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wood ticks
- Thread starter meopilite
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Your question can have serious implications for you long term health. I suggest you spend some time educating yourself via the internet. Look for medical school sites and the Wikpedia has a good write up. Lymes disease isn't the only tick born problem you should be aware of.
R
R
I hate them too. And it's not just Lyme; there are several other serious diseases carried by ticks.
I pulled a large number of ticks off of me a few years back while bushwacking near the Ontario-Minnesota border. It's deer country. Since then, every spring I soak my tripping pants, socks, and shirt in Permethrin which I get from the States (it is not in general use here in Canada). Then I tuck my pant bottoms into my socks.
I carry a mirror, or compass with mirror when canoeing to check my back and nether regions from time to time, and carry some tick pulling tweezers, too. Getting the creeps just writing this.
http://www.tickencounter.org
good information about identification, potential problems, prevention, etc...
good information about identification, potential problems, prevention, etc...
G
Guest
Guest
This is one of the reasons I don't bring my dog on canoe trips. I use Frontline, which makes him toxic to mosquitoes, fleas and ticks, but they have to bite for the stuff to take effect. Ticks will sometimes drop off the host before biting, and they often choose the dog's bedding area to do that. The thought of ticks in the tent gives me the willies, so ... no dog.
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Hi Gavia, Have you checked out the spray "Permethrin"? Now, all these things that actually work also have aspects where a person needs to be careful how it's used, but for me, I find it simple to apply and workable.
In a very much non-scientific experiment, the window in my shop attracts all kinds of flying insects, they in turn bring on legions of spiders who prey on them. As I'm working along, minding my own business, I'll get tangled in some spider web or have some great whacking spider there where I was going to pick up a tool. Compared to the problems with the alligators this is small potatoes, but I still don't like it.
Every spring I spray my camping clothing and tent with the permethrin and at the same time I spray all four edges of the window frame and so far it's worked to kill off all the bugs. No webs, no husks of drained insects in the jars that hold small parts. And no scuttling black monsters!
There are several brand name sprays that use permethrin but I've found it very much cheaper to buy it by the gallon jug. I get mine from Gemplers. Seems to be the same stuff and it does work, contact is all that is required.
Anybody thinking about using anything like this ought to really read up on it and understand when and how to use the chemical in a responsible manner. There are some things to be alert to but I balance it against the various diseases from ticks and what not, and find it a reasonable trade off.
Best Wishes, Rob
In a very much non-scientific experiment, the window in my shop attracts all kinds of flying insects, they in turn bring on legions of spiders who prey on them. As I'm working along, minding my own business, I'll get tangled in some spider web or have some great whacking spider there where I was going to pick up a tool. Compared to the problems with the alligators this is small potatoes, but I still don't like it.
Every spring I spray my camping clothing and tent with the permethrin and at the same time I spray all four edges of the window frame and so far it's worked to kill off all the bugs. No webs, no husks of drained insects in the jars that hold small parts. And no scuttling black monsters!
There are several brand name sprays that use permethrin but I've found it very much cheaper to buy it by the gallon jug. I get mine from Gemplers. Seems to be the same stuff and it does work, contact is all that is required.
Anybody thinking about using anything like this ought to really read up on it and understand when and how to use the chemical in a responsible manner. There are some things to be alert to but I balance it against the various diseases from ticks and what not, and find it a reasonable trade off.
Best Wishes, Rob
"Deer Ticks" can give you Lyme disease, Wood ticks are primarily annoying. I usually get "ticked" once a year, last years was a Deer Tick and I did get the bulls-eye rash after it was removed, did 3 weeks on the antibiotics and all is fine now. We figured out where it got me and it had likely been attached 6 days based on the size (pinky fingernail size) when it was removed by a first-aider at work. It was in a place I couldn't reach, just under a shoulder blade on my back.
Educate yourself on the difference between them in colouration and such, and do a tick check regularly and remove them as soon as you find them.
