Beware Tick Time

[xcopperstax]

The past week or so has been pretty uneventful but I tried. Listen to my story it could save your life. Perhaps this is too dramatic but it was a surprise to me:

Hopefully we all know by now that it's tick season. The woods spot I always go to is home to deer so I would assume there are deer ticks there. I've probably been there 40 times since August and have not ever found even 1 tick. I stepped into the woods and had not even brushed a plant and there was a tick on my hand. A deer tick! It must have parachuted out of a tree or something. I got the little bugger off me. I kept a pretty good eye on my clothes and through out the hunt I found 6 ticks on me. I always tuck my pants into my socks and try to always tuck in my shirt. I found plenty of targets but nothing worth mentioning... I pretty much find an ox shoe every time I go here so I think I found one of them. My philosophy is that as long as there are targets there could be something there. After a fruitless couple hrs I went home. My wife is pretty scared that I will get lyme disease or bring a tick into the house. We have a strict protocol: take off all clothes, put them in a garbage bag, look at naked body, take shower. I stuck by it and over the next day or two my skin was crawling itchy... I truly think it was triggered by my mind after having the ticks on me. Well two days later my wife was cleaning the tub and found a dead deer tick in there. It had certainly hitchhiked on me. I was shocked that I had missed it. My rationale is that it couldn't have bitten me or lodged in me and probably got washed off by the water before it had a chance to bite. That was a close call!

Next hunt was with the silver bandit. He had a new spot to try. It was an old farm field turned woodland that had been clear cut for development. Much of the site was crisscrossed with 2 foot deep 3 foot wide tire tracks and tree stumps. Not ideal conditions but we tried anyway. He found a shoe buckle frame from the 1700's and a shield nickel. I was optimistic but it was really a hard spot to swing. In my couple years of detecting probably the hardest spot I've ever tried to detect. After awhile we gave up and parted ways. I went on to "chase silver" where I find a spot with some wheats and imagine that there must be silver there for me to find. Ended up finding 5 Wheaties and no silver. Kind of abysmal. It's discouraging but I know there are some good hunts around the bend.

Time to buy some permetherin spray.

 

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[bowwinkles]

Tick, tick, tick, tick- the clock is ticking and the warnings are still coming PAY ATTENTION

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Pulled two off me on Sunday!

 

[Wild Colonial Boy]

thanks for reminder
At beginning of season I soak a pair of jeans and long sleeve top with spray and put them on and off each time I go into woods and before getting back into truck, i have a hat soaked also, it has worked so far, but who knows you cant be too careful as its a nasty disease and dangerous

 

[Kray Gelder]

No more forest cruising for me, until a couple of frosts end of year. Too many ticks and parasitic creatures for me to take the risk. Once the warm weather arrives, I stick to mowed or plowed areas, or the beach. Luck to all.

 

[b3y0nd3r]

Remember to throw you clothes in the dryer first with high heat(an hour). This will dry out ticks and kill eggs.

 

[port ewen ace]

Deep Woods OFF & tea tree oil are very effective.

not just deer ticks are the culprits. a large black legged tick nailed me with anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis and Lyme with one dinner visit. took 2 days to go from feelin' BLAH!!! to full convulsions & fever of 102.7 and a ride in da AMBALANTZ (sic).

tea tree on boots, use to MD to "mine sweep" the brush and avoid walking under branches---

BUILD THE WALL...... of OFF!! to thwart the unwanted invaders from using you as an EBT account----

as Greg Gutfeld says--- "animals are great"----- except for ticks

 

[BLK HOLE]

I REALLY REALLY HATE TICKS!!!

 

[Steve in PA]

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

The ticks are so bad around Pittsburgh that kids are getting them playing soccer and almost everyone I know with a dog in our neighborhood has had their dog checked for Lyme and found positive. It is a massive problem that won’t go away until the deer are properly culled.

 

[Johncoho]

Yes be very careful with the ticks. I found one on my side last summer after a hunt. It was three or four days until I found it. Had the wife pull it off with tweezers, but she squeezed it before pulling it out. I developed the bulls eye rash, high fever, chills, similar to the flu but I knew what it was. My Dr put me on heavy duty antibiotics for 3 months and then my cardiologist said I needed to be on them for 6 months total. Not a fun 6 months, but cured the Lyme. I try to check myself every time I get back now from a hunt, but can still be a little paranoid. Be careful out there. Just a side note, the deer are not the problem. That is just the normal host for the deer ticks and when there are no deer the next warm body will do. AKA you or me! And another note, they are not just in the woods. I picked up mine from a neighbors lawn, in the town I live in. He had high grass and that's where I was detecting. Also don't depend on blood work to test positive right away. It can take 2 to 6 weeks for a blood test to show positive. If you have the symptoms, insist on starting the treatment as soon as possible with your doctor.

 

[Popschevy]

I used Sevin Insect Killer around the yard last year and it significantly cut down the amount of ticks we pulled off us. Living in Connecticut is brutal with ticks and with the mild winter we had I am expecting a S*ton of ticks this season.

 

[moosescout]

I use permethrin. I get it from Amazon. It’s not a repellant it actually kills the tick. U put it on everything including hat, shoes and so on. I even put it on my md. You can wash your clothes 4-6 times before re-treating. It’s better than lymes disease. Btw there is currently no cure. The dr. Is only treating the symptoms and effects of the disease. It can flare up again sometimes years later. My wife has had it for several years. Permethrin may be harsh but a much better alternative. Also I still use OFF on any exposed skin.
Happy hunting everyone. Play it safe.

 

[desmobob]

I was in the woods this morning with my detector. While having lunch later at home, a tick crawled out of my shirt onto my hand.

That's a pretty solid reminder for me to break out the Permethrin from winter storage.

Good hunting,
Bob

 

[Trezurehunter]

I use a mixture of 3 parts water, and 1 part Tea Tree Oil, and put it into a spray bottle. I spray myself (especially at the ankle cuffs, and wrist and neck areas) before I go into the woods. I take ticks very seriously, since Lyme Disease killed my wife's best friend 10 years ago. Besides that, they are just a disgusting insect !

 

[xcopperstax]

My skin is crawling just reading these responses. Thanks everyone for reading!

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Yup...definitely tick time. Heidi got me up to let her out at 1:00AM, so I went to pee myself. On the way, I felt an itch, and discovered a tick attached on my lower abdomen. Had to go find the tweezers to get it off. Treated with antibiotic. Seems fine this morning, though sorta red.
Jim

 

[tumbleweed35]

Ticks are a way of life here, the dogs all get the tick pill from the vet and that works real well, I'm thinking of telling the vet I have a 180 lb dog at home and need a pill for him. Seriously though I've had/have lyme, it is no fun and residual effects are pretty annoying. Most of the time I can catch them walking across my body before they attach themselves, and then toss them into my tick jar(a jelly jar half filled with alcohol) and watch to see how long they can swim. By the end of the season there is usually a couple hundred ticks preserved in the jar. I think the best defense against ticks and the diseases they carry is be vigilent and catch them before they connect and start sucking your blood.

 

[EasternShoreMetal]

They're Heeeerrrre! Got one in R.I.

 

[rhedden]

Last April, I went out detecting in eastern NY and did the usual protocol of quarantining all clothing and taking a shower immediately thereafter. No ticks. The next day while sitting at my desk in work, I found a large tick crawling up my leg. It was in my car and got back onto me when I drove to work. This was not the first time one stayed in the car (or a jacket/backpack) overnight and got onto me the next day when I wasn't expecting it.