Ticks

[GaryC]

Does anyone have any advice on tick eradication? I've been told to use sulphur powder applied to your clothing and Avon brand Skin So Soft Sunscreen applied to your skin to keep them off of your body. Does anyone know how to get them off of your property? We have 70 acres in east Texas, 50 in woods and 20 in pasture. This may be a losing battle, but I thought if there was a way, someone here would know the method. Thanks in advance.

 

[RichZ]

The best way I know of to keep ticks of your property is to keep Guinea Fowl. If you have enough for the size of your property, I've read that you can keep it practically tick free!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[dmccarty]

GaryC,

Search in the Rural forum on dmccarty, patrickg, and/or Permethrin. Hope I
spelled Permethrin right. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif We just had a conversation in the last
week or so about ticks and Permethrin. There is an older conversation from
about Feb-March of 2001 with more info.

Short answer is get Permethrin, I forgot the percentage, add it to water,
I use 2 ounces of Permethrin in 14 ounces of water, put the mixture in a
gallon or so size zip lock bag, and put your pants/shirt to be treated in
the bag. Let the solution soak the clothes and then air dry.

The stuff pretty much kills ticks and chiggers on contact. Last for a good
year even when the clothes are washed. US Military treats their fatigues
with this stuff. I have been doing this for a year and it keeps the ticks
and chiggers off of me for the most part. I still might get one climbing
on me if it can somehow avoid climbing my legs.

My new neighbor and I walked into the woods a few weeks back. I was
wearing my treated trousers while he was wearing shorts. We had to
stop four times to get the ticks off his legs. He had dozens and dozens.
I had maybe one or two trying to walk up my legs....

The stuff simply works.

Later...
Dan McCarty

 

[manganos]

Maybe you could get some chickens? My buff orpington roosters tear up some ticks and anything else that moves

 

[TresCrows]

My place is smaller than yours so it may not be practical for you but I put out Diazonon granules when I fertilize. I also ring the property with Diazonon. This seems to reduce the tick population. The idea is to erradicate them on your property with a dose in the Spring when you fertilize and then I ring the property as I said to create a barrior to keep them out, this barrier I renew periodically--after hard rains etc. Ticks are the worst and most aggresive this time of year it seems so kill them now and be tick free latter in the Summer. J

 

[Hans]

We have a friend with the same problem. His solution is to take his wife along whenever they visit their property. The ticks really seem to prefer her over him thus leaving him "tick free."

 

[Redman59]

Hans,
My wife was reading over my shoulder and she loved that idea, she said "maybe we should get some dogs."

 

[patrickg]

One really good way to get the ticks off your property would be to get as many people as possible to run around through the weeds "protected" by Skin so soft and or sulphur. They would leave with a lot of them attached to their bodies!

Seriously, we said it all TWICE before for people. Readers digest version: 1 oz of 13.3% and 15 oz water or 1.3 oz of 10% and 14.7 oz of water mixed well and added to one pair of rolled up jeans or two shirts or 2 pair of socks (coton is best cotton blend is ok) in a big (I use 1.5 and 2 gal) ZipLock bag. Don't drink it or put it on your skin. Let the clothes "wick" for a min of 2 hours, longer may be better. Remove using rubber gloves and AIR DRY (contains petroleum distillate and is not dryer safe). This lasts a year or 50 hot detergent washings.

Family has been tick free for two tick seasons so far. I have taken free range ticks and placed them on my clothes. they start out uphill at a good pace (normal behavior) then lose speed and sense of direction, wander erratically, and fall off. Just last Monday I was going through brush with a USDA guy in tow. I casually mentioned that I was glad to have my "tick clothes" on and he says, "Oh, look, you have two ticks on your leg!" Sure 'nuff they were wandering aimlessly and by the time I had described to the guy how to treat his clothes the ticks had fallen off. Needless to say, he was more than just a litle bit interested.

For ticks on our place. Permethrin spray does a good job but keep it away from ponds. Mow everything short, real short. Deport all the deer and white footed mice. The nymphs infest the mice and other small critters (people too if they get a chance). They hang out in ankle high grass and weeds. The adults are more commonly found at waist height. There are permethrim foggers to automatically treat your property. I would think guinneas to be much more ecologically sound and it is real tough to develop a resistance to being eaten.

Patrick

 

[Redman59]

Patrick,
Thanks for posting the recipe again. Couple of questions: Do you hunt? Do you wear treated clothes while hunting deer? Does the odor eventually go away?
Kind of curious,
Redman

 

[Briarwood]

Another way to treat your clothes with permethrin is to spray it on using a product like Repel Permanone. According to the can, applied this way, it will last a minimum of two weeks and will hold up under several machine washings. One six oz. can will treat two full outfits. I usually only spray my pants and have good results, but if I'm going to be in the woods much, I also spray my shirt. Don't spray with clothes on and let them dry for a couple of hours before you wear. First used this turkey hunting two years ago and was amazed at how well it works. For Redman: Yes there is an oder and it does stay with the fabric. My guess is that you are a bowhunter (deer) and you need to get real close so oder is a factor. This may not be the product for you. I'm a rifle and shotgun hunter. I don't go out of my way to be scent free but am cognizant of the direction of wind when I pick my stand. When the ticks are bad, I won't go hunting without an application of this stuff, deer or no deer.
FWIW
Briarwood