Educate yourself on the difference between them in colouration and such, and do a tick check regularly and remove them as soon as you find them.
G
Guest
Guest
I am a firm believer in Permethrin. I spray the outsides of my clothes,hat,tent ect every spring. I believe it deters other insects as well. I get it from Tractor supply as it is spreyed on horses to deter bugs.
In looking at the information in this thread I can a crossed these links
http://www.tickinfo.com/permethrin.htm
http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/reregistration/REDs/factsheets/permethrin-facts-2009.pdf
http://www.tickinfo.com/permethrin.htm
http://www.epa.gov/oppsrrd1/reregistration/REDs/factsheets/permethrin-facts-2009.pdf
I've "bushwacked" and cut my way through portages in the BWCA in spring when the wood ticks were really bad and remained tick free. Most of my free time is spent in the woods here in Pennsylvania too. I despise those critters. For at least the last 6 years or more, I have used long sleeves and pants that are factory treated with Insect Shield. After all that time they are still effective. My hat is also treated with it. Zero ticks. My dog comes with me virtually every time and she does not get ticks even when she rolls around in leaf piles in the woods. I use K9 Advantix II on her. I've never found a tick on her while using it. I think both her treatment and my clothes contain some permethrin. Prior to that she would get some ticks when using other brands. We have deer and lone star ticks here a plenty...hate those buggers.
Barry
Barry
I use Permethrin on all my outdoor clothing and some gear. I treat my socks, pants, outer shirt, and hat about once every 6 weeks or so, like the normal spray directions indicate. I treat my hiking shoes (Merrill Moab Ventilators and Palladiums, both cloth uppers) and hammock (and sometimes my pack) once a year, usually just before a long trip in the summer.
The spray stuff is too expensive per use. Someone designed a kit for use by soldiers to treat a uniform, under field conditions (meaning, nothing fancy available to do it with) consisting of a concentrated solution (to be diluted with around 32oz of water), a pair of latex/plastic gloves, and a big plastic bag. I get the concentrate from Tractor Supply and dilute it myself (it comes with instructions for all sorts of uses, from dairies to cow/horse spray), put my stuff in a trash bag for a couple hours, and then hang it on the fence to dry. I figured out the dilution rate for 32 and 48 oz of water; one for just a set of clothes, the other for a larger load that includes gear.
The most useful piece to treat is the hat... ticks usually fall on me from above, crawl all the way across the full brim, and generally die before they get to my neckline and crawl in. that's the theory anyway.
The spray stuff is too expensive per use. Someone designed a kit for use by soldiers to treat a uniform, under field conditions (meaning, nothing fancy available to do it with) consisting of a concentrated solution (to be diluted with around 32oz of water), a pair of latex/plastic gloves, and a big plastic bag. I get the concentrate from Tractor Supply and dilute it myself (it comes with instructions for all sorts of uses, from dairies to cow/horse spray), put my stuff in a trash bag for a couple hours, and then hang it on the fence to dry. I figured out the dilution rate for 32 and 48 oz of water; one for just a set of clothes, the other for a larger load that includes gear.
The most useful piece to treat is the hat... ticks usually fall on me from above, crawl all the way across the full brim, and generally die before they get to my neckline and crawl in. that's the theory anyway.
Might be both. Where I live, it's chiggers in the grass, ticks in the trees. ymmv.
Recently returned from a week on the Buffalo River in Arkansas. Plenty of ticks all over: wood ticks, lone star ticks, deer ticks, etc. I picked up one tick bite from an unidentified tick, smaller than a wood tick but larger than a deer tick; maybe a lone star tick. After a few days the tick bite developed a red bumpy rash about the size of a dime. Fortunately it never developed the bullseye rash which often, but not always, appears in connection with Lyme disease. I visited my doctor who prescribed the anti-biotic Doxycycline, 100mg two times per day for five days. He said he had not seen a tick rash like that before, but prescribed the Doxycycline just in case: "better safe than sorry in messing with tick borne diseases." At least four of my Buffalo River compatriots that suffered tick bites are also on the same Doxycycline regimen. Best to not take chances, see your doctor ASAP if you develop a rash or swelling as a result of a tick bite.
