Ticks

[w00dsmoke]

My dog thinks he's landed in doggy heaven recently as he has been walked off his feet recently! What I have noticed in the last week is the huge numbers of ticks that he has been picking up, particulary around forestry and higher rough grazing. I picked on off him this morning about the size of a glass marble as it was so swollen with blood. He uses tablets that kill fleas and ticks after they bite, so this one was dead. I've just never noticed so many so early on. I think it's been the recent warm weather that has brought them out in their droves.

 

[Gailainne]

I came back from the weekend at Comriecroft with one embedded in my left shin got it all out but its left a big bloody hole, literally, bugger was only about 2mm around. April does seem awfully early for them.

Stephen

 

[Toddy]

Timely reminder about the tick removers being put into daypacks and first aid kits.

Have you seen the price of these things ? and they're only wee bits of plastic

There has to be a cheaper supplier/ maker. They ought to be standard kit like a pair of tweezers in the FAK for anyone out and about among them.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[stooboy]

http://www.tickalert.org/index.html

i got one last year,

was surprised stephen got one at comrie, gave myself a full tick shake down, but was tick free, I think some might have droped off after John banadged me up so tight the blood stopped running they must have thought i was dead and left.

Stoo.

 

[Barn Owl]

Must be the mild winter,they say they were bad last year but I didn't find it so.
In fact not one was found on the dogs.

 

[andybysea]

It is almost tick season, i read they were most active early and late summer,although as has been mentioned with the constant mild weather these days they are probably more active year round, i hate the damn things, i wish the was a agent orange for ticks!

 

[Barn Owl]

I've got a remover that's got a pocket clip.
You push down the top (like a pen) and it opens like tweezers,then catch the tick and twist.

Bit better than the green 2 piece generally on sale.

Useless comment really as I can't remember the name or where I got it.Sorry.

 

[the big guy]

l got a dose of lymes disease ( borrelia burgdorferi) 2 years ago from a deer tick.the doctors say look for a rash in the tick bite area,but a better diagnosis is if you get any sort of flu like symptoms with aching joints after being in the woods tell the doctor what you think.The medication for lymes disease(tick bites) is pretty heavy used for treating malaria & syphilus.My wife is a bio medical sientist who does the test & new what to look for.Its on the increase so just keep your eyes open.

 

[Gailainne]

I've got a remover that's got a pocket clip.
You push down the top (like a pen) and it opens like tweezers,then catch the tick and twist.

Bit better than the green 2 piece generally on sale.

Useless comment really as I can't remember the name or where I got it.Sorry.

I tried one of them on a tick I picked up in Sweden, sorry but their rubbish, the best ones are the green plastic hook type in 2 sizes, they work, but so does a pair of tweezers, or a decent pair of finger nails

Stephen

 

[Chinkapin]

The Ozarks are full of ticks. I've dealt with them most of my life, and here is a couple of recommendations that work. First and foremost, get some permathrin (sometimes sold under the name permanone)

This is used to treat your clothing, NOT YOU. Spray it lightly on your trousers, boots, and socks. Let it dry completely before putting on clothes. It will hold up to several washings. This stuff is fantastic as a preventative.

Any tick that crawls across a garment treated with this will die eventually.

Secondly, one of the best things you can do is put your pants legs into the tops of your boots. then duct tape (gaffer tape) where pants join boots. Apparently this is a route that many will enter through.

When you are out of the woods, or back in camp, wipe yourself down with a washcloth that has some household ammonia poured onto it. (I know, I know, it says on the bottle to avoid skin contact, etc etc. but I and many people I know have done this all of our lives and NO ONE has ever had any problem whatsoever. The Ammonia apparently drives off any ticks or chiggers (If you do not have chiggers, give thanks tonight that you do not - - they are hell on earth if you get a bunch of them.) Look yourself over real well when wiping down, and try to spot any that might be attached but not itching yet. There favorite places are the places that are tight, e.g. waistbands, tops of socks, etc.

If all of this fails, and it occasionally will, hold a burning match near the tick. Hold it close enough to your skin that you can feel about the same heat as the tick. It is easy to get it too close to the tick and kill him. If you keep the proper distance, he will get uncomfortably hot and back out.

The main problem removing a tick is that you DON'T want to tug too hard and pull his head off. If you do, It will remain in you -- you can't get it out, and it will be viewed by your body, for what it is, an invading foreign organism, and it will react with the resultant itching. It also may get infected.

I used to go into the woods in the summer and get loaded with ticks. By following these procedures, I may get one or at the most two. I get them off quickly and rarely have any problem.

Good luck fighting the little B@$#@#*s

 

[czbohunk]

Has anyone tried vasiline on a tick I hear that works the tick just falls off and chiggers if you do get them take a bath with about an 1/8 cup of bleach in your bath water nothing else and pour it all over your body then rinse with water I know that works I had to do it a couple of times.I grew up in Kansas and now living in the heart of the Ozarks.

