Your experience with ticks

In North Carolina I picked up a stray dog, about 35 pounds, and pulled more than 60 ticks off of him with needle-node pliers, which were pointier than any tweezers I had. After removal, I crushed the ticks with the thicker part of the pliers and flushed them. It turned out that the owners were on vacation for two weeks and the person who was supposed to care for the dog had neglected to feed him. The owners refused to believe that the dog had ticks.
 
I live in a high tick, rural area, but the little bastards avoid me. Same with mosquitos. I just don't get bitten while those around me get sucked dry. Must be my cologne.
 
Most of the ticks I've encountered are mostly attached to my dog or get carried by my dog. Disgusting creatures, especially the ones that get all bloated when they suck your blood. You can often feel them crawling on your skin - pinching sensation - and by so often get them off before they attach. I keep tick tweezers or the "crowbars" handy and they have worked well. I kill them with lighter that I also keep handy.

Whenever moving in the woods I just wear pants (opposed to shorts) and long boots. Nothing too light in clothing because the ticks are attracted to light colors.
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
Actually while light colors make it easier to spot ticks, light colors especially bright colors definitely attract more ticks.
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interesting..here in switzerland, they teach you the opposite..

There aren't many bright colored animals...i might have to read more about it.

👍
 
I hate ticks with every ounce of my being, and if I come across them I cut them in two with my knife and leave their corpses as a warning to the others.
I'm most concerned about my 4 year old who is seems to run blindly through patches of poison ivy and doesn't think to check for ticks.
I have bought permathrin as well as picaridin to help protect him from mosquitos and ticks this year- both of which we get in spades.
 
At some point I read that you are supposed to capture the tick for testing if you have been bitten. Is that a real thing or an old wives tale? I know someone who was bitten and got the red rash. The doctor put them on a few weeks of medication just in case.
 
Sharp Steel said:
At some point I read that you are supposed to capture the tick for testing if you have been bitten. Is that a real thing or an old wives tale? I know someone who was bitten and got the red rash. The doctor put them on a few weeks of medication just in case.
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Places like UConn use it for data collection. Send in the tick and they determine if it’s carrying disease. They tell you if it had lime disease and then they log the data.
 
Ticks are attracted to carbon dioxide, body heat, and chemicals released in bodily fluids; don't worry about colors.
Permethrin all the way for outdoor clothing; don't forget the socks.

I occasionally have some kind of allergic reaction to them, and will sometimes get a "tick bite granuloma"(think that's right) where I've had a tick, even if the head was removed intact.
As I post this, I'm looking at a scar on my left leg about 1/4" across that's from summer of 2013, and rubbing the similarly sized lump that's still on my ribcage from this little joker in late April.
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Seed ticks/larvae are the creepiest. I pulled my ankle length sock down after mountain biking a few years ago, and there were ~200 of them. They didn't attach themselves to me, and wiped off with a baby wipe, but...ugh.

Sawyer's permethrin spray is ~$11 at WalMart, and will treat several sets of pants, shirts, and socks.
That stuff is worth its weight in gold, IMO.
 
I've never heard of this permethrin. Is it safer then DEET? I do use DEET but I don't like to because a couple summers ago when I was going fishing I accidentally got a little on my g shock watch and it melted it.
 
When I was younger I got Rocky Mountian Spotter Fever and was hospitialized for 3 days. It's very treatable but they couldn't figure out what is was. I'm no fan of ticks it's one of the only things I fear in the woods.
 
When I was a boy in Scouts we were told to take a teaspoon of vinegar for two or three days before a camping trip. Supposedly the vinegar coming out in your sweat kept ticks and chiggers off of you. I never had an issue with them in Scouts, I had one as a younh adult though. Still got the mark on my leg where it bit me
 
Sharp Steel said:
At some point I read that you are supposed to capture the tick for testing if you have been bitten. Is that a real thing or an old wives tale?
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It's real enough. I've seen tick removal tools that come with printed envelopes addressed to tick testing services. I would be careful about that though, because the tick drank your blood and for all you know they could be sending your DNA off to China. Make sure you're using a reputable US based test lab that doesn't sell or share your data with any shady third parties.
 
I must have had 100 ticks or more this year. If I get off the driveway I get ticks. So I could slather on the spray... but normally I just pick’m off and don’t worry bout it.
 
I have lived and played in the woods all my life and have never had a tick on me until the last 5 years or so. Now they are pretty common. What's going on?
Growing up in the country I always wear long pants, long sleeves and a hat when in the woods.
 
Ticks I hate 'em! and I don't do so much hate in this ol world.

Been treated for Lymns twice, and had precautionary treatment 3 other times.

Use Permethrin and Picardian. Soak and spray cloths and gear. Do tick checks after being in tick areas. Treat a small acreage area with Permethrin soaked cotton balls. Mice use them for nesting, ticks on the mice get dead.

We try to stay proactive and vigilant.

Did I say I hate tick!
 
It nevert hardly gets cold in winter anymore here. I have sat on the ground in our woods in the winter and picked up ticks, though spring is unbelieveable due to the number of deer we have. For probably the first 50 years of my life I only saw brown dog ticks. Now we have tons of the tiny deer ticks and billions of the lonestar. I keep a bottle of Doxycycline in my fridge and if I'm running a fever and my joints ache in summer I just start taking it. Ms Hollowdweller and I have both had various tick borne things and nearly everyone I know has had lyme. Also had a few friends who had Rock Mt Spotted fever. We rarely go in our woods anymore in summer. Ironically in the mountains around here there are few ticks. Luckily most wilderness areas here where we go backpacking are in the Mt's.
 
I’ve had a few but they don’t bother me too much.

A partner of mine however had to retire early due to Lyme disease. It’s terrible due to the neurological symptoms but even more so because it’s so difficult to diagnose and many doctors don’t understand it well.

She suggests that in Lyme areas that anyone bitten should attempt to have their doctor prescribe a course of antibiotics. A longer course if it’s a child.
 
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