Mite It Be A Tick? No.

I took a picture of this red fellow the other day at Hitchcock Nature Center.  I thought it might be a tick but I'd never seen a red one before.  Turns out it is not a tick.  It is a mite.  Wouldn't it be nice if ticks were this easy to see?

Not a tick but a mite.

While I was investigating this guy, I learned what these were:

Possibly gall mites.

I think these are gall mites.  The things you learn while on the trail and flicking off ticks.

Now if I could just get rid of this paranoid feeling every time I feel an itch or a tickle.