Dried blood on steer's ear??

[LMK17]

We have 3 British White steers that we purchased from the folks who recently sold us our new place. I am a TOTAL newbie with cattle. These boys are pretty skittish; in one month, I've finally gotten them to the point that they will very timidly stick their noses out to take some food from my hand, but they won't let me get any closer.

One of the boys has some crusty lesions on the back of his one ear. From the distance that he'll let me look at it, it looks like an area of hair loss + some dried blood. There are also some whitish looking "balls" stuck in the goo... Could be sand burrs??... Could be engorged ticks?? The area isn't huge, maybe 3 inches across. I'm sure I'd have to get him into the chute in order to get a better look and/or photos, so I'd like to avoid that if possible.

I realize this is all VERY vague, but does it sound familiar to anyone? Is this likely something that we need to treat? The patch has grown a bit over the past week or so, but it doesn't look terribly dangerous to me, and I haven't seen him bothering with it.

 

[farmerjan]

If you want to know then the only way is to get him in the chute. Yes it is very vague and no pics just makes it a guess in the wind. It could be all/any of what you suggest. Possibility is is ringworm also and the whitish balls could just be some hair or something stuck in it. If it has grown a bit, then it could also be contagious, as ringworm is if they rub against a post or each other. Thing is ringworm usually disappears in the summer with the sun.
Suggestion, use the feed to get him in the chute and after whatever you do, let him again have some feed and release the head catch when he is not fighting against it so that he doesn't associate it with "getting loose and away from you". Let him go out of it on his own without chasing him out too. Our cattle get worked through the chute and don't love it but most are pretty good about it because they are very often given a treat of grain for a minute so realize it isn't the end of the world.