@#$%^&* Deer Ticks

Bladewolf

Bladewolf

Joined
Jun 16, 2005
Messages
586
Pulled my first Deer Tick off the little lady last night. We've lived in this house, which is lakeside and on a heavily wooded lot, for 5 years, and this is the first one inside. She's mighty unhappy too, as her son had a very serious case of Lyme Disease years ago. Ironically, she thinks he brought it in with him this time, as we've been indoors, and he was up for a few days visiting, and out fooling around on our property. When I was a kid, Ticks, Leaches, Mosquitoes, Etc... were an annoyance at most. We didn't worry about Lymes, or West Nile type stuff, like you have to today.

Wad'da yal think? Is it just that medical science has gotten better at identifying these diseases, or is mother nature making a more concerted effort at cutting down our overpopulation? :(
 
A few years ago I set up in an old wood pile to Turkey hunt.

Pulled over 20 ticks off me that day.

Luckily they were not deer ticks but the bigger bastards!!
 
Bladewolf said:
Wad'da yal think? Is it just that medical science has gotten better at identifying these diseases, or is mother nature making a more concerted effort at cutting down our overpopulation?
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It's both, with a lot of overlap.

Well, let me rephrase.

We are smarter today than we've ever been at identifying risks. Part of the perceived worsening, if I may, is the media. Lyme disease and West Nile has always been around...but now the mass media knows about it, and reports every contagion and death like it's spreading like the plague. It's not especially spreading. In fact, I'd wager the actual numbers are down as people are taking better precautions.* Remember: add up the number of Americans who die of West Nile (70) and Lyme Disease (20) in a year... and compare that to the number of Americans who die of influenza a day (98). It's the media!

On the other hand, there is little doubt that bugs are getting better adapted to resisting antibiotics, and overall even the common cold is getting tougher to beat. This can be watched in a petri dish, and the small print on antibiotic soaps and hand washes now put limits on their own effectiveness (Kills up to 99.7% of all germs...), et cetera.

But there's a little overlap there, too--the media (bless their teeny little minds) has been reporting about SUPERviruses, on the horizon, which will repel any form of medication, including a shovel... so both.

* Numbers appear to be up over ten years, but it's being better diagnosed and reported. This is why its effect has surged in the US, but has remained almost nil around the rest of the world in tick-infested areas. It isn't that ticks like Americans more...just that our doctors can spot the disease very quickly. Mind you, the US DoH disagrees with me and says it's increasing, but that's because I'm wrong. Or, the effects of Lime disease are increasingly exaggerated for profit. :eek:
 
Bladewolf said:
Pulled my first Deer Tick off the little lady last night. We've lived in this house, which is lakeside and on a heavily wooded lot, for 5 years, and this is the first one inside. She's mighty unhappy too, as her son had a very serious case of Lyme Disease years ago. Ironically, she thinks he brought it in with him this time, as we've been indoors, and he was up for a few days visiting, and out fooling around on our property. When I was a kid, Ticks, Leaches, Mosquitoes, Etc... were an annoyance at most. We didn't worry about Lymes, or West Nile type stuff, like you have to today.

Wad'da yal think? Is it just that medical science has gotten better at identifying these diseases, or is mother nature making a more concerted effort at cutting down our overpopulation? :(
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Watch the bite. If a ring rash occurs (red ring around the bite) take her to the doctor.
 
Yeah, thanks guys. Her son had such a perfect ring rash, that they photographed it for a medical journal. Not my idea of what I want my claim to fame to be :rolleyes: They said he could become symptomatic again, for the rest of his life. I pulled hers the way I was taught, by the head, without crushing it, and it didn't appear to have been on her long, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.
 
BLADEWOLF - "Yeah, thanks guys. Her son had such a perfect ring rash, that they photographed it for a medical journal."
_________________________________________________________________

I certainly hope her son is getting royalties from the book/magazine sales!!!!

No matter what the doctors come up with... Nature Always Bats Last.

L.W.
 
I was always careful and checked myself after each outing. Well the sneeky bastid slipped into my belly button and now I have lymes. The Dr. said I may have had it for two months before I went to see him....I hate Dr. It's been four weeks on these horse pills and I still feel like S...!! Good luck to you.
 
elvenbladesmith07 said:
i thought you were supposed to use a match or a cigarette to get the ticks off?
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Unfortunately , now they say that might raise your risk of contagion. I know, sometimes it's hard to keep track of which way the medical media wind is blowing :rolleyes:
 
elvenbladesmith07 said:
i thought you were supposed to use a match or a cigarette to get the ticks off?
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As far as I know, that's still the best policy. And I'm usually careful to keep an eye on changes in accepted practice (e.g., sucking out snake poison = bad idea).
 
The best thing to do is go right to the doctor and get started on antibiotics. Take the tick and have it tested for the disease. Peace of mind goes a long way. Hope your lady will be ok.
Scott
 
Since it sounds like you spotted the tick and removed it fairly quickly, I'd say there is a very minimal chance of contracting any of the bacteria that cause Lyme Disease. Removal within 24 hours after attachment greatly reduces the chance of getting the disease. Even so, continue to keep an eye on the site for a few more days to make sure that rash that someone else already mentioned does not develop. The disease is very treatable with antibiotics if medical treatment is sought when early symptoms of the disease manifest. I realize this is all information that you probably know already knowing someone who actually had Lyme Disease, but maybe it can be of some help/comfort to others who are worried about contracting the disease.

I agree that the media really overhypes these types of diseases-Yellowfever, Lyme Disease, Plague, etc. The Bubonic Plague, of course, was responsible for millions of deaths in the past, but it is not very common anymore, and it is now treatable. The media seems to take particular joy in creating panic over diseases transmitted via intermediary insect hosts. In other parts of the world, the threats are very serious. In the US, however, I believe we have many other threats that require more attention.
 
AA89GTA said:
I agree that the media really overhypes these types of diseases-... Plague, etc. The Bubonic Plague, of course, was responsible for millions of deaths in the past, but it is not very common anymore, and it is now treatable.
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Just over this past weekend, the media was starting to flare up over some prairie dog corpses that appear to have plague. Not much happened in response.

I recalled how in the early 1980s, the media went a little overboard with the non-surprising news that Texas armadillos carry leprosy! Since not many people tend to wipe live armadillos on open sores, we didn't get the rash of lepers storming zombie-like through Dallas shopping malls that the media was hoping for.
 
Watchful said:
As far as I know, that's still the best policy. And I'm usually careful to keep an eye on changes in accepted practice (e.g., sucking out snake poison = bad idea).
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http://www.lyme.org/ticks/removal.html There are several other official sources that support this. It is now thought that burning causes the tick to potentialy inject a greater amount of diseased fluid as it's internal pressure increases, while at the same time, the tempature isn't initially high enough to kill the bacteria. Or so they say :rolleyes:

Scott, thanks for the thought, I tried, she's stubborn and doesn't want to go to the Doc unless she's symptomatic. She's a self described Italian Bi'atch, and told me that if I hadn't taken it out, the tick would have fallen off dead anyway :rolleyes:
 
When I worked as a forester in the 90s, I would pull several ticks off of me everyday for weeks at a time when doing inventory or stand mapping. Personally, I think your immune system has a lot to do with it, and not that you build an immunity, but that you are not run down to get anything.

While I believe there is media hype which give attention to these types of things, I also think that tick populations maybe be growing as deer populations increase and prescribed and natural fire is suppressed, mostly due to increased land fragmentation. So it maybe a combination of both as to why we are hearing so much these days. Regardless, I don't do anything different when I head to the woods.
 
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