Edible Wild Onion Lesson

heefageLA

heefageLA

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Feb 2, 2015
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Just though id share this here. I went for a walk in the woods this weekend. It was nice walk, not too hot, had the dog with me.
I didn't spray any bug-b-gone since I was just around the house, not a long trek.
I found a wild onion patch with the bulbs just about ready to bloom.
I bent down and picked a few to eat.

As I was looking over the onion patch I noticed tiny, almost invisible bugs crawling up my boot.
I looked a little closer and realized they were baby ticks!
I then noticed the suckers all over my hand! Slowly crawling up inside my long sleeve shirt.

These things were so small I could barely see them.
So, needless to say, I was kinda freaked out because I had eaten one or two of the onion bulbs; and I figured they were now all over my face.

I rushed back to the house; stripped my clothes off outside and went buck naked through the house straight to the shower.
I soaped down and soaked in near scolding hot water for a good long while.

The ticks were so small that ill have to wait a couple of weeks before I actually find out if any stuck with me.
I just hope none are inside my ear or up my nose; or I end up with lime disease.

Lesson: IF ITS WILD AND EDIBLE, CHANCES ARE TICKS LAID EGGS ON IT.
 
Well thank you for creeping me the f- out this morning :/

But seriously, a good thing to bear in mind. Here I thought I was going to be reading about onions...
 
Recently saw something on the internet about making a tick repellent:

Get a plastic spray bottle

4 oz. of water

2 oz. of tree tea oil

Mix together in spray bottle, then spray on your clothes.

I read this on the internet but haven't tried it yet myself.

(I read it on the internet, it must be true... bon jour!)
 
I love ramps and scour the river by my cottage upstate ny each spring. Now, I will buy them at Whole Paycheck now.
I use this against the dreadful beasts:
Tick Repellent
A tick repellent can be made for both animals and humans using tea tree oil as an active ingredient. Start with a 2:1 mixture of your favorite base oil, such as almond or jojoaba, and water. Combine this into a spray bottle with 2 oz. of tea tree oil. For best results, use a glass bottle. Oils such as tea tree oil react with plastic and may cause dangerous chemicals to leech into your repellent. Before each use, shake the bottle vigorously to thoroughly mix the oils. When applying to pets, rub the repellent under their fur so that it reaches their skin.
It's important to get as pure and high quality tea tree oil as possible. Also great to remove ticks and many other practical uses.
Thanks for the heads up. Good to remember that ticks can be microscopic.
 
Have to try that out.

I can deal with the mosquitos, but ticks just give me the heebee-geebees
 
Ticks lay eggs on anything they drop near, they dont seek out edible plants... anything that the local Animal life feeds on and along game trails is where they are thickest.

What you encountered is a tick swarm and they are freshly hatched... good news is they dont yet carry lime disease.
 
One of the joys of forgaing for wild edibles :D

Bear oil as a reppellent works really well, as a natural alternative to permethrin, but permethrin works the best when clothes are treated.

I used to bring a couple small tubs to put collected goods in with a lid, then bring back home to wash thouroughly.
 
Good advice here.
My outdoor actions will forever come with a more cautious step.
 
Just recently I emailed my daughter in Florida that ... Canadian Tire, a Canadian icon retailer ... is just - this spring - starting to carry a 'tick-remover'

Never have seen this before here, in Canada, myself. I have had to remove a tick from my dog in Florida while travelling some time ago.

However ... I have never in my wilderness camp-outs here in my life to date ... had to even consider tick-borne Lyme disease.

Times have changed. We all must look to protection and be aware of symptoms.
 
taldesta said:
However ... I have never in my wilderness camp-outs here in my life to date ... had to even consider tick-borne Lyme disease.

Times have changed. We all must look to protection and be aware of symptoms.
Click to expand...

Actually, times had changed a lot earlier than you knew. Those little bastids are out there and have been there for quite awhile. As early as the early 1990s (and possibly earlier) Mininistry people would get checked for Lyme disease yearly. At least so I've been told. I, personally, started getting checked in the 90's and was injected with Lymerix ( a Lyme vaccine) in the early 90s. (Before all the troubling news about Lymerix started coming down the pipes.)

It used to be believed that around Long Point (Ontario) was the only endemic area for Black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) in Ontario. That has since been disproven. The other problem was that they didn't know, early on, that ground feeding songbirds were spreading ticks, so, conceivably, you can get Lyme right in your own front yard.

Coincidentally, my wife said there was something about Lyme coming on Channel 11 (CHCH tv) on the 11:00 pm news, tonight , so if you read this in time and have satellite tv, you may be able to check it out. There have sporadic reports about chronic Lyme victims showing up on the tv news, here and there. You also might want to check out the CanLyme website (found HERE). They have, or had, some older video from Global and a few other local stations discussing this very thing. In fact there is a W5 video on there right now.

