Can You Spot All Five Ticks in this Photo?

Pros at giving us a double shot of grossness and fear, the Centers for Disease Control is at again, giving us the stuff of daymares and nightmares. Thanks to one of their latest “fun” messages, you’ll never look at one of your favorite carb treats the same.

Earlier this month, the CDC posted a pic to their Twitter account of an innocent but scrumptious-looking poppy seed muffin. But the scrumptious part was deceiving because they wanted to know if us regular folk could spot the ticks on the muffin.

Huh? What kind of tea party is this?!

Philly’s Fox29 newscasters challenged themselves and viewers to find the icky little creatures in the photo and count them up like a bounty of shiny baguette diamonds. Zooming in on the picture, they are having a hard time distinguishing which spots are edible and which are not (or at least should not be).

As tasty as they are, poppy seeds already get a bad rap for their effect on routine drug tests. Now, they must contend with being compared to disease-carrying pests, causing some of you to double check your breakfast foods until the thought of this picture wears off. You too can join in on this game of spotting the ticks!

Put the video on freeze and see if you can find them. Here’s a hint: they’re the dots with the legs. If you want to spare yourself the shock, wait until the video is further along to see where they are located.

What the CDC wanted to do was promote summer safety through tick awareness. A link in the tweet reveals some handy reminders on how to handle the outdoors during tick season. Preventative measures include steering clear of long grass and brush, and walking in the middle of trails.

Of course, the agency also advises to treat clothing with a repellent that contains DEET or permethrin, including hats, socks, and boots. If going camping, you should also treat your tents.

Much like what’s happening in this photo, you should also check yourself for ticks when coming in from the outdoors. From head to toe, bathe, grab a mirror, and inspect your body for the small insects. Don’t forget to look in the scalp, armpits, belly buttons, behind the ears, and in between the fingers.

And please, make sure you give your pets the once-over too. On their website, the CDC also states that you can run your clothing in the dryer on high heat to kill ticks. Do so for 10 minutes, and then examine your clothes for stragglers.

Should you find any, use fine tweezers to remove them. Use an upward pulling motion and then clean the site with rubbing alcohol. Dispose of them by flushing down the toilet or rolling them up in sticky tape, but whatever you do, don’t pop them like bubbles!

Click on the video to see the lovely, tick-infested muffin and try to find the buggers. If you still have trouble seeing them, they’re clustered together hatching a plan.

Did you find all five ticks? How big was the largest or smallest tick you’ve seen by comparison? Are you put off by poppy seeds now?