Ticks!

R

RatDrall

Joined
Feb 7, 2009
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467
What do you guys do about ticks?

I used to spend all of my time in the field, woods, and in a canoe up until I was 18 years old. I lived in Southern Wisconsin and never had an issue with ticks. We're living in PA now, and just got back from a hike, and we're all covered in ticks (me, my wife, my daughter, and our dog). We all checked eachother when we got home, then we all took baths and showers, and I just had one crawling up my leg.

What do you guys do about ticks after a hike in the field?

Even worse, what do you do about them when you're camping?

How did the tick hold onto my leg through a shower? :eek:
 
I think that one thing I would not leave home without is http://www.tickedoff.com/
These things are cheap and priceless! Ticks will dig in until you can't get them out without minor surgery.
 
Marinade in a marsala wine sauce for appox. 3 hours throw on a grill at 450* turning once 2 min per side, and serve with chilled asparagus tips and garlic mashed potatoes.


Welcome to the southeast:D:D:D

Seriously a little Deet or perithin (sp.) treatment for clothing should help;) The little buggers are alomost impossible to avoid sometimes. :thumbdn:
 
Wear light-colored long pants and long sleeves so you can see the little bastids.
Tuck shirt into pants and tuck pants into socks to create a tick barrier.
Repellant:use DEET on skin and treat clothing with sprays containing permethrin.
Do a thorough tick check upon returning inside and for several days if exposed.
 
When I was in the Marine Corps we used to hold a lit cigarette close to them and they would release their hold and back out of the hole they were making. Then you could just flick them off of your leg, arm, whatever.

I agree with Runsalone, though. Preventing them with DEET or some other repellent is a much better choice.
 
Not to be disagreeable at all but IIRC ....want you DONT want to do, is remove them in a way that will cause them to vomit back into thier bite realeasing all the little nasties into your bloodstream. Best is , using fingers if you can, to give them about a quarter turn and firmly pull the little critter out, then treat the bite with your choice of germ adjuster.
 
Funny seeing this thread, after we just got back from a backpacking trip, and Boomer had ANOTHER tick in his neck. We definitely carry tick pliers now.

Boomer is a tick magnet though, I've spent all but 6 years of my life hiking and camping in California, and not once ever saw or had a tick. Now that I've been out with Boomer, I've seen 6 in the last month, two were in his neck, and 2 were on his pants...

The other 6 years of my life were spent in Ohio, and man oh man, there were ticks everywhere. If you went into the any woods for any amount of time, you were covered in them, just like you experienced! There must be a bad infestation in that part of the country.

My wife has used kerosene with success, just poor some on, and they back right out. The last two I took out of boomer we used these tick pliers. Follow the instructions, until you can see that only their two pincers are holding just a tiny piece of skin, then you can pull it off, and the head or mouth isn't left behind.
http://www.rei.com/product/407279
774199.jpg
 
ah i hate tick makes my skin crawl thinking about them stole this for the web site suggested up above. a have had 8 tick stuck in me so far this year. but im getting ready to break 180+ miles of hikeing in 09 going for 200 before the 6 month.:thumbup:
Myths about Ticks

MYTHS
VS
TRUTHS

Ticks "burrow under the skin" No they do not. Ticks only insert their hypostome (1/8")
Ticks fly, jump or drop from trees. They actually do not. They waite on the end of a tall blade of grass or twig for an animal to go by. Then crawl up and find a place to attach and feed.
Use of petroleum jelly, nail polish, alcohol, hot match, etc... helps the tick back out. It has been scientifically proven in clinical research that this does not happen. Ticks will activate their defenses and regurgitate infected fluids into YOU, potentialy giving you a disease. - DO NOT USE THESE!!
If the tick's "head" breaks off in the skin, another tick will grow from it. ABSOLUTELY NOT. An infection will result much like a splinter, and will work its way out of the skin over time.

"It won't happen to me" Yes, it very well may. Lyme Disease is the second fastest growing infectious vector-borne disease in the United States. AIDS is number one. Never mind ALL the other diseases ticks transmit.
Rotating the tick will release it from the skin. Ticks have barbs on the hypostome, NOT THREADS... you cannot unscrew a tick.
"Hard" ticks are small and "soft" ticks are big. Hard ticks have a scutum or "shield-like" plate on their back. Soft ticks have no scutum. Most ticks are hard ticks.
 
You want to be especially mindful of ticks especially those living in areas with high rates of Lyme disease such as New England for example.

The ticks that carry Lyme and other diseases (there's a lot more), are the very small deer tick which are as small as a pin head. The larger dog / wood ticks are not believed to carry Lyme.

