Ticks sheesh. I used to get the heebie jeebies from a tick. would be squirmy for days after. When I went on that 6 mo. trip into the jungles between Quintana Roo and Honduras we entered with Levis, but no repellent, no room in our packs.
The first night, as I sat around the campfire, I noticed that the legs of my Levi's appeared to be a bit black and moving somehow. Stirring up the fire showed the legs to be literally swarming with small black ticks. Since I hate ticks with a purple passion I almost ended up screaming. Some hot coals soon reduced the population to a negligible amount. I then peeled off the jeans and finished the job inside. These ticks tend to gather behind your knees , groin, and under your armpits.
After a quick conference, we decided that perhaps the locals weren't crazy after all , and so cut off the legs to just below the knees.
From then on, as we cut trail or walked in the clear areas, we would simply wipe our bare legs down with grass periodically or when you felt them crawling near to your knee and almost eliminated the tic etc., problem.
Down there they have three sized ticks, itty bitty ones, medium sized ones similar to the states, and huge ones. They also have a tremendous assortment of various other creepie crawlies , an Entomologists paradise. sheesh.
When you are cutting trail in the humid tropics with your machete you are literally bathed in sweat, no repellent will last or work.
As Tex said, around the houses the chickens helped cull them, as well as scorpions.
SOO, the moral of this story is to use shorts snicker
Don Jose de La Mancha (el tick hater)
