Tick prevention

[ruffdog]

Nationally, it is supposedly a heavy year for ticks so far;

Plenty of ticks here and we do "tick checks" every time we come in with the dog. Fortunately, the ticks have been the easy to see bigger ones.

 

[ponytug]

Plenty of ticks here and we do "tick checks" every time we come in with the dog. Fortunately, the ticks have been the easy to see bigger ones.

Yes, I agree, the big ones are easy. The ones I worry about are the poppyseed sized nymphs that are so hard to see on most skin types.

All the best, Peter

 

[Duds13]

I've heard a lint roller will get them off you assuming you get to them before they imbed themselves

 

[thclimer]

In 1991 I moved to Florida, moved back in 2007. With the exception of those 15.5 years I've lived on the same hill in NEPA since I was 3 or 4. I spent all my time in the woods and fields when I was a kid and can't recall ever seeing a tick, or knowing what a tick was. Now they are the source of all kinds of badness for humans, dogs, etc. What happened during that span of time that caused this? I have my own ideas but I'd like to hear other's opinions.

All the other things that have been mentioned have contributed to the rise of the tick population as well as we continually put out wildfires. Routine wildfires reduce the fuel load in the forest so you don't have the "Big One" that burns the crowns of the trees thus killing them. Routine wildfires burn the leaf litter and grasses that ticks live in. A small/quick fire will not typically kill all the trees like the ragging fires we have today.

 

[Torvy]

We just sent one off to be analyzed. Lone star tick. Supposed to be the primary carrier of that meat allergy.

Fortunately, it was crawling and hadn't bit me.

Dogs get an annual shot now. The stuff kills the ticks if they attach.

I have 48 Oz of the Sawyer permetherin. The bottle says every 42 days you should retreat (or 7 washings).

Wife and I have clothing we typically wear out in the brush, so a couple of pairs of pants and overalls.

You can treat socks, too. Bottle says not use on underwear. I'll heed that advice.

 

[ruffdog]

I trap mice year round....less mice = less ticks.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Am I the only one that keeps feeling something crawling on me when reading this thread?????

 

[John_Mc]

Am I the only one that keeps feeling something crawling on me when reading this thread?????

I refer to that as the "tick heebie jeebies"

 

[CH4Ohio]

I refer to that as the "tick heebie jeebies"

Yeah!! I've had 'em the last couple days. No kidding!

 

[Bocephous]

I lost a dog to Lyme disease. We caught and cured it, but not until after permanent liver damage had already been done. She lived just fine a few more years, but the resulting liver damage eventually did her in at age 16.

16 years may sound good, but her twin sister / litter-mate lived to 20 years 3 months, until we had to have her put down due to cancer.

That sucks. My wife is a vet tech and knows all about tick transmitted diseases.
Funny thing is I believe that ticks are infected from the mice that is their usual first blood meal. Fewer predators and an uptick in predator hunting may be a cause for the Lyme explosion as well.

 

[jaxs]

I'm surprised chiggers hasn't been mentioned. Would any of you like me to FEDX some your way? A thimble full would be enough to infest 10 acres.. Tiny bug that's invisible with less than 20/20 in good light. Raises a whelp that itches like crazy for up to 10 days after little devil gets his fill and drops off. Not unusual to discover dozens of welts a few hours after brushing by a tall plant or walking 50 feet through infested grass. "Grass" often includes well groomed lawns. Season in Texas runs from April to November. Fortunately permethrin and deet works to repel them but woe to the unsuspecting without some type protection.

 

[WinterDeere]

I'm surprised chiggers hasn't been mentioned.

Mostly a southern problem, as I understand it. But you've got a bunch of posters from PA, NY, VT, and CT on this thread!

I remember hearing of chiggers from a friend as a kid, he was from Georgia, but I've never actually seen one.

 

[John_Mc]

I've read a couple of studies that show that infestations of the highly invasive Japanese Barberry generally correlate to significantly higher tick populations. As it turns out, the plant makes excellent mouse habitat: it forms a fairly dense thicket, and mouse predators are deterred by the thorns. Since mice play a major role in the life cycle of the ticks which carry Lyme disease (as well as Anaplasmosis and other diseases), it becomes a tick haven. The dense foliage also makes for good tick habitat, since it tends to help create a more moist micro-climate (ticks do not do well in very dry places: they get dessicated easily.)

 

[CH4Ohio]

Plenty of chiggers in KY! Very common if you wore shorts and rolled around in the grass. We'd put clear nail polish and similar stuff on the bites to "smother" them, but we actually never saw a chigger either. Kinda like the Florida "no-seeums".

 

[m7040]

Use Tick mitt to clean them off

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://tickmitt.com/%3Fsrsltid%3DAfmBOorJ_1e152DXATnnrn5GyMZHSPKNs1NDgMOe2tzWvNMNfrBcIpxj&ved=2ahUKEwiruOub6KWUAxWohIkEHWw0ERQQFnoECBcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw00IN15QOIeGZiVJ9I_YgqA

 

[jaxs]

That sucks. My wife is a vet tech and knows all about tick transmitted diseases.
Funny thing is I believe that ticks are infected from the mice that is their usual first blood meal. Fewer predators and an uptick in predator hunting may be a cause for the Lyme explosion as well.

Don't overlook what many say "The only good snake is a dead snake". Barn cats are also good rodent control but prey on birds as well.

 

[ponytug]

Mostly a southern problem, as I understand it. But you've got a bunch of posters from PA, NY, VT, and CT on this thread!

I remember hearing of chiggers from a friend as a kid, he was from Georgia, but I've never actually seen one.

Sorry, they are present in all 50 states, with a global distribution. I will say that not everybody reacts, but if you do, boy do you know.

All the best,

Peter

 

[WinterDeere]

Sorry, they are present in all 50 states, with a global distribution. I will say that not everybody reacts, but if you do, boy do you know.
View attachment 5711405

All the best,

Peter

Sorry? Looks like your map says "Low" for all of the states I mentioned.

They may be "present", in theory, but not prevalent enough that I've come across them in the northeast. Never have any of my locally-raised friends complained about them, either.

 

[garry1p]

I think the PC term for chiggers is chigros.

 

[1Mech]

I have often wondered how difficult it must be for those with darker skin tone to find ticks on themselves. They stand out pretty well on light colored skin, but it would seem they would blend in pretty well with dark skin.