 

[silvergirl]

Has anyone tried vasiline on a tick I hear that works the tick just falls off and chiggers if you do get them take a bath with about an 1/8 cup of bleach in your bath water nothing else and pour it all over your body then rinse with water I know that works I had to do it a couple of times.I grew up in Kansas and now living in the heart of the Ozarks.

Yikes. NO. Don't do that.

Please don't do anything that will cause the tick to regurgitate, bring up its stomach contents, inside you. That is a sure way of increasing the likelyhood of Lymes disease.

I'm not even convinced about the match thing (I've burnt a couple off this way)

Pulling them out with tick hooks or tweezers is the best way to go. Even better check regularly and keeps your trousers tucked into socks in long grass.

I'm always amazed when people on here say they have never had a tick. One trip my partner ended up with 49 micro ticks just on one leg, I've heard a strip of sellotape can be useful for the really small ones.

 

[gregorach]

If all of this fails, and it occasionally will, hold a burning match near the tick. Hold it close enough to your skin that you can feel about the same heat as the tick. It is easy to get it too close to the tick and kill him. If you keep the proper distance, he will get uncomfortably hot and back out.

Very much not recommended. Ticks don't have jaws, and they can't let go - the only way they can disengage from your skin is by injecting a digestive enzyme which dissolves the surrounding tissue, and this is the primary cause of tick-borne infections. Anything which encourages the tick to release itself, whether vaseline, heat, or any other trick, increases the risk of infection. Physical removal is the way to go.

Even if you do make a mess of it and end up leaving the tick's head in your skin, it can usually be dug out fairly easily with a sterile needle. Not fun, but better than Lyme disease.

 

[Karl5]

I decided to get inoculated, and had my first (out of 3) shots yesterday.
Today I feel fairly cr...y with flue-like symptoms.
But still, I live in an area where there is a high risk the tick carries something, and I cought 7 of the blighters last year (or should that be, they caught me), so I'm going safe before sorry.

 

[East Coaster]

Yikes. NO. Don't do that.

Please don't do anything that will cause the tick to regurgitate, bring up its stomach contents, inside you. That is a sure way of increasing the likelyhood of Lymes disease.

I'm not even convinced about the match thing (I've burnt a couple off this way)

Pulling them out with tick hooks or tweezers is the best way to go. Even better check regularly and keeps your trousers tucked into socks in long grass.

I'm always amazed when people on here say they have never had a tick. One trip my partner ended up with 49 micro ticks just on one leg, I've heard a strip of sellotape can be useful for the really small ones.

I wonder if ticks are like midges in that some people suffer more than others.
Like most folk on here I've spent a lot of time outdoors and mostly just in shorts during summer. I have never once had a tick on me.

I used to have to pull them from my dog until the vet recommended Frontline. He never gets them at all now and our new dog who we've had for over a year has never had one yet either. It's a bit expensive, but worth it.
Pity there wasn't a human equivalent

 

[w00dsmoke]

Our dog uses Capstar and program plus as recomended by our vet and he stated that any tick that bites the dog will die.It certainly doesn't act as a preventative that's for sure!

 

[Arth]

I use fronline on the dog, but it doesn't stop ticks like it says on the box.

Is there a tablet you could recommend for killing fleas and ticks?

 

[w00dsmoke]

Capstar and Program Plus is what my vet advises that we use on our dog. It works a treat. Both are in tablet form. One type is if your dog has fleas and it kills the blighters aswell as making their offspring infertile when they hatch from the egg thereby halting the lifecycle.

the other tablet is a preventative tablet for certain intestinal parasits aswell as fleas and ticks. If anything bites, it's killed. The ticks I find on our dog are usually half full or full up and usually dead. It's only the onmes that are starting to feed that I find alive.

 

[silvergirl]

I've just been for a walk through the woods up the hill.

I was thinking about this thread as I went. When I got back to the track after an hour of bashing through the undergrowth I had dozens of the little s on my trousers. I managed to flick them all of easily (and no I didn't tuck my trouser into my socks).

But yes I think some people are more prone to picking them up than others.
I am plauged by midgies in the summer (and mosquitoes) but I hardly ever have any tick actualy attaching (well perhaps upto a dozen a year). Whereas Paul seems to pick several up everytime he walks through heather (most in one day was about 67 I think).


The most important thing is to check as soon as possible and make sure you get them all out within 24hrs before they have a chance to fully feed.

 

[Nagual]

I've been thinking about ticks recently, and how to avoid them. A friend recently has suggested that dried and crushed marigold heads tried in little bundles and attached to your gators etc can ward them off, however I've yet to try that.

I've only ever had on tick, on my tummy after a nights camping. Other times I've wandered over heather heathland, moors etc, where I'm sure there should be copious amounts but not got one ( so far, touch wood ) During those excursions I was wearing shorts, well loose trousers rolled up, and wonder if the fact you have bare legs means any that do hold on get brushed off just as quick before the 'dig in' for a meal? I mean in animals they are deep in fur or hair and most of the time when we go out we all wear clothing that covers the areas they attach ? So maybe wander about with bare legs isn't a bad idea, as long as you check once you stop or go to a place with low level vegetation ? I really don't know, just thinking out loud here.