To be totally freaked out by what I just found on my towel?

[tastylancs]

My heart is pounding honestly. What is this insect? Do I need to boil all sheets and towels? Burn the house down?

It's the size of a large puy lentil. Perfectly round with legs. Filled with brown bits, kind of like a teabag.

Heart still pounding. Please help. I can't actually look at my own photo.

I've never heard of a bat tick beforehand. Interesting! And also, revolting.

Must have been a very crap bat. Got this image of one crashing in to a towel and a pair of knickers and thinking 'ah ffs not again'

If you go by the photo posted upthread It's def a bat tick. This thread is def bat tick crazy!

You have to nuke it from space, it's the only way to be sure

100% a tick, watch for and be very careful with any bites or red marks

When did bats get their own ticks? Can't stop itching and glancing around now.. Gah!!

Am I the only one who thinks the fella looks quite cute? That bat video is too funny, me and my colleague spend way too much time quoting it and trying to get the accent right. Everyone else must think we have some kind of Tourette's.

@BooseysMom 😂

If I had bats hanging around I'd also be checking for bites and red marks, especially around the neck area 🦇😅 Maybe Frontline would be a wise precaution

Burn your towel. Burn everything.

Definitely burn the tick

It's a tick is the new cancel the cheque!!

RTFT!!

Am I the only one who thinks the fella looks quite cute?

Yes you are, you sick fucker!

It's bloody horrible!

We were in Scotland in April and the dogs were full of ticks - there were millions of the buggers! Every time we walked them I had to go over them and remove their "lodgers".

I used to put the bloated buggers into a plastic bag and stamp on them. (They explode)

Well tiny teabag the bat tick is still alive, though moving around much slower. I'm starting to feel guilty I have confined the ugly little chap to his sealed plastic bag. Even though it's a very nice one from Lakeland.

I'm still itching and twitching though and obviously can't release him into the wild. Help me with this dilemma, wise people of the Mumsnet.

You wasted a nice posh Lakeland plastic bag on this thing?! You madwoman I'm sorry i don't have any advice on what to do with it, but please do make sure you wash the bag out and re-use it

Bat ticks are among the common soft ticks that people may encounter indoors. To survive, bat ticks leave the roosting place after bats leave the roost and crawl into a structure seeking blood meals from warm-blooded animals, including humans. Although these ticks cannot develop or complete their life cycle on people or pets, they may attempt to bite. This could be a health risk, as bat ticks are known to transmit disease-causing pathogens, such as a spotted fever group Rickettsia and a relapsing fever group Borrelia (Reeves et al. 2006). Interestingly, these ticks are resilient. They can survive in dry conditions and live for more than two years without feeding (Wegner 2008).

Two years!!!!!!!!!!

If only I could survive two years without feeding - that's a weight loss plan I could do with.

I imagine he just creepy crawlied his way in through a window. I found what has to be the largest bee on planet Earth in my bathroom yesterday. No idea how she got in. Could hear her buzzing from the floor below and over the sound of my TV

Two years!!!! Ok I'm feeling much less guilty now. Maybe I will just put the naice Lakeland bag into recycling and let them deal with it...

Flicketty-whippety 🤣

Gotta love the Catch Him Derry video 🤣💛

My cat keeps bringing bats in and of course I've been stroking them until they are able to fly off. (Probably just to get away from the crazy lady who keeps stroking them) Fml.

I have lymes disease and query fever. Both can be carried by ticks.

I was hurt bc i wasn't diagnosed in time.

Ticks have ruined my life. I would kill without compunction.

Flush him down the toilet.

@SammySamSam09

Bats are the loveliest, but they can carry rabies, so please wear sturdy gloves when you're stroking them!

I’m still 😂 at “catch him Derry”, and the best bit “you’re tiring him out. He’s like McGregor he’s got no legs” 😂😂

I recall once on my way back to work from lunch, I noticed a stranded bird flapping and flopping in the gutter. It was a martin or similar species, had landed and been unable to get airborne again. I rang my office and asked the colleague who answered if he was OK handling birds. He said he was, so I summoned him down to help.

When he picked that bird up, my worst fears were realised and I knew why my own gut won't let me handle birds - three or four massive tick-like insects ran out of its feathers and onto my colleague's hands. If it had been me I would have screamed and accidentally launched that poor bird into the stratosphere.

Gawd, I loathe ticky insects. Yuck.