Ok quick tick lesson for those of you who were not bought up on a farm and have not had the constant company of the things!
Ticks startoff as small and white sort of the same shape as a piece of sweetcorn. They wait in long grass untill a suitable meal provider walks by. They then attach them selves to their host by burying their heads under the skin.
They then start to drink and appear to change colour to red. This is because they are transparent and you can see the blood they have drunk through their skin!
When they have gorged them selves they simply drop off and the cycle starts again!
A farmers way to get them off is to burn their head with a hot (not lit) match. Another way is to coat their head with vaceline so they suffocate and full off. What ever you do make sure that the head does come out (it is a black dot with horns) otherwise this can get infected.
Itching yet???