***Question for Rehabber re: LYME DISEASE?***

[SquirrelNut]

Being an RN, I am always concerned about any disease I might acquire from my squirrel, Nos. What about Lyme Disease?

Thanking you in advance!

Dana & Nos:thankyou

[island rehabber]

Since I am a fortunate survivor of Lyme Disease myself (2007 :shakehead) I"ll answer this one: you can only get Lyme disease from a tick bite, NOT from another animal or person who has Lyme disease.

SO: can you get it from your squirrel? Only if there is a Lyme-infected tick on your squirrel, and it jumps onto you and you don't notice it until it's burrowed in. Then you would get Lyme disease. But the ticks are the culprits -- whether they come from your lawn, your plants, deer, dogs or cats.

My suggestion is: ALWAYS be vigilant if you have Lyme disease in your area. Check yourself for ticks after you've been outside, especially your legs and chest because they like to go up your pants legs or down your shirt :eek:. Don't be a dope like I was and pick a bug off yourself....look at it....go "huh!" and flick it into the trash. Never occured to me that I'd been bitten by a deer tick until I got that famous "bullseye rash" 5 days later. :shakehead

[Anne]

Actually, we are way more likely to make the squirrels sick than the other way round. I am a retired RN. So just do what you were trained to do "Wash your hands"! And be sure to inspect any new animal you get for ticks. Deer ticks are the ones that most often carry Lyme Disease, these ticks are very small.

[SquirrelNut]

thanks so much for responding so quickly! i was 99% sure it would require a tick bite but just wanted to make sure!

when i found him, he only had some little red things on him. probably bugs from the nest. they did not stay on him. god only knows where they went?:shakehead

thank-you again!

dana & nos

[island rehabber]

thanks so much for responding so quickly! i was 99% sure it would require a tick bite but just wanted to make sure!

when i found him, he only had some little red things on him. probably bugs from the nest. they did not stay on him. god only knows where they went?:shakehead

thank-you again!

dana & nos

Dana those little red things are mites. They can carry mange, so be sure he does not have them anymore and there are none in the bedding. Mange mites ARE able to get onto us and give us a nasty rash -- so be careful.

[SquirrelNut]

he has no skin problems and neither do i except for a few squirrel bites and/or scratches! thank goodness!

thank-you!