Tic Toc Ticks

[mywaynow]

Every day the Tics are more active and prevalant. What do you do to keep them off you while in the woods?

Last time out, I wore light colored pants and bright green shirt, both sprayed with bug spray. Still found 3 of the buggers climbing on me later that day.

 

[flhpi]

A trick we did in the Army was to save the matches from our MRE packs. When the bugs and ticks came after us we would cut the heads of the matches and swallow them down with water. We sweat the sulfur out and the bugs stayed away.

I still do this trick. I may or may not have bug spray with me so when I am in a store that offers free matches at the checkout counter a grab a booklet. I carry them in my car and truck so I can always keep the critters off me.

 

[loon]

A trick we did in the Army was to save the matches from our MRE packs. When the bugs and ticks came after us we would cut the heads of the matches and swallow them down with water. We sweat the sulfur out and the bugs stayed away.

I still do this trick. I may or may not have bug spray with me so when I am in a store that offers free matches at the checkout counter a grab a booklet. I carry them in my car and truck so I can always keep the critters off me.

thats a cool bit of info ;-) does it work with skeeters and blackflies??

loon

 

[snowleopard]

That's a new one on me. What about just taking dietary sulpher supplements? (MSM-methyl sulfonyl methane)

 

[flhpi]

I was stationed at Ft. Bragg N.C. It works on black flies and skeeters. They will fly up to you but wont land then fly away.

We used what was readily available, matches were supplied to the troops. Sulfur pills were not.

 

[loon]

will try this out for sure thanks...loon

 

[snowleopard]

We used what was readily available, matches were supplied to the troops. Sulfur pills were not.

I get that. I applaud improvisation such as this--and will bear it in mind if circumstances require.

I didn't mean to imply that you should have been taking sulphur supplements you didn't have--but now that you have that option, you (or others) may wish to consider supplements. Two reasons for my suggestion: one is that there may be a few other things in match-heads that might not be so terrific to be swallowing, and the other is that sulphur is supposed to be one of the most abundant minerals in the body--but for most of us is not, because the soils where they grow and foods we eat are depleted of this mineral. MSM is also good for aging, achey joints, which seem to be mentioned on a regular basis on this forum. Can't think why . . .

 

[loon]

the amount of junk i've ingested in the last 46 years leopard, a few matches aint gonna be a big deal at all ;-P

loon

 

[fireview2788]

Funny you would post this, I pulled my first tick off me today at work. I've deer hunted for 26 years and never had one on me but this little bugger climbed on today while in the backyard looking at the garden. I HATE ticks.


fv

 

[flhpi]

I have often wondered what kind of crap is in the match heads. Supplements are a good idea. I should give up cigars, beer and match heads. Just kidding, I wont give up cigars.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Fortunately we do not have that problem here but the skeeters make up for it. They will be hatching very soon.

I wonder if the ThermaCell would also work against ticks? For certain I would try it. They sure are a life saver when you have to work in skeeter infested areas.

 

[Wood Duck]

I don't do anything to keep them off. I just take a shower and check for ticks when I get home. Most of the time they seem to require several hours before they actually bite me, so if I check after being in the wood I find them crawling and easy to remove. The ones that have bittien me I pull of with a tick twister.

 

[KodiakII]

I would be afraid that if I swallowed to many match heads that my JT might self ignite while having coitus. Think I will try the supplement instead...or eat a bunch of wild leeks.

 

[snowleopard]

I have often wondered what kind of crap is in the match heads. Supplements are a good idea. I should give up cigars, beer and match heads. Just kidding, I wont give up cigars.

There's a story told of Samuel Clemmens (Mark Twain) as follows:

Mark Twain had an acquaintance, a saintly woman, probably a Sunday School teacher, who was deathly ill. It seemed that nothing could save her. The doctors had given up. But Mark Twain knew just what she needed. Standing over her bed, he shared his good news and, as you can imagine, she was greatly relieved. Twain confessed to having had a similar problem and told her he beat it by giving up some of his bad habits… Pretty soon, he said, the starved illness left his body for more fertile ground.
“But I don’t have any bad habits,†the woman proclaimed.
“None?†Twain asked.
“None,†she assured him. “I don’t run around with men, smoke, drink, gamble, dip snuff, curse or bite my nails. I’ve been a good woman, almost without fault,†she insisted.
A frown came over Twain’s face and he bowed his head in resignation, saying “I’m afraid the doctors are right, there’s no hope.You’re a sinking ship with no ballast to throw overboard.â€


Hang on to the cigars--you never know when you'll need to heave some ballast!

 

[trailmaker]

Ticks are out in force here. I hate them, they are tiny little juggernauts that won't stop until they find a nice place to burrow in. I'm thinking I might have some belt loops sewn into my pants just below the knees so I can wear tick dog collars on each leg. There are certain spots on my property where I just can't go right now because of the ticks.

 

[Intheswamp]

Funny, but we don't have ticks, skeeters, or deer flies down here. %-P

Ed

 

[snowleopard]

Same here. No snakes. No ticks. No termites. (I mean, really, termites?) No alligators. No ticks. Most of the stuff that can nastify ya are in-your-face big: grizzlies, moose, mosquitoes. Trailmaker, remind me to put you on my ignore list. THAT PICTURE IS GROSS!

 

[snowleopard]

the amount of