Ticks are bad lately..Lets hear your ideas

[johnnyblaze]

Last year i got bit 1 time all year..This year i have already been bit about 10 times
3 times this weekend..
I use the deet good stuff and spray myself down..I think i get them all and i always find 1 on me when im sleeping
Its creepin me out

I love being in the woods so i need some fullproof ideas


Blaze

 

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[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

They really have been bad this year. I always seem to catch them when they are in their creepy-crawly stage before they get latched on. Only had one get his chompers in me in many years. Checking your entire body really well after a day in the woods is the only way I know to thwart them.

 

[LukeTHr]

napalm........ torch an area first and that should get rid of the ticks

 

[NOLA_Ken]

These are tips I learned from my grandfather.....wear a long sleeve shirt, without a collar, and tie a bandanna doused in bug repellant around your neck. Also wear a full brim hat, like an old army "booney" hat spray it down too, that way they can't get in your hair or down your shirt. Keeping your jeans tucked into lace up boots keeps em off your legs.

 

[johnnyblaze]

I love detecting these old colonial sites in the woods

There are no people around thats what i like the most

Im gonna have to take more precautions...
Even when i get home i take my clothes off and throw them in the washer.But one always seems to crawl on me in my sleep
I check my dog well to i think they might crawl off hime when we are sleeping
I have never seen them this bad

Blaze

 

[jeff of pa]

 

[Killer Angel]

Deet is ineffective against ticks. Mostly.

Permethrin is the only sure deterrent. Soak your clothes in it and let it dry. Wear light colored clothes, long sleeved shirt and long pants tucked into socks.

The Permetrin should keep most of them off you. It really does work. Butttt - When you get back to your car check yourself over or better yet have a partner check you over. Have a magnifying glass in the car and tweezers. Use a lint roller on your clothes to pick up any stray hitch hikers. At home give all your clothes a ride in the dryer, set at high, for 20 minutes. The ticks that aren't roasted will be too dizzy to want to eat. Lastly, check yourself over in front of a mirror if possible. Again, this is better done with a partner, not to mention, more fun!!!!!

The rules are that - 1. ticks are down low where most of their food source is, inches off the ground. So, generally speaking, they don't fall out of trees. That said, they are genetically programed to climb up and will do so until they can go no farther. So, higher up is possible for the wayward tick. Just not normal. Once at the end of a branch/twig/leaf they wait for a meal to come along. 2. They won't attach right away. Again, once they are on you they will always climb up. No fast food for these suckers. Like us they are discriminating eaters and won't eat just any old place. Ideally they want warm and moist. But will settle if they are hungry enough.

The only way to avoid ticks is to stay out of their habitat, low scrubs, brush and high grass. Beyond that it's Permethrin and vigilance. For me, I'm out of the woods until first frost.

Hope this helps.

 

[mfitzy111]

Permethrin might be a really good call.- I've read in another post that stuff kills em on contact. I use some gaiters over the boots/pant legs to keep them from crawling up- i've done the deet thing. before also, mixed results.

one thing I do is every time I come home- strip, check for them in the mirror (or get help from your significant other.) and shower. then check again, take your time checking. I changed my habits a few hunts ago, I got home and sat down to find one crawling up my leg - he learned to swim quick in the toilet before being flushed...so it's now a habit to hunt, strip, check, wash and check again.

I've had dogs in the past that would bring them in from a 5 min walk out side. if your sleeping in the bed with the dog your asking for them. 2 crawling up my legs in one day was enough to end my little friends (yorkies and a boston) from napping with me in the bed. best not to have them sleep with you from spring to fall. my long haired yorkies would carry in all kinds of crazy bugs, maybe you could walk the dog with you on a hunt then brush him/her before getting in the car as you leave or before you get in your house. it only takes 5-10 mins to brush em, and it could save you getting that creepy feeling of having bugs crawling on your skin...

lyme's no joke- you can get it and not ever get a bullseye bite mark, it starts out just like the flu. scary stuff... the worst part of it is the small ticks carry it- not the bigger dog ticks. these guys with the disease are the size of a pin head and really hard to spot.

itching just thinking about these bugs...man I hate them...

 

[menotomymaps]

I'm out in the woods all the time, not MDing but researching old places, and deet does seem to help, though I still get tick bites.

If you accidentally pull the body off and the head stays in your skin, I've found a clean Exacto Knife is a good tool for digging it out!

 

[smittyw]

Niece just confirmed with a case of Lymes. Apparently went undetected by doctors for 5 years. She doing treatment but it is gonna be with her from now on. Now having heart concerns possibly from the disease.

What does the military use, if anything, to protect the troops?

 

[OutBack Duo]

Having a partner check me and then taking a shower seems to catch the crawling ticks for me, unfortunately the shower does not work on the ones that have latched on already.

 

[relichunters]

Kill them all

 

[ivan salis]

long pants and long sleeve shirt -- kerosene soaked bandanda around neck and around both feet--- tuck pants legs into boots --have someone one do a though scalp check upon you after the hunt as well. ---if you love to hunt in tick infested areas --ask your doctor about the shot they have that can stop you from contracting "lyme disease"--- it could be good advise to get one. ---the area I live at has lots of "pulp wooder types" that MUST go into the tick infested woods to make a living * --many of them get the shot.

while the "ticks" are bad --its the "lyme disease" they carry that you really gotta worry about.

 

[savant365]

Mom always made us put lots of Mexsana powder on before we would go fishing, ticks would still get on you but they wouldn't bite.

 

[Produce Guy]

Crush up some B1 tablets in a bowel with a little bit of water and make a paste,and spread it around your ankles and anywhere else on your body.I've also have use a lint roller to get the small ones off and or a cottonball soaked in fingernail polish remover and put it right on them,they tend to release after a couple soakings.

 

[watercolor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGbeVX6mOc8

I thought he was going to mail it to someone. . .


To remove them, I put some dishwashing soap on a cotton ball and place it over the tick.
After about 30-seconds, they should release.

 

[johnnyblaze]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGbeVX6mOc8

I thought he was going to mail it to someone. . .


To remove them, I put some dishwashing soap on a cotton ball and place it over the tick.
After about 30-seconds, they should release.

No but thats a good idea


Blaze

 

[Frankn]

Here in NE Maryland the ticks arent bad. only seen two so far, but the fleas are murder. My last dog standing is on his second dose of flea med already. Frank

 

[Monty]

Look for a spray on repellant that has the highest percentage of deet. There are several on the market with varying degrees of deet content. Spray down good and really check your self good after an outing just to be safe. Wash your clothes and shower immediately on getting home to do away with any hitchhikers that may be hiding. If you find one attached to your skin, take a q-tip and wet it sparingly with some oil of wintergreen. You can get oil of wintergreen from most any drug counter and it is inexpensive. Just barely touch the tick with the moistened q-tip and he will let go almost immediately. That way you don't risk leaving the head attached to the bite point. Don't get it on your skin as it will burn! Monty

 

[steve from ohio]

Wearing long pants and such is no answer as the ticks will climb up the clothing and head for your hair and scalp.

Deet is really the only answer as it repels them pretty good. Wear light colored clothing as ticks seem to avoid lighter colors for some reason.

I hate those little bugs. [size=12pt]Ticks remind me of those other blood sucking insects.....politicians. [/size]