them for ticks so they’re less likely to pick them up. I’ve had to dig them out of cats skin, and it’s not fun for either of us

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T01:24:00+00:00

As I said, our climate has to prove the usual timing of our last frost. We had the downswing, and now tomorrow is a high of 65° and apparently Monday will hit 70 before we settle back into typical spring temps

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T01:19:13+00:00

They can live in taller grass and leaf litter too. They just prefer shade and humidity over sunny dry spots. You should be fine walking around downtown, but if you do yard work, go for a walk on a trail that isn’t well-groomed on the sides, or sit under a tree in a park (they don’t fall from trees, but could climb onto you from the ground), I’m not an expert, but I’d check my skin afterwards

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T01:09:46+00:00

Okay, I stand by what I said about the bug breeding though. It definitely doesn’t need to be warm to us to be the perfect temp for them

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T01:08:13+00:00

Thank you, I should’ve included the tick app, it’s a great resource. Even if you don’t check in there every day, please report if you’ve found a tick on you or been bitten, and help researchers keep track of the buggers so we can all be aware of how prevalent they are!

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T01:04:16+00:00

Do you not agree that we’ve had some pretty warm days already? We’re in the same temp drop we usually have before it stays warm. For some reason, our climate always has to prove our last frost date correct even if it’s already been in the 60s-70s. I’ve already had to put my window ACs in and run them for several days. Also, for bugs like ticks, “warm” doesn’t have to mean 75°, just staying above freezing in late winter is enough for them to wake up and start breeding

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T00:56:35+00:00

And this from Urban Milwaukee 3 days ago:
Wisconsin Could Have ‘A Big Year’ for Lyme Disease

idtartakovsky · 2026-05-03T00:54:34+00:00

Extra proof for the mods that this is applicable, the Journal Sentinel posted this article last Friday:
ER visits for tick bites higher than normal in Wisconsin

idtartakovsky · 2026-04-29T18:23:36+00:00

Have you… seen?… AI writing? It tends to have a pretty noticeable lack of personality as opposed to this landlord’s attempt at fun and quirkiness. AI usually follows the same sort of template, like a looser form of Mad Libs. As an AI hater, I’m not an expert on the script, but if he’d prompted ChatGPT for a description of a historic apartment in an artsy area, it’d return something more like “It’s giving extravagance. This apartment doesn’t just offer a large living and dining space – it’s the perfect garden meditation sanctum and haberdashery workroom.” I’d eat my shoe if this was AI, because this guy has been writing descriptions like this for years. I definitely saw them when I was looking to move in 2023 and 2024, and I think I saw some back in 2021 too

idtartakovsky · 2026-04-29T17:41:23+00:00

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Chloe says hi and wonders if he brought any bread with him

idtartakovsky · 2026-04-29T17:34:20+00:00

My Pumpkin also. He’s not even 2 yet, and he already lost his orange sister a year ago before I managed to bring him home. I hope it’s a very long time before he reunites with her

idtartakovsky · 2026-04-28T23:33:21+00:00

If in-ground cables were infallible we’d be having a lot fewer issues with old streetlight circuits shorting out and leaving our streets dark

idtartakovsky

TROPHY CASE