CouesWhitetail

Wow, that was fast!! Guess I should have charged more!! LOL! emailing me is always better than PMs....my email is at the bottom of every post I make, so you can use that. Coues79 gets the SPOT connect, pending funds Joeeden can have the SPOT2, pending funds If Coues79 and Joe can email me, that would be great and we can arrange payment. If those fall through I will let you all know and we can work our way down the backup list.

here are photos of the units I am selling

I'd suggest at least two weeks and a month is better. But that depends on how secure you think your camera is and how much effort it takes to go check them. The longer the better in terms of more pics on the camera.

Great event and great group! Thanks to Woody and Bill and everyone else from YOU for putting on this event!!

We shall see how it turns out.....maybe I am completely wrong with all my suspicions of what this is. Maybe we will find out it was just some spider or something that bit him. I will keep you all posted. Regardless of what this turns out to be, it is wise to pay attention to tick bites in Arizona!! They can cause serious disease with fatal or long-term health consequences! Ctafoya, we don't know how long the ticks were on him. Based on where we hiked, I suspect he picked them up in a brushy area we had to bust through to get around a really deep pool of water. That would mean the ticks were on him for about an hour to an hour an a half before we saw them. The one he pulled off him, seemed to be attached but not engorged. We suspect there was another tick that fed on him and fell off before we noticed.

This does seem to be a great year for grapes! Many years are a complete bust. My husband makes wine, but not from wild grapes. We do enjoy eating them when we get the chance though.

yes, here is a pic of the wound on his arm. It started out as just a raised red bump, much like a large pimple, but after a week or so it became this weird ulcerated wound that formed an unusual scab. If you google "R. parkeri eschar lesion" you will see lots of pics of people with a similar wound from being infected by this bacteria. The Gila Co health lady said the CDC told her only a tick can make this wound, but if I remember right it looks alot like the wound a friend of mine got after getting bit by a black widow spider. Anyway, it was unusual enough for Paul to mention it to his doctor. Unfortunately the doctor wasn't familiar with the type of wound and just gave him some ointment for it. It wasn't until later that I saw the online pics that I realized it was strikingly similar to the eschar lesion. Paul assumed it was a wound he got after getting a thorn or something stuck in him, so early on, we didn't associate this wound with his illness. Not until I figured out the tick species did we realize it was likely the site of the tick bite. I also included a pic of the rash that formed on his side and belly. As of today, the spots seem to be gone. This rash does not itch, it just is there. With RMSF the rash normally starts on hands and feet and moves to abdomen. So I was checking his hands and feet a lot. But we first saw the rash on his side and then we saw it on his legs and back, but nowhere near as obvious as the one on his abdomen. This wound in the picture has healed quite a bit. It was larger and more obvious several days before this pic was taken. You can google that type of wound and see more pics. The CDC requested a biopsy of the lesion so they could see if the bacteria were still present. This wound formed a few inches from where Paul thinks he pulled the tick off his arm. So we are not sure if he is remembering wrong about the location or if there was a third tick that bit him and we never saw it before it dropped off.

LOL!! Sorry, I thought it was Kathi.....fyi, You don't have to measure the hairs to differentiate a dog tick from a Amblyomma tick. That's just for the difference between the two Amblyomma species (maculatum and triste) as they look identical to each other. If you go back and look at the picture of the dog tick and compare it to the one on paul you will likely see the dramatic difference in pattern on the back and size of mouthparts. The pattern on the back of the Amblyomma ticks is much more striking and defined than the dog tick.

Kathi you asked about bug sprays that would help with avoiding bites like this.....several websites recommend treating your clothes with Permethrin. It kills insects that get on your clothes. I remember looking into this when I was planning our trip to belize to help avoid malaria. I never used it, but I know you can buy it and treat your clothes with it and it lasts a long time. But it's not a chemical to mess with if you don't have to. http://www.rei.com/product/768970/sawyer-permethrin-pump-spray-24-oz

1st pic is the one that was on Paul 2nd pic is a definite Amblyomma triste tick photo from a tick ID website. The Amblyomma species ticks have much longer mouthparts than the dog tick or wood ticks that are found in AZ. And the pattern on the back is much more striking.

The tick is not a dog tick, it's one of two Amblyomma species of ticks (you have to have a specimen in hand to measure some hairs on back leg to tell the difference). We believe it's Amblyomma triste and it carries Rickettsia parkeri bacteria which causes a different type of spotted fever from regular Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever. The tick has only been documented a few times in Cochise and Santa Cruz counties. I don't think anyone has ever documented it infecting anyone in Arizona, which is why they are so interested in this case. But just so you know, the brown dog tick is the tick that carries Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever and is the one responsible for infecting lots of people in Arizona. The incidence of RMSF in AZ has increased a lot in the last few years. This tick and RMSF are most often found where there are lots of stray dogs with ticks. The indian reservations in Arizona are suffering a lot from this disease. The Gila Co health department told me the San Carlos reservation has had a lot of cases of RMSF.

I now call my husband Patient Zero.....since he is the epicenter of the disease! LOL!

In the Atascosa mountains down south by the border.

Just an update for everyone.... My husband is recovering great! He feels good again and has actually been able to go back to work the last couple days. Thanks be to God! This case has turned into something very interesting. I spent a bunch of time this past week researching ticks in AZ and what diseases they can carry. I sent the pic of the tick to some local specialists for identification and they misidentified it. Since I didn't agree with their ID, I researched and found the leading expert on the type of tick that I thought it was and emailed him the photo. He immediately agreed with me and said that even though that tick is exceedingly rare, there had been a handful of records of it in a couple counties down south in AZ. After I got the tick ID'd I found out what kind of disease it can cause and it turns out that it causes a different type of spotted fever from the regular Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever that we all assumed it was at first. Once I found out the type of bacteria, then I searched the internet for symptoms and how to treat it. Turns out there is a specific lesion cause by a bite and infection from this tick and we suddenly realized that the weird wound Paul had on his arm was the classic lesion. The other symptoms are almost identical to RMSF and the treatment is identical for this other type of spotted fever, so from a health standpoint for him, it's a moot point. But I thought it was important for the health departments to know about this rare tick and rare disease, so I contacted lots of people and asked how we could get Paul tested for this particular bacteria. Apparently the regular RMSF test wouldn't differentiate between the two types of bacteria and so special samples (blood and tissue) had to be taken and sent to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). So that has been done and now we are waiting for the results of the test. All the health professionals and tick researchers are fascinated with this case and it will likely become a published case. Being a scientist, I have found this whole week pretty fascinating as I unraveled the mystery. I have been working with the tick researchers so they can go find more of these ticks and test them for infection. I suspect the ticks where we found them have a high rate of infection since Paul got infected by just one bite. Over time we will find out if my suspicions are correct. Should be interesting!

Cola blanca is very nice as well!

These binos have been sold. Thank you Hunt7122....it was very nice meeting you and your wife! Sorry we had to cut the visit short due to the storm! We are lucky we survived that nearby lightning blast while we were glassing! Yikes that was close!

Hello All, I am selling my trusty Swarovski 15x56 binos since I upgraded to the new model. These binoculars have glassed up several bucks over 110 and some over 120 inches....so I know they work!! Although my pair of swaros do have some wear and tear, the blemishes are only cosmetic and cause no problems glassing. Many years ago I tipped over my tripod while getting up and got a scratch near but not on the front lens (see arrow in pics). There also are some kind of marks on one of the front lenses but they are not really scratches (more like a blemish in the coating) and you can not see those marks at all while glassing. The view is crystal clear and crisp. I love these binos and it pains me to sell them, but I really have no reason to keep two pairs of these. I am selling them with the original black case, a Jim White bino adapter so you can use them on a tripod, the original box they came in and the included paperwork in the box. I also changed the strap to one that I had on a pair of Zeiss that I liked better than the strap that came with these. If you want the strap, they can go with the binoculars. If not, then I will keep the strap. Because of the blemishes on the binos I am lowering the price below what most people sell them for. And again, these marks on the binos do not affect performance...they are crystal clear and bright. Whoever buys them can register the warranty under their name. I double-checked with Swarovski about this. I prefer not to ship just to reduce any potential damage to them. We can likely work out a place to meet. But I can also ship if need be. $1275 arrow points to scratch that is near but NOT on lens arrow points to blemish in coating, but this is NOT visible while glassing and does not affect the clarity.

I decided to go with the new 15x56 HDs. They are amazing. But it was a hard choice between those and the 12s. I am not sure those who are saying they choose the 12s over the 15s are talking about the new 15s with HD glass or if they are talking the older model. For sure go with the new 12s versus the older 15s, but the choice btwn the 12ELs and the 15 HDs is a much harder choice. I suggest you got to Outdoorsmans and test them side by side and see what you like best. The difference between the old 15s and the new ones is pretty dramatic. I had them side by side this evening and it was very obvious how much brigther the new 15 HDs are. I haven't had the 12s and 15s side by side yet though. I will this fall when I go hunting with Scott since he has the 12s.

Congratulations! Nice post!

Thanks for sharing your story and for telling people to seek medical care early. We have a somewhat similar story recently from when my husband got bit by a tick. he got very sick, but we did not wait and got him treatment right away for spotted fever. If we had not read about that disease before hand we might have done the usual....just tough it out and see if he gets better. I am glad we didn't because it can be fatal if you delay treatment by just a couple days. I am so glad you got treated and are doing better!

Thanks! She was very beautiful! I posted her memorial video for you. Unfortunately she didn't have any puppies. She was a stray from San Carlos. Looked so very pitiful and mangey when we first saw her. Who knew she would turn out so beautiful. I miss her.

15s

Cool.....I will call you tomorrow.

I actually wondered the same thing after I looked at the thread....not sure how it could be...but it looked different to me too after I posted it...maybe I borrowed a pair and tested.them out before buying. I don't remember. Anyway...the first four pics are definitely the pair I am selling. I took those pics today. The pic with my dog molly is very old photo. She has been dead for several years now. She lived to be 15 and was a stray found on the San Carlos during a Javelina hunt. Some to you might remember the memorial video I made for her.

here is a pic of my binos working hard....