Where did they COME from though? Did they come out of the hay? (I hope not)... I mean I'd think if there was ticks laying eggs in the barn you'd have seen the egg layers...
Insect Eggs???
- Thread starter Wehner Homestead
- Start date
greybeard
Herd Master
The larvae...seed ticks. I know a bit about them. Secuono's image is pretty close but IMO, they are even smaller. Just a bit bigger than a chigger and just as aggressive. When we first moved to this area, (1964) it was all open range..the whole county and people ran thousands of head of cattle and hogs in the National Forest that surround this property. Ticks (and grubs) were horrible. You couldn't walk thru any brush or grass without getting covered with seed ticks, even tho we dusted our boots and jean legs with powdered sulfur and tied diesel soaked rags around our boot tops. I don't think any of it did a bit of good. I've seen them moving up my legs as one big cloud, and spent every night in a bathtub with bleach water in it to kill and dislodge them. When you got out, the water would be covered with them--thousands of them. I was a teenager still in school, and was embarassed to go to gym class because my ankles and legs were just one mass of red spots. Underarms and 'other places' nearly as bad.
They did a number on the cattle too. Them poor things wanted to just stay standing in water most of the time and dogs were miserable.
A few years later, the county enacted a stock law and the ticks abated somewhat, but didn't go completely away until fire ants moved into this part of Texas. I haven't seen a seed tick in many years now. There's still some here of course, but they tend to stay up in higher vegetation and not low to the ground.
(I'll be happy to send you a 3lb coffee can full of fire ants and a couple of queens if your extermination procedure doesn't work, but it may be a case of the cure is worse than the affliction)
They did a number on the cattle too. Them poor things wanted to just stay standing in water most of the time and dogs were miserable.
A few years later, the county enacted a stock law and the ticks abated somewhat, but didn't go completely away until fire ants moved into this part of Texas. I haven't seen a seed tick in many years now. There's still some here of course, but they tend to stay up in higher vegetation and not low to the ground.
(I'll be happy to send you a 3lb coffee can full of fire ants and a couple of queens if your extermination procedure doesn't work, but it may be a case of the cure is worse than the affliction)
- Thread starter
- #13
Wehner Homestead
Herd Master
I think I’ll stick to disposal instead of fahr ants! Lol
In all seriousness, I’m assuming one of the dogs or cats brought in the culprit. The dogs all have on Seresto collars so they don’t usually have ticks on them. I haven’t seen any on the cats but who’s to say that it isn’t possible to miss one on eight cats and five dogs.
During clean-up tomorrow, we will be inspecting all areas to see just how far those eggs are spread.
I’ll try taking more pics to see if they have changed or if I can get a better size comparison.
In all seriousness, I’m assuming one of the dogs or cats brought in the culprit. The dogs all have on Seresto collars so they don’t usually have ticks on them. I haven’t seen any on the cats but who’s to say that it isn’t possible to miss one on eight cats and five dogs.
During clean-up tomorrow, we will be inspecting all areas to see just how far those eggs are spread.
I’ll try taking more pics to see if they have changed or if I can get a better size comparison.
Southern by choice
Herd Master
I'm thinking secouno is right- they look bigger after going back to the picture.
Maybe this?
https://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/small-fruit/strawberry/strawberry-root-weevil
Maybe this?
https://pnwhandbooks.org/insect/small-fruit/strawberry/strawberry-root-weevil
greybeard
Herd Master
OneFineAcre
Herd Master
Maybe some type of frog, lizard, newt, salamander, gecko ??
BoboFarm
Loving the herd life
Do you have chickens? I know they eat ticks, not sure if they'd eat tick eggs.
Bruce
Herd Master
They look like small salmon eggs. I suppose that is rather unlikely though 
Not an expert on dog tick eggs but I think I have to agree those look pretty big for the size of what would come out of them. Maybe the weevil egg suggestion is right? I'd bring some chickens in and see if they are interested. I've seen my chickens eat ant eggs. You might have to offer one to your most greedy bird ... unless they recognize them as food from prior experience unknown to you. If they like them, you are all set, at least for the ones on the ground now. Might have a bunch more in other bales.
What I read on dog tick eggs is they have to stay moist. I would GUESS that they would die from desiccation spread out on the barn floor.
Not an expert on dog tick eggs but I think I have to agree those look pretty big for the size of what would come out of them. Maybe the weevil egg suggestion is right? I'd bring some chickens in and see if they are interested. I've seen my chickens eat ant eggs. You might have to offer one to your most greedy bird ... unless they recognize them as food from prior experience unknown to you. If they like them, you are all set, at least for the ones on the ground now. Might have a bunch more in other bales.
What I read on dog tick eggs is they have to stay moist. I would GUESS that they would die from desiccation spread out on the barn floor.
AClark
Loving the herd life
Looks like tick eggs to me. We had a short warm spell and the other night at dinner, after spending a glorious day with 80 degree weather, I found a dog tick crawling up my leg. Time to buy more Guinea fowl.
Bunnylady
Herd Master
I think they are much, much too big to be tick eggs - you could easily fit a dozen or more first stage ticks in that one in your hand. Other than the color, what they look most like to me is spent controlled-release fertilizer (like Osmocote), but what that would be doing in a hay field is beyond me. If you squeeze one between your fingers, does it pop?
