Mystery office insect bite--any ideas?

Posted by Erik on June 18, 2009 at 08:02:45:

I keep getting bitten on the shins and lower calves at work, apparently by some sort of bugs living in the carpet. (I found a dead mouse under the desk when I first moved in, 6 months back--maybe something that had been living on the mouse?) The bites are often in long straight or curved rows, 3-6" long, and look almost like a cat scratch (not the 1" close-spaced rows I hear bedbugs create). They don't create any bumps or raised skin, don't hurt or itch much, but bleed a lot when I first get bitten. Yesterday it looked like the critter had chewed an oval divot about 3 millimeters long out of my shin--it bled through my sock for 10 minutes.

All the bites are on my shins and lower calves. The only time I ever caught one of the critters, I squashed it (to my regret) before identifying it--it was black, fairly flat, and squashed easily (unlike, say, a flea).

So there it is--more than anyone wanted to know about my problem. Does anyone have a theory/diagnosis as to what the heck is doing this? Thanks very much! -Erik

Follow Ups:

• Re: Mystery office insect bite--any ideas? freeman 13:53:37 7/04/2009 (1)
  • Re: Mystery office insect bite--any ideas? Jennifer Ortiz 11:41:15 7/10/2009 (0)
• Re: Mystery office insect bite--any ideas? freeman 13:51:41 7/04/2009 (2)

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