Ticks - advice please

[Brian.T]

Ive seen vague mention of tics on the site. My only experience of them is when I found one on my dog and had to deal with it.

Feels like I am asking a dumb question, but when, or in what situations could these be a problem? If you were 'bitten' by a tic, what method should be used to get rid of them. Twist and pull? (as with a dog?) Anything else that would be helpful to know regarding tics?

Edit: Opps spelled it wrong in the title.

 

[Jodie]

Hi Brian

There have been several threads on this topic and I searched for removing ticks
and found this: http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/search.php?searchid=14254&DoReWrite4
Tick removal also brings up an overlapping but slightly different set of threads.

Hopefully that link should give you a list of posts where ticks are mentioned, but if not,
in the line where it says "User CP" on the left and "Log Out" on the right, the second
one in (from the right) is the Search which allows you to open up the Advanced search
option (I only re-discovered this yesterday!!) and type in words of your choosing.

Apparently there are more ticks about at the moment so I might start reading up on
this before I head off to Cumbria! Just in case

Jo

 

[gregorach]

Yeah, plenty of stuff on the removal dilemma - we can never seem to agree on the best method, and I'm not opening that can o'worms again...

As for where you're likely to encounter them, they always seem to be particularly prevalent in / on bracken and long grass where there's animals around, particularly sheep and deer. While there is no guaranteed fool-proof defense, long trousers, stout boots and gaiters do seem to help to discourage the little blighters.

Wandering through a deep patch of bracken, wearing shorts, in sheep country, is about the worst.

If you think you're in tick country, it's well worth getting into the habit of checking yourself over every night before going to bed. They are pretty good at attaching themselves unnoticed - although once you've had a few bites you seem to become much better at detecting them. These days, I usually feel them before they even bite.

I know lots of people are worried about Lyme disease. While it is a pretty nasty bug, and it is becoming more prevalent, don't panic. Tick bites are a more-or-less inevitable consquence of playing outdoors, and your chances of contracting Lyme are fairly small. I've had loads of tick bites, and I seem to be OK so far... The important thing is to remove any ticks you do get as quickly and cleanly as possible.

Now here's a tick question that I don't think we've covered before: what do you do when the inevitable eventually happens, and you stuff up a tick removal, leaving the head and mouthparts of the vile parasite embedded in your flesh? My usual approach is to dig out the offending matter with a sterilised scalpel or needle, then liberally apply antiseptic to the area, along with a dressing if I feel it's needed. I suspect this sort of thing is frowned upon in medical circles, but I can't think of a better option (assuming you're not within easy reach of your GP). Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Oakleaf]

At cottage up in Moray, local village population of about 250 has 4 ongoing Lyme disease cases and 3 recovered.

Very mild winter and relatively dry up here - with consequent prediction of a bumper tick year.

Ticks are out there, but we cant simply stay indoors - all the camp fires will wreck your carpets....

Main reason Lyme was such a problem is that the underlaying organism was very hard to pick up in tests. With the relative rarity of the disease, GPs etc just didnt identify the disease promptly and the longer it is left before treatment, the harder it is to eradicate. That has changed hugely. Still a serious illness, but with prompt treatment it is not something to get blown out of proportion.

After years of using flea spray, vicks, end of a cigarette etc, I now better understand the how and why of ticks and why the twist and pull approach is the one to take. I use the O'tom tick removal tools and have sets dotted about the car, house, pockets etc. They work very well - even on ticks so small they're hard to see in the first place.

Key is to minimise/ avoid the tick passing body fluid back into you during extraction. Proper twist type tools are best way to do that. I

No expert, but suspect that if you at the stage with some head or mouth parts remaining embedded, any likely fluid transfer has already happened. Unless I hear better/ otherwise, I would slap plenty of antiseptic on and remove the embedded parts with a sterile tool - needle etc.

 

[Brian.T]

Thanks for the replies - and the links.

Im going to invest in some good hiking boots and combat trousers for my weekends/weeks/overnights away. Is this good enough to keep the buggers away?

Excuse my ignorance, but just what is lyme disease and how serious is it? How would you know if you are affected?

Also, the few times I have seen tics mentioned were in threads related to water carrying/containers. Is there a connection? Are they found near water?

 

[bent-stick]

As I understand it part of the tick's lifecycle is sitting on a blade of grass waitning for something warmblooded to happen past.