Sheesh, I hope those buggers stay out of my neck of the woods!
Here we have wood ticks in woods. No one has a lawn or field. Its all woods.
For the first time ever I encountered ticks. Just back from 4 days in WCPP and last night picked 4 of them off me as they crawled around. No bites that I know of, I did a pretty thorough check afterwards too. Creeped me right out.
I don't see the point of poisoning myself with Permethrin to protect myself from another poison.
I wear long bug pants, long sleeve shirts, but the head and the hair is a problem. They help mostly for mosquitos and black flies but the ticks is a new one for me.
I don't see the point of poisoning myself with Permethrin to protect myself from another poison.
I wear long bug pants, long sleeve shirts, but the head and the hair is a problem. They help mostly for mosquitos and black flies but the ticks is a new one for me.
G
Guest
Guest
Red, you don't put permethrin on your body. It goes on your clothes, and when it dries it's safe. Just don't suck on your shirt sleeve.
You might think otherwise about poison vs poison when you've contracted Lyme disease.
In addition to the common-sensical use of repellents (including Picaridin instead of DEET), frequent tick checks should keep you tick-free.
You might think otherwise about poison vs poison when you've contracted Lyme disease.
In addition to the common-sensical use of repellents (including Picaridin instead of DEET), frequent tick checks should keep you tick-free.
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Hi Red, You might want to scroll back to #9 on this thread. Sweeper found two sites to explain how premethrin works. Without knowing what I'm talking about; I wonder if changes in the weather can be introducing bugs into areas where they were never seen before. Or at least with in living memory.
I've been thinking about that problem of how to deal with the blasted tick that anchors on in the area of your back where a solo person can't reach. I believe that the real problems start when the tick, in the process of sucking your blood, injects some of his bodily fluids into you and along with the fluids some disease. Obviously the longer he's there the greater the chance of some pathogen being injected.
I'm considering taking a small bottle of permethrin that I could put on a folded paper towel to kill him and then follow that application up with alcohol on that same pad to act to dry him and the immediate area of skin out. My thinking is that even though he's still attached, as a dried out husk there won't be any fluid to act as a medium to transport any disease he might have been carrying. Hmm.....wonder if the permethrin is even necessary; wouldn't the alcohol by itself kill him?
When you're talking about insects, you just never know. There's a horrible tale from the British Museum; a curator was cleaning a very old collection of beetles all anchored with pins to a felt board. The collection was made sometime in the 1870's, as he was wiping dust down with Q-tip and a slight amount of water one of the beetles feebly started trying to crawl off his pin. Disturbing thought.
I believe I'll use the permethrin too.
Best Wishes, Rob
I've been thinking about that problem of how to deal with the blasted tick that anchors on in the area of your back where a solo person can't reach. I believe that the real problems start when the tick, in the process of sucking your blood, injects some of his bodily fluids into you and along with the fluids some disease. Obviously the longer he's there the greater the chance of some pathogen being injected.
I'm considering taking a small bottle of permethrin that I could put on a folded paper towel to kill him and then follow that application up with alcohol on that same pad to act to dry him and the immediate area of skin out. My thinking is that even though he's still attached, as a dried out husk there won't be any fluid to act as a medium to transport any disease he might have been carrying. Hmm.....wonder if the permethrin is even necessary; wouldn't the alcohol by itself kill him?
When you're talking about insects, you just never know. There's a horrible tale from the British Museum; a curator was cleaning a very old collection of beetles all anchored with pins to a felt board. The collection was made sometime in the 1870's, as he was wiping dust down with Q-tip and a slight amount of water one of the beetles feebly started trying to crawl off his pin. Disturbing thought.
I believe I'll use the permethrin too.
Best Wishes, Rob
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