One of the first signs of Lyme is the classic Bullseye rash, 70% dont even get this. Your only other clue at that point would be flu like symptoms between a week to as much as a few weeks after.

Lyme disease is the easiest disease to treat if caught early. If it's caught late, you could be in for the nightmare of your life. Dealing with the illness is only the half of it. It's a political disease which in it's chronic state is denied by the mainstream medical community. In a nutshell, you'll be told you have chronic fatigue syndrome, Rhuematoid arthritis, Fibromyalga, and you could even be sent to a shrink because chronic Lyme doesn't exist.

Be very mindful of Lyme. In New England the cases have been doubling every year.
 
You know, eastr77, I've been carrying some of those misconceptions around for over 50 years, but never bothered to check them out. Thanks for the good info!
 
Been livin' in North Eastern PA or NEPA for nearly 30 years, been dealin' with wood ticks/dog ticks since even before that, they're not your real problems though, deer tick are the ones ya gotta watch for and they're so small if yer bit and they latch on, ya usually don't know till the bullseye rash shows up.

I PA prevention is yer first defense and identifyin' them on you within' the first 24 hours is yer next best defense.

When I was a kid they used to put alcohol on them to make 'em back out or they would try the heat of a cigarette butt to make 'em back out.

I remember once when a wood tick burrowed into my neck, right into that main vein on your neck, well this sucker got fat quick, my mom called me over and took an alcohol soaked cotton ball and soaked this sucker, I'd swear it was to drunk to back out.

When that didn't work she didn't have a cigarette butt so she took a match and touched it too it's alcohol soaked body and it burst into flames.:eek:

That was it, it burnt to a crisp and it's dead crispy fried body was the only thing keepin' me from bleedin' out, so off we go to the emergency room where they attempt to remove the fried carcass from my neck with a scalpel, I thrashed about on that table till my mother sat on my chest to hold me still so they could dig it out.

After that I learned protection is best but don't freak out if ya find a tick on ya take yer time and use the right tools for removal.
 
Ticks are a big deal up here. I treat my clothing with Deet but not my skin. No reason in particular I just don't like the idea of 100% Deet on my skin.

Whatever you do make sure you check yourself when you get home. I went fishing with my wife once - came home and found three on me. One was climbing on my chest, one on my leg and the last one.... well.... It was completely clamped onto one of my..... you know.... Teste..... You get the point. That was a bad feeling and a good reminder that those little suckers move fast and go directly for the warm, moist areas. I checked my body for about an hour straight after that one... The boys are doing just fine now :)
 
Yeah, never try to "burn" them out... They usually just die and then you end up pulling their body off and leaving the head anyway... But the dying part leaves them time to spew their nasty innards into your skin. Just use a sharp knife and act as if you were shaving the hair off of your arm... just make sure you shave the tick off too - you've got to press firmly, but then again you don't want to cut yourself either. Your body will then naturally spit out the head a few days later, much like a splinter.
 
Jeez yall just pull em out!

"Oh no I found a tick....I need a hydrolic jack a lighter a comealong and an ice cream machine" :D
 
dawsonbob said:
You know, eastr77, I've been carrying some of those misconceptions around for over 50 years, but never bothered to check them out. Thanks for the good info!
Click to expand...

yur welcome me as well.. now i know why when a tryed nail polish last year it started to look like a brown recluse bite instead of a tick bite . it turn black and pruple about the size of a quarter and hurt and itched for about 2 months. i mainly use tweezers now but thinking about one of those tick keys:D when i read that stuff i though i would bring it over here so anyone just glanceing through would see it. with our hobbie knowledge is a life saver:thumbup:
 
absolutindian said:
HA! Nice
Click to expand...

Easy for you ta say, yer tick season is what? 2 weeks?;)

I agree, disgustin' critters but the big guy upstairs must have a use fer somewhere and they're really not a big deal, hell if ya got a problem with 'em in yer yard get yerself some guinea hens and they'll keep yer problem in check, damn if dem chickens can't eat ticks!:eek:
 
realy i didnt know that might have to run buy the farmers market and pick some up the would be fat as ticks..... there are so many ticks out here you pick them off while you sleep..
 
ticks have alwasy creeped me out a bit.....and i know not to burn them or any of those methods.....but i was just thinking, since their heads are 'barbed' and you cant really pull them out neatly, would it work to try to stretch the skin around the tick to open the hole its head is in a bit, and pull it out then?
in other words...pull the skin away from the barbs/head so it can be pulled out nice and cleanly?
 
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