This morning I put on my gardening pants, had a cup of coffee, then used the bathroom before I went outside. On the outside of my thigh there was what looked like a recent boo boo, maybe an eighth of an inch in diameter. It was still bloody looking so I went to remove the scab and clean it. Well the bloody part came off easily but there was a part that was hooked in. I have roses, berries, and a couple other thorny things and attacked the tethered piece with thumb and first finger nail and pulled, it was a tiny black tick. I broke it in half with my nails and then cleaned the bite site with alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, then triple antibiotic ointment. Over the past 7 hours it has gotten more and more painful. I am an older VT Grandma and between my 4 kids and 7 grandkids I have seen dozens of ticks and tended to the bite sites. Never before have I been in pain like this and no one else has ever reported anything like this. Is this a new species? Some variation we haven't been told about? I will read every reply and maybe get some advise on what this is.