Ticks

[mongo1965]

@Mister Greenthumb wrote:

@mongo1965 wrote:

Frost warning for us hopefully it will be good enough to kill off some of these buggers

Read your post too fast and thought you were having sinus problems.

Na those I just bug the Mrs to pick them. mmmm maybe that’s why she says I’m gross

[Northwoods Tom]

What works well for me is the following system. Some will think “not for me”. It’s based simply on the idea that you have to know they are there to do something about them before they get to those areas where you can’t reach or see.

I always wear shorts when the situation allows. You see them and you remove them as they try to move up the leg. Hairy legs help slow their progress. Women may have to consider a European look 😥 I apply DEET to my shoe surfaces and socks and am not opposed to applying it to the entire leg. I will remove dozens during the day when I travel in grassy or brushy areas. Dark pants such as jeans you often miss them because they are less obvious. Light colored pants end up looking like camo at the end of the day from grass and leaf stains (I like to get more than one day out of my pants before I have to wash them because of the way they look).

It’s true that right about the first of July they seem to disappear (heat, dryness?). I’m not sure why but it’s great. From now thru June, they’re everywhere!

[hack1of2]

As one who has never had the pleasure of extracting a tick (I’ve only had to brush them off my clothes), what is the best method for tick removal?

[Lostby7]

Pull em straight out (no twisting them in one direction or the other; they are not screws)…no chemicals or matches…if the head remains leave it you’ll do more damage and possibly get an infection by digging around in there. Yes it is gross but your skin will eventually push it out on its own…and obviously disinfect the area once you pull it off.

You can get tick removal tools at most sporting goods stores if needed.

…TG for PNGs. This is a bad year for ticks; I’m staying out of the woods.

[guidetoo]

war the bdu style pants and blouse the pants at the tops.tie them this way the tick cannot get up your legs also wear long sleeves when in the woods and in tall grass. 😀 😀

[huffinpuffin2]

Had 20 or 30 of the little beasties trying to make a Find on us yesterday, but think we won the battles 😯 ……we had to keep spraying our pants and shoes with DEET to finally get them to slow. Found some leetle ones about the size of banana seeds, well, big banana seeds….really hard to detect. We’ve seen them worse……but that’s normally May-ish. Can’t wait! :wacko: :wacko:

[Lostby7]

@huffinpuffin2 wrote:

Had 20 or 30 of the little beasties trying to make a Find on us yesterday

Had that happened to me I’d never go geocaching again…those buggers really creep me out.

[sandlanders]

No, LB7! If you do that, then the ticks will have won! 😉

[huffinpuffin2]

@Lostby7 wrote:

@huffinpuffin2 wrote:

Had 20 or 30 of the little beasties trying to make a Find on us yesterday

Had that happened to me I’d never go geocaching again…those buggers really creep me out.

Sorry about that! Not trying to scare, just recounting what we found. Not as creepy as it sounds, as they weren’t all there at once. It was more like ‘here and there’ throughout the day. And we expected to find them sooner or later this Spring, as we are intentionally visiting their turf, so we weren’t caught by surprise. 🙂 🙂

[huffinpuffin2]

We approach it as an ‘Occupation at Risk.’ This is information from a Lyme’s Disease site, but applies to all ticks.

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lyme/#related

[Northwoods Tom]

@hack1of2 wrote:

As one who has never had the pleasure of extracting a tick (I’ve only had to brush them off my clothes), what is the best method for tick removal?

They actually come out quite easily if you get them soon enough before they have really dug in. Straight outward pressure and you often get a little piece of your own skin on their mouth parts. May sound gross but the alternative is a bloated tick down the road. As a dog owner, that’s when you seem to find them on the pups. If the tick is large enough, I’ve often placed mineral oil around the head (Can’t breath or so the urban myth goes?) which they say causes them to back out some and make them easier to remove. Seems to work but it may be junk science.

[JimandLinda]

I’ll repeat what my niece, the nurse, told me.

If you find an imbedded tick, pull it out, put it on a piece of scotch tape, and tape it to a calendar on the date you extracted it. If you get symptoms, take the tick with you to the doctors appointment, along with the date (or take the whole calendar!).

When I found the “rosy ring” on the back of my leg last year, it was a one pill treatment. Of course, the tick was long gone by then.

This will be an interesting year, that’s for sure!

[Northwoods Tom]

@JimandLinda wrote:

When I found the “rosy ring” on the back of my leg last year…

Not a sign that always appears (bullseye). Although I like the tick on the calendar idea. Mrs. Northwoods might not.

[Lostby7]

@Northwoods Tom wrote:

@hack1of2 wrote:

As one who has never had the pleasure of extracting a tick (I’ve only had to brush them off my clothes), what is the best method for tick removal?

They actually come out quite easily if you get them soon enough before they have really dug in. Straight outward pressure and you often get a little piece of your own skin on their mouth parts. May sound gross but the alternative is a bloated tick down the road. As a dog owner, that’s when you seem to find them on the pups. If the tick is large enough, I’ve often placed mineral oil around the head (Can’t breath or so the urban myth goes?) which they say causes them to back out some and make them easier to remove. Seems to work but it may be junk science.

Never coat a tick with anything…it is an urban myth that this is a good idea; it’s actually dangerous. They often regurgitate into your blood stream if agitated filling you with possible disease.

[Northwoods Tom]

@Lostby7 wrote:

Never coat a tick with anything…it is an urban myth that this is a good idea; it’s actually dangerous. They often regurgitate into your blood stream if agitated filling you with possible disease.

I did a search on the internet and found medical journal/articles, etc. that back this up. Also some that have other opinions. Here’s one that I found interesting, apply “permethrin” it dies and falls off. Think I’ll stay with the tried and true “pull firmly straight out” and avoid the tick “sauces”.

[Author]

Posts