Monday 9 September 2019

Ick

This summer is seemingly the summer of me getting bitten by things that haven't bitten me in ages!

First there was the wasp sting of ow, and now at some point last week (Thursdy?  Friday? Hard to know) I think I got chewed up by a flea... or fleas.

We all know that mosquitoes love me but I remember in my childhood that my Mom said that fleas loved me too and something to do with a sleepover at a friend's house and coming home with flea bites and something something... well, I mean no one likes being bitten by anything, right?

So I was hanging out at Jason's Thursday evening (I think) and we were outside enjoying the late summer evening and I did notice a mosquito but I was pretty wrapped up (long pants and a hoodie) so I figured I was safe...ish.

I didn't even think about it but I woke up the next morning and noticed a bite on my foot.  It wasn't bothering me too much but I figured the mosquito I saw must have got me through one of the holes on my sandals.  Meh, no biggie.

But then at some point, maybe later that day or maybe the next day I looked down and noticed quite a few bites on both of my feet.  And a few on my leg.  And then as the day progressed I found more and more of them swelling up.  And, well, I kind of freaked out a little, because mosquito bites I know pretty well.  I know what they look like and how my body reacts to them and these didn't seem like mosquito bites.  Which meant something less... fun.

I tried to google "mosquito vs flea bites" because my Mom had always told me that fleas bite in like.. batches or rows (so a few bites all together) and this looked like that but it's been SO long since I got flea bites that when I googled and google showed me photos of bed bugs I kind of got a little OH SH*T.

So I of course stripped off my bed, and washed all the sheets and the whole time I'm like please no please no please no but they didn't look like those kinds of bites and my bed area doesn't show any of those signs so let's just... omg not.  So... probably fleas.

Which raises its own set of questions.  I don't have pets and neither does Jason, technically, but Jason and I feed a few stray cats that come by his yard and he also has raccoons that hang out there at night and so I said to him, hey, I'm pretty sure I got chewed on by some fleas.

Nah, he said, I've not seen any on the cats.  Probably your place had fleas.

Which is laughable, and I think he knew it when he said it.  So I pointed out that he doesn't actually get close enough to the raccoons to check them for fleas and saying that you have never noticed them on the cats is not the same as the cats not having them and no matter what, I now have two legs full of itchy bites that also look super ugly.

Because that's another reason I'm 99.9% sure they're not mosquito.  My mosquito bites swell and puff up and itch itch itch but then they calm down and they go away.  These bites are doing different things, so that plus the pattern of bites and the fact that fleas tend to hit you from the feet up, I'm pretty darn sure a flea or two got at me.

Which is a little reassuring but still not because now where are they??? Did they travel home in my pants (which I also washed) and jump off in my car?  Or did they jump off on my couch before I knew I was bit?  WHERE ARE THEY AND WHAT IF THEY GET ME AGAIN!!!!

I also don't know much about flea behaviour just that they can't live without a host for more than a few days so now I'm like, well did they jump off of one of the animals in Jason's yard and then find me?  Like where did this bug come from and how did it get to me and is it gone now and also I itch!

Behaviourally, it makes most sense to me that whatever did get me, got me when I was outside in a backyard on a summer evening.  I just have to hope that they stayed there or that if they came home with me (OMG) that they're now washed away or dead or dear lord make it stop.

So, yeah.  I got chewed up at some point this last week/end.  And me no likey.  Let us never speak of this again!

2 comments:

Jason Langlois said...

I hope you efforts have dealt with the issue! No more bug bites!

Victoria said...

I hope so too!!!!