Lyme disease can be nasty stuff if not caught early. Starts like a dose of flu but there are reports of cardiac and neurological symptoms, fatigue that can become chronic even after the spirochete has been whacked with antibiotics.

I've managed to knock of the a abdomen and leave the head behind before. A drop of olive oil (I was in the sierra nevada in Spain so there was no shortage of olive oil) softened the flesh and head in a couple of hours and then the head lifted out with th tip of a kinfe. Then I treated it like a potentially infected minor injury and whacked some alcohol hand wash on if.. It stings but it kills the bugs...

 

[leon-1]

Also, the few times I have seen tics mentioned were in threads related to water carrying/containers. Is there a connection? Are they found near water?

Ticks tend to be found along animal paths where they lurk on foliage waiting to catch a lift with an unsuspecting host. There are lots of paths where animals make their ways down to the waters edge, either to ford or to drink, possibly even both. Well any path will do and we are like any other animal, we will take the path of least resistance which basically means that near crossing and drinking points ticks are more likely to have either been waiting for a lift as the number of animals that have passed through or they may of fallen off on this trail as it has the volume of people traveling through.

 

[Jodie]

I've just been reading a rather surreal story on "Patient UK" (normally a fairly sedate
website) written from the perspective of a tick. The relevant bits I picked up were that
the tick should be removed within 24 hours so a daily check seems sensible.
http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/27001246

The site suggests that insect repellent and long clothing might discourage them and
that tweezers seem to be OK for removal but I might look into this O'tom thingy.

Lyme disease comes from ticks that are infected with something nasty called Borellia
burgdorferi and as bent-stick said it can cause all sorts of problems. According to that
site a spreading rash that looks like a bulls-eye is indicative of infection and requires
antibiotics.

The Trip Database for evidence-based medicine has an analysis of different ways of
removing ticks: http://www.bestbets.org/cgi-bin/bets.pl?record=00375 That article was
from 2002 so I might re-run the search and see if there's anything new in the last five
years

The rash can be reddish and circular with a pale bit in the middle, called erythema
migrans - and it can also occur at other areas of the body where the tick did not bite.

A blood test for antibodies can be predictive of infection but apparently is not very
reliable. http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/lymedisease.htm

BBC Health:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions/lymedisease1.shtml

BITE PREVENTION advice from BBC News
Wear trousers tucked into socks
Use insect repellent
Check yourself thoroughly
Check warm folds of the skin
Carefully remove with tweezers
Never burn off
Do not try to drown in Vaseline
Be aware of favoured habitats
- the above comes from "Warning as tick diseases on rise" from 10 May 2007
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6641115.stm

 

[Brian.T]

Blimey Jodie youre good at finding stuff out. Thanks again guys and Jodie

For such a small insect its quite a troublemaker then.

If you pool all the info from everyones posts this is quite an informative (and interesting!) thread.

The Tick Alert website (silly name) says this:

Victims do not feel the bite because the tick also injects a toxin that anaesthetises the bite area.

http://www.masta-travel-health.com/tickalert/

Sneaky buggers. Knock you out then drink your blood

 

[leon-1]

The site suggests that insect repellent and long clothing might discourage them and
that tweezers seem to be OK for removal but I might look into this O'tom thingy.

Jodie, the O'tom tools are pretty good and will remove most ticks (I carry a couple on me when I go out), but a small set of tweezers is the only way of removing the really small ticks.

Checking for ticks should be done as soon as is convenient and at least once in a 24 hour period, the chances of contracting Lymes from an infected tick grow vastly being virtually no chance if caught within 24 hrs to almost certain if not caught with 96 hrs so daily checks are a good idea.

A friend of mine got diagnosed with Lymes this year, there was only one occasion where he had to remove a tick last year and he thought that it may have been on him for 5 days. It was three months before the cumulative symptoms were diagnosed and believe me he would advise anyone that checking daily is a very good option.

The bull's eye rash isn't always a bull's eye somtimes it can come out as a band of discolouration an inch wide and a number of inches long with the varying shades around it.

As the bit you have there says, DO NOT

Try to burn a tick off.
Try to soak in Vaseline or other petroleum jelly.
Try to soak them in any form of alcohol (IPA).

The main reason for this is it will probably induce the tick to vomit which in turn will increase the risk of transmission of any disease that the tick may be carrying.