Hope I didn't spoil your evening. :(

Doc

ETA, there wasn't much coverage tonight on Ch. 11. They mentioned that Avril Lavigne has recently revealed that she has Lyme. It also said that of 100+ ticks turned in to the Dept. of Health, here in Hamilton, only 2 were Black-legged ticks. Big surprise, considering their size. :rolleyes:
 
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I still have mine !! It's a VERY nasty bacteria. If not caught and treated quickly it can be a long difficult trip !! Ticks are spreading quickly and with it Lyme. Finding Docs familiar with it is difficult, I guess I caught mine here in the Catskill Mtns of NY
 
Thanks, DOC-CANADA

I have never been made wary of the tick/Lyme threat until the last two years or so. I cannot recall where I first read about and began a little research on Lyme - but it would not have been a broad-based media source for sure. Because I had done some research, I followed with interest the regional newspaper report that did carry a story about an incident. If the illness had not been brought to the fore by a well known local battling to bring the Lyme problem into play, I would not have heard even that. I have followed threads here on BF regarding Lyme.

Public references to tick/Lyme have always appeared to come from more southerly climes. I know few people who share my interest and, while on an antenna, I enjoy two tv channels max on a good day without wind ... it should be no surprise that I have not been well informed by the media. I have researched it.

My friend Americans, I am not typical. I cannot speak for the general understanding of Lyme. My sense is that it is not well understood here.

I understand that diagnosis of Lyme is a challenge in more Northern areas still.

It is very important to me that I had done some research. My daughter in Florida mentioned in an email a year ago or so that she had suffered a tick bite. I asked if she knew the symptoms of Lyme ... and she looked them up. The bulls eye rash. She sought medical attention immediately!

My best friend, in BC, snail mailed me way early on and described a tick bite that concerned her a great deal. Later, in the midst of a move, she fell into paralysis ... was hospitalized and died while in surgery for another issue. She never understood why she was paralyzed ... and this has never been explained. I wonder.

Ticks. Presently I will go about my enjoyment as usual without precautions in my day because I have never experienced a tick in my environment, BUT I have knowledge to recognize the seriousness of a tick bite should it occur. Hunters along deer trails would be way ahead of the curve and would want to speak for themselves I expect. Canaries in the mine.


No worry about spoiling my evening. Not possible, I am owned by spaniels.

Thanks again, Susan
 
As others have said, ticks don't manufacture the bacteria, they are just vectors spreading it from one host to another via their blood meals. So the nymph stage usually don't host the bacteria. But they are tiny and hard to see and their bites itch like the dickens. And some people, myself included, are allergic to their saliva they inject when they bite. Luckily that reaction isn't too long lasting or severe and is pretty well localized around the bite itself.
 
In Texas, they call those little fellers "Seed Ticks". I have had hundreds on me a time or two in the past. Seemed like an appropriate name and I have been calling the little ones that for years now. I hate Ticks. They actually keep me from doing things I want to in the woods. Pay attention to them.
 
Symptoms of Lyme ? Lyme can attack any part of the body !!!! Bullseye ? only about 20 % get that symptom ! I and many others got 6 different , seemingly un -related but all were Lyme . Symptoms may change over time ! Forget the "typical symptoms " [ how I hate that term ! ] It's called "the great mimicker" since it often seems like some other problem. Finding a doctor who knows Lyme will be difficult .If not caught quickly you may be in for a LONG trip. Requiring a long term treatment with Doxy-cyclin .I wonder if many of the "chronic Lyme disease " cases are just a matter of not giving D-C for a long enough time !
Take it seriously !
 
I had heard that it takes several hours (or longer?) for Lyme to be transmitted from a tick to a human once it's attached - thus if you're aware and can remove it quick enough you are unlikely to catch anything. Has anyone else heard that or know it to be true/false?
 
mete has experience and a lot of information posted in BF first hand that I personally trust. My environment has not posed threat openly so far in my experience ,,, but I have researched enough in the last two years to be very wary.

Do be selective in uncovering knowledge about Lyme. It can be so devastating and even deadly. Trust your source. Be aware. And thanks to mete for informing us all.
 
The www.calyme.com website is very informative !! Thanks Doc-Canada . If you read the section about migratory birds it will open your eyes !
If you catch and treat the problem immediatey you do a 3 week doxy-cyclin treatment and that usually will do it.
Rash - some Docs say only 30 % get a rash and only 9 % get the bulleye rash !!! So that leaves the majority who, like myself never had a rash , never knew we were bitten .It's said it takes 36 hours for the tick to tranfer Lyme to the person . I wonder how accurate that is .
I've read that you can remove ticks from clothing by putting them in a drier fo a short time ? We measure time in minutes !!! How many ? anyone know ?
Spread the word and get past the orthodox medicine stuff .Sadly the bacteria needs more than casual treatment to remove My latest [real ] Doc had me on D-C for months before , now finally changes are coming .Be patient , keep working at it .
 
I hate ticks, good thing you notice them, hopefully in time.
Be aware of big red ring shaped marks on your skin.
Search my dog for them after every walk during summertime, in some areas he's a tick magnet.

My mom got Lyme quite a few years back... that was serious trouble.
She came out ok though.
 
BTW, May is Lyme Awareness Month. In Canada, there are events around the country to help make people more aware of this terrible disease. Get involved. With enough public pressure, the governments (U.S. & Canada) may finally get off their respective butts, and apply the necessary resources to "git er done!"

Doc
 
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