Tick Season?
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WOW, just noticed this thread. I can not believe the prevelance of Lyme's in the NE. I live in the central UP of Michigan and we do get a few cases around here. My dog got it about 5 years ago and we hit him with massive doses of antibiotics for about 2 months. We noticed him developing a bad limp in his right front leg and it took our (former) vet almost a month to figure it out. What a dumba$$ ! He's doing OK now but still has mild recurring lameness from time to time.
Ticks are usually gone up here by September, and rarely do we see deer ticks, just the regular ones. Fortunately where I live there are not that many ticks. I'm in the woods a lot and only pick a few all year. We put Frontline on our dog and he never has any ticks anymore, that stuff definitely works.
Ticks are usually gone up here by September, and rarely do we see deer ticks, just the regular ones. Fortunately where I live there are not that many ticks. I'm in the woods a lot and only pick a few all year. We put Frontline on our dog and he never has any ticks anymore, that stuff definitely works.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
Pat53 said:
Its prevalent alright, both my dogs had it, the girl that cuts my hair had it, a guy I work with got it twice, theres a few more people I know but I wont make a long list.. The only good thing thats come from this is that doctors are quick to diagnose and treat it nowadays.
The product I used was made by Bayer Advanced. It is called Complete Insect Killer
You spread it with a fertilizer spreader and it has to get rained on before it works. Early spring is when the nymphal form is active, so having rain usually isn't a problem if you spread it then. We used a hand spreader as well, to get around the logs and lawn ornaments and stuff. Having been thorough this experience, I think the stuff is well worth the money, but it won't help when you are out in the woods. You need to use that permethrin spray on your clothes when you are out there.
You spread it with a fertilizer spreader and it has to get rained on before it works. Early spring is when the nymphal form is active, so having rain usually isn't a problem if you spread it then. We used a hand spreader as well, to get around the logs and lawn ornaments and stuff. Having been thorough this experience, I think the stuff is well worth the money, but it won't help when you are out in the woods. You need to use that permethrin spray on your clothes when you are out there.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
Battenkiller said:
thanks BK, I'll pick some up tomorrow, I think Ill order some of the other stuff you mentioned too.
fireview2788
Minister of Fire
I usually see them crawl off the deer carcasses that we kill during gun season. As the deer cools the look for a new host. I didn't see any of the three does we killed this year but I am sure they had some. Odd that I didn't see any though.
f v
f v
Boom Stick
Feeling the Heat
picked up a load of wood today from a yard that had a bunch come down in the storm some time ago. Basically cleaned the place out and had one more load to retrieve of cut up locust branches. quick pick up, small stuff already cut up. in and out. driving home 10 minutes away me and my buddy found 3 ticks on us while in the truck. I already had to have a tick removed and take a cycle of meds due to a tick from there. Place is crawling with them. Be careful out there. Outside of dousing your clothing in permethrin there is little you can do but be vigilant in checking yourself. Luckily one was crawling on my hand as I was driving so I noticed it. no win situation.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
Pat53 said:
Did you have the permethrin on? Do these damn ticks die when it gtes cold or do they just hibernate and wait for a warm up to attack us again?
Boom Stick
Feeling the Heat
These ticks were pretty small. Do not really know how to distinguish deer tick vs regular tick. Never took the time to look them up.. I treat them all the same. I was not using permethrin. I have never used it. From what I remember you have to spray your clothes and then put them in a trash bag overnight to soak in, etc. I may look into using it but my fiance is not to keen on the chemicals in the house. The one I had dug in on me was decent sized. not as big as one I have taken off of a dog before but not tiny either.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
The deer ticks are the small ones, females are bigger than males. Males are tiny. You had one that bit you?
This thread won't go away - and that's good because these things are a plague, and everyone needs to be aware of this. I've been bitten multiple times over the years - never any of the serious diseases (remember it's not just Lyme), but I do get nasty skin reactions like the ones in the pics. Happens within minutes of being bitten - raised, discolored bumps - a couple have never disappeared. These things have a connection to the spider family. My mother got bad skin reactions to (non-poisonous) spider bites, and apparently she must have passed that gene along to me - thanks a lot Mom :roll:. As Boom said above, being vigilant in checking yourself is the key for me. After being outside I assume they're on me, so I always do a full body check with the fingertips. Two weeks ago on a warmish day (after having a number of freeze nights), I scrounged a load of wood and while driving home looked down and saw 2 crawling up my shirt. A week before that, I had 4 on me, after being out for 1 hour (yep more bumps). I also stay totally alert for any physical changes, and also get blood tests a couple times a year. I absolutely hate chemicals of any kind, but also have no doubt that these representatives from hell are getting worse all the time. So next Spring I'm going to start using permethrin on my pants and shoes (keep this stuff away from cats!). This is an all-out war, but the best one can hope for in this one is a stalemate :-/.Boom Stick said:
weatherguy said:
No, these things definitely DO NOT die. Part of the reason they're so bad this year in the NE is because of the snow cover we had last year. Snow actually insulates them plus it makes it harder for insect eating animals to get them, so more survive the winter and breed the following spring. PLUS the amount of rain the NE has had PLUS the unusually warm weather we've had here all season has made it a booming year for the little creeps.
Those of you who dont' have deer ticks or lyme disease are incredibly lucky. Ticks scare me more than any other animal out in the woods, my dogs both have the lyme vaccine and need a thorough check over every time they come inside from a walk.
If you live in the NE its definitely worth it to buy a dedicated tick removal device, basically a little plastic 'hook' that pulls the tick out without smashing it or ripping its head off.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
I agree, I bought the one mentioned earlier in this thread and cant stop raving about it, it pulls the whole tick out easily without leaving the head behind. In the past when Ive removed ticks from my pets and didnt get the whole tick it would form a sort of crater, almost looks like it would get infected then form a scab, this tool took the one out I had on my groin last week in 2 seconds no problems, didnt leave a mark.
I bought that product Battenkiller mentioned upthread too yesterday, I bought the liquid version and mixed up a couple gallons and sprayed my whole wood processing area and my yard, hope that kills the little ba$tards.
willworkforwood said:
These ticks have been slowly working there way into the U.P. from Wisconsin. We have lots of deer here so plenty of host animals available, altho the wolves are starting to have a real impact on them. maybe having the wolves around isn't such a bad thing after all ! I've never seen a tick on a deer after killing/gutting it in deer season in 40 years of hunting, and nobody I know has either. nevertheless, they are here. Now I'm worried about my kids. I think I'm going to get some of that repellent mixed up for next spring and start using it on their clothing when they go outside, and tell them to really start checking themselves good each day before they go to bed. Scary stuff, indeed.
Had a dog tick after I was cutting past weekend. Was only out for an hour... Got a couple cords so far this fall and 15 last year for this and no ticks... This one beat me up with a cut..... From the digging for the head! Could not reach my self so the wife was digging. that was not fun. Went this weekend and found a few crawling... Must love the 50 degree days. Didn't figure this see but then again pretty mild fall so far.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
iodonnell said:
The first tick I had this year was a deer tick. I didnt know it was a tick since it was on my back and I ended up puuling it out and leaving the head. When I went to the doctors she told me its recommended that you do not dig it out. Im not sure why because she really didnt answer my question when i asked.
weatherguy said:
I didn't know that until after I had my wife dissect a tick head out of my naval. Increased chance of infection from regular bacteria I'm told. The rotten little things have the Lyme bacteria in their gut from feeding on the mouse before you. Main thing is don't squeeze the body or you can inject yourself full of the Lyme bugs without knowing it.
Dogs, however, can sometimes get something called "tick paralysis" from the head. It's more of an allergic response, but if your dog falls over and can't move or has trouble breathing after you leave the head in you have to get it out immediately or the dog could die. Some other animals are can get this, too, but I don't think people can.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
Battenkiller said:
Is that cats too BK or only dogs?
I just pulled a deer tick out of my wife, I got the whole thing out no problem but there is a small mark. She said she felt an itch last night but where it was she couldnt see and didnt even bother to think, "I got an itch, could be a tick". Shes going to visit our doctor tomorrow. This is getting rediculous.
Wow!
Just looked it up. Worse than I thought. Lots of animals can get it, but worst of all, young children can get tick paralysis. Seems it's a neurotoxin given off by the tick that's responsible, but it almost always presents in children under ten years old.
http://www.aldf.com/TickParalysis.shtml
Just looked it up. Worse than I thought. Lots of animals can get it, but worst of all, young children can get tick paralysis. Seems it's a neurotoxin given off by the tick that's responsible, but it almost always presents in children under ten years old.
http://www.aldf.com/TickParalysis.shtml
I've got ticks swarming all over my property at certain times of year. Fortunately out West here Lymes isn't as prevalent. Apparently the nymph stage ticks here feed primarily on the Western Fence Lizard. These Lizards have a protein in their blood that gets into the ticks gut and kills the bacteria that cause Lymes. I loathe the little suckers nonetheless and can't wait to try out some Permethrin on them.
Some interesting contraptions have been devised that apply Permethrin onto deer while they're at a feeder.
http://www.aldf.com/fourPoster2.shtml
Some interesting contraptions have been devised that apply Permethrin onto deer while they're at a feeder.
http://www.aldf.com/fourPoster2.shtml
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
trailmaker said:
Ive read abouth those lizards doing that to the ticks, maybe we should import some of those lizards to the northeast.
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