Insect repellants, don't mess about, as long as you are not allergic to it, on clothing, gaiters and even the tops of your footwear use DEET. There are concentrations out there that are around 35% which should do the job.

 

[Brian.T]

Hi Leon

Would I be able to get the high concentration DEET and the Otom tools from most camping outlets?

 

[leon-1]

Hi Leon

Would I be able to get the high concentration DEET and the O'tom tools from most camping outlets?

Most camping shops including Millets will sell insect repellants with a high concentration of DEET, Lifesystems come to mind as one of the better ones and they have a number of different versions all of which have a higher concentration than 35% IIRC.

O'Tom tick removal tools are normally available at you local vets, IIRC they cost about £3. They may have started selling them in camping shops, but to be honest I do not know.

I know a certain amount about them as I did regimental health and hygiene as one of the courses when I was in the forces. Entomology and the diseases that some beasties carry was quite a relevant part of the course.

The American forces did some of the better work to do with ticks and their removal and it is available somewhere online, but if you search Army Medical Corps and Ticks on google you should find a copy of it.

 

[Jodie]

I'm technically a librarian so have special magical skills for finding stuff

The Tick Alert website is v. good and I see I shall have to be tick-aware in the Lake
District at the end of next month.

That Otom tick-twister is also available from the http://www.bds.org.uk/product57.html (£4.50), also 'vet clinics and pet shops' along with shops listed at the UK section of
otom.com http://www.otom.com/points_of_sale.htm#royaume uni

There's also a video (need RealOne Player) showing the tick remover in use for
a variety of animals! http://www.otom.com/images/retraits tique.rm

 

[kb31]

to jodie
if your going to woodsmoke the tick talk is one of the first things they do
they've got tickhooks and know /show you how to use them
if you find one on you just tell them they will sort it out
try not to worry too much about it
i was there in oct last year i used deet on my feet/legs
and inside of my waist band i didit seem to get any or if i did i did'it feel it
but some folk did find them
am going on a axe workshop in 2 weeks
so it can't be that bad if am going back
hope this helps

 

[Jodie]

Thanks kb

 

[lupus]

all this talk ot ticks reminded me of one i had on the end of a very personal place,i was supprised that it got all that way and through lots of clothes.i'm getting quite good at getting them out now normaly get 10 or more a year(that i fined).

 

[Lush]

Ticks can be very small when they first clamp on to you. It depends on their stage (they are going through 3 sometimes 6 stages in their lifetime. For each stage they can jump another host.)

Ticks in their first stage can be almost too small to see. Especially when they haven't sucked a lot of blood yet. A good thing to know is that you can however ALWAY'S feel a tick; no matter how small they are. So check yourself by feeling with your fingers. Go through your hair, ect.

Most ppl. know their places of preference. Some of them are: behind the ears, between your hair, in the crouch, arm pits, between the bottom cheeks..

Like mentioned before; it is a good idea to use DEET on your ankles/lower legs.

Lush

 

[michiel]

Like mentioned before; it is a good idea to use DEET on your ankles/lower legs.

Lush

Just watch out with any synthetic clothing. DEET can melt some syntethic clothing. Kydex sheaths will suffer from DEET and will deform and become sticky.

Michiel

 

[RobertRogers]

Ticks are one reason I know that global warming is a fact.

Growing up here, I never saw a tick in my life. There were ticks about 50-miles south of these mountains though.

Now, ticks are everywhere in these mountains - they have expanded their range northward with the warmer weather. And they are very much pests, often local moose are found with literally thousands of ticks on them!

There are at least a dozen species of wildlife that I know of that have moved north to my area since the mid 1980's.

 

[Mikey P]

Thanks for the replies - and the links.

Im going to invest in some good hiking boots and combat trousers for my weekends/weeks/overnights away. Is this good enough to keep the buggers away?

Excuse my ignorance, but just what is lyme disease and how serious is it? How would you know if you are affected?

Also, the few times I have seen tics mentioned were in threads related to water carrying/containers. Is there a connection? Are they found near water?

I live in big-style tick country (Central Southern Germany) and I've found the best way to stop them attaching in the first place is to use deet on your legs if in shorts, or treat your trousers with permethrin (sp?) - the stuff they treat mosquito nets with.

Frankly, I was worried about them when I first got here (my wife is terrified) but I really can't be bothered with panicking all the time so I just don't really think about it.