One-shot weirdness, or massive trouble ahead???
June 23, 2010 5:08 PM Subscribe
ACK!!!! Lice? Birdlice? Random weirdness?? Have I got something????
Today I came home to baby birds in my boiler room (thank you landlord who doesn't care about the roof). After a short chase across the shag carpet I was able to nudge them with a whisk broom into a large box, took them outside (their mother has already found them). Then I went back inside, where I reached up and pulled off my hairband and found --AAAGGGGH!-- little tiny black dots zooming around on my white hairband!
I threw the hairband in a nearby glass of water, shucked off my clothes, ran to the kitchen, & grabbed a bottle of corn oil, with which I shampooed my hair. Spent the next fifteen minutes trying to get it out with regular shampoo while it dripped in my eyes...
Was this a helpful thing to have done, or just illogical?
Just how much trouble am I in?
The one thing I can say for sure about what I saw is that the specks were something along the lines of poppy-seed size (maybe smaller? it's been a while since I've addressed a poppyseed), and that they moved reall, *really*, fast (no jumping, though). Oh, and my head doesn't itch, and I haven't seen anymore bugs, but I gather that can come a lot later.
Hivemind, what do you think? Is it lice, birdlice, or something else, and if it was birdlice, does that spread to people? If it does spread to people, is my oiling up liable to have any impact on the outcome?
Today I came home to baby birds in my boiler room (thank you landlord who doesn't care about the roof). After a short chase across the shag carpet I was able to nudge them with a whisk broom into a large box, took them outside (their mother has already found them). Then I went back inside, where I reached up and pulled off my hairband and found --AAAGGGGH!-- little tiny black dots zooming around on my white hairband!
I threw the hairband in a nearby glass of water, shucked off my clothes, ran to the kitchen, & grabbed a bottle of corn oil, with which I shampooed my hair. Spent the next fifteen minutes trying to get it out with regular shampoo while it dripped in my eyes...
Was this a helpful thing to have done, or just illogical?
Just how much trouble am I in?
The one thing I can say for sure about what I saw is that the specks were something along the lines of poppy-seed size (maybe smaller? it's been a while since I've addressed a poppyseed), and that they moved reall, *really*, fast (no jumping, though). Oh, and my head doesn't itch, and I haven't seen anymore bugs, but I gather that can come a lot later.
Hivemind, what do you think? Is it lice, birdlice, or something else, and if it was birdlice, does that spread to people? If it does spread to people, is my oiling up liable to have any impact on the outcome?
Response by poster: Didn't see any flying from these things, just "zooming" across the hairband's surface on foot. For what it's worth, the birds entered through a hole in the ceiling, and Mama was up there somewhere fussing up a storm the whole time, so there's some possibility of these things having arrived by falling on me, rather than climbing, jumping, flying or hatching.
posted by Ys at 5:22 PM on June 23, 2010
posted by Ys at 5:22 PM on June 23, 2010
I don't think lice, generally, can set up housekeeping on species other than their preferred host. So, if they were lice, it's possible that they could bite you for a bit, but you're not looking at any kind of long-term relationship.
posted by pullayup at 5:25 PM on June 23, 2010
posted by pullayup at 5:25 PM on June 23, 2010
Still wouldn't worry. Bird lice aren't black, they aren't very fast, and are host specific. So, they could bite you, but would not live very long without an avian host.
Now, fleas...that's a different story...but I still wouldn't worry about it.
posted by bolognius maximus at 5:26 PM on June 23, 2010
Now, fleas...that's a different story...but I still wouldn't worry about it.
posted by bolognius maximus at 5:26 PM on June 23, 2010
Actually, birdlice can live on other species. I had to go through a week of delousing due to a birdlouse infestation. They had been happily living off a couple of pet rats. When the rats died my apartment got swamped with the damned things.
Were it me, I'd err on the side of caution.
posted by lekvar at 5:51 PM on June 23, 2010
Were it me, I'd err on the side of caution.
posted by lekvar at 5:51 PM on June 23, 2010
They can only live temporarily on other hosts. They cannot reproduce on a non-avian host. I am an entomologist. Lice are very species specific. The best link I could come up with is this. So while they might hang around a couple of days, they will die off. (but again, I doubt that what you are describing are lice. Bird lice are light colored, not black).
Mites are also species specific, but can cause problems.
posted by bolognius maximus at 7:00 PM on June 23, 2010
Mites are also species specific, but can cause problems.
posted by bolognius maximus at 7:00 PM on June 23, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks. This is all actually very reassuring. I assume by the lack of comment on the subject that what I described in no way suggests head lice.
posted by Ys at 7:06 PM on June 23, 2010
posted by Ys at 7:06 PM on June 23, 2010
Bah. Upon further recollection, it was bird mites, not lice, that got into the apartment. Little red fuckers.
posted by lekvar at 9:34 PM on June 23, 2010
posted by lekvar at 9:34 PM on June 23, 2010
You have bird mites. Take this very seriously. They ruined our life for about three months. Scrub your body in hot water, boil anything that you have come in contact with, and get a prescription for Ivermectin, and hope that you caught it early enough that it isn't going to make you have to throw away all of your stuff and/or live in itch hell for months. If you start seeing welts and lumps on your body, you are going to need to take drastic measures. Your landlord is a POS if he doesn't get those birds nests IMMEDIATELY professionally exterminated by people who can handle bird mites.
It was this time last year that this happened to us....
posted by curiositykilledthelemur at 9:49 PM on June 23, 2010
It was this time last year that this happened to us....
posted by curiositykilledthelemur at 9:49 PM on June 23, 2010
You will only see the black dots at the beginning- after that, they become much smaller and transparent as they choose you as host. Do not think that just because the black dots are gone that the problem is gone. I hate to be alarmist but I know what I'm talking about.
posted by curiositykilledthelemur at 9:51 PM on June 23, 2010
posted by curiositykilledthelemur at 9:51 PM on June 23, 2010
bolognius maximus is wrong.
posted by curiositykilledthelemur at 9:55 PM on June 23, 2010
posted by curiositykilledthelemur at 9:55 PM on June 23, 2010
and the oiling was a great thing to do in an attempt to smother the ones on your head. but unless the source (the boiler room) has been chemically cleaned out with RIDICULOUSLY harsh chemicals, you're going to have a bunch of mites who have lost their hosts (the birds) looking for another ASAP. i would really suggest getting your family to a hotel for a night or two to avoid infestation and to see if you're already infested without spreading to friends/other family.
posted by curiositykilledthelemur at 10:01 PM on June 23, 2010
posted by curiositykilledthelemur at 10:01 PM on June 23, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by bolognius maximus at 5:18 PM on June 23, 2010