Never saw anything like that and glad that I haven't. I would feel so sorry for the bird. I do hope the tick falls off soon.

I have read about tick affecting birds, but never seen one. They latch on to any warm blooded animal. HATE,HATE ticks. Our state is the leader in Lyme dz from ticks. My husband has chronic Lymes dz and our son in law and nephew was in ICU from Lymes dz heart attacks. I make tick tubes and put them out in April and July and we also have our lawn sprayed for them.

Yeah, I'm sure it's a tick, especially after doing research, seen photos, and even a video of a vet removing two small ticks near a cardinal's ear (amazing that vet found them there!). I had no idea it happened this much either until I saw one of ours with one. I also read that some migrating birds, mostly ground feeders (which cardinals are primarily) carry the black-legged ticks to other parts of the country where they migrate. Those are the ticks that give people Lyme Disease. So, sadly.... this is more common than any of use thought, I guess. Birds also take refuge from predators low in shrubs, and they hunt on the ground for insects, so they're susceptible. I really hope he gets better.

As for his eye, I'm not sure of course, but that tick is very close to his eye. Maybe he scratched that area where the tick is and scratched his eye or eyelid. Just bums me out horribly seeing it on that beautiful boy.

We do have ticks here, and I live in a heavily wooded neighborhood on a private drive, and both front and back yards have tons of shrubs, trees, etc. When we garden we occasionally find a tick (my husband and dog so far the only ones), but those didn't have time to embed either, thank goodness.

About that Lyme test: Make sure you got a legitimate one, and those are the more complicated tests that have to be sent away to a specialty lab. The collection of blood, how it's sent, timing etc.... there are strict protocols for that too. One wrong step and you can get a false negative, or a false positive. Those tests are super tricky and expensive, and many insurances won't cover it for people unless they have the bullseye rash that shows up after an infected tick gets into the skin and passes the infection. I hear Lyme disease is very hard to diagnose.

Thanks for your input. I was tested at a very reputable place a number of years ago. (Somewhere on the east coast). I don't quite understand why the tests are so potentially unreliable. Unfortunately, Lyme disease is something that is easy to think you have, since it has a lot of similar symptoms with other "syndromes" and illnesses. I think I just have several conditions (Fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, hyper nervous system, etc.) that must feel just like Lyme does. I was on a Lyme forum a number of years back, and it does attract some folks with wild ideas, so I stopped going there. But it is a very unfortunate disease and pretty scary too. Thanks for your comments!

caterinet, I understand what you mean, and you're welcome. I've heard some pretty nutty stuff about Lyme's disease too. I do have a friend that tested positive when she lived in New York, and she said it was expensive to treat and horrible to go through. She did say it was like having debilitating flu.... for as long as you're untreated. Scary. I do hope you can get to the bottom of your issue and start healing and feeling well.

Half of people with Lyme test negative. The tests are unreliable. They test for your own antibody proteins and not anything having to do with the actual borrelia bacteria. It's a political mess, with government, doctors, and insurance companies not taking tick diseases seriously.

I have lyme. No rash, negative test. I've been sick for over a year. I found a lyme literate doctor. The real test for lyme is a ten page series of questions about how difficult your daily activities are and what your symptoms are. If you have symptoms, then you probably have Lyme. Get treated. Longterm antibiotics and a ton of immune supplements. It's a horrible disease, an epidemic around the world, misdiagnosed as a number of other illnesses based on symptoms. I could go on and on. I'm on my 3rd month of treatment and am starting to see a difference.

It's spread by mice, birds, squirrels, any mammal really. Spray your shoes and outerwear with permethrin, your skin with cedar oil spray.

There are many tick diseases, bacteria, parasites, etc. It's a horrible illness. The government just started a Lyme Conference of experts. Hopefully they make a difference because most doctors and insurance companies don't believe it exists and won't prescribe/pay for more than 30 days of treatment.

susanzone5 The sad part is there was a vaccine for lymes developed in 1998 and discontinued in 2002 for lack of demand. Well in 2002 not very many people even heard of lyme dz. Why the pharmaceutical companies don't bring it back out is beyond me. I'm sure it has to do with money. The insurance companies probably don't want to pay for it. But how much is the insurance company paying to treat lymes dz?

It has to do with the fact that the vaccine was only effective in a percentage of people and those who got the vaccine tested positive for Lyme forever (because the test is for our own antibodies which the vaccine caused the body to produce.) So it was withdrawn.

Pharmaceutical companies make more money treating symptoms than curing diseases. Period.

There was a DNR guy in a small town near here who was required to get the vaccine.........and it gave him horrible intractable arthritis. :(