thank you all for the help - it was not an insect bite, rather it is a severe swelling of fluid caused by corpral tunnel (sp) and over doing it in the field. Tonight the hand has swollen enough I can't see my knuckles any more, but the good part is that it has gone numb so it isn't hurting as bad as it did last night. Thanks all bob aka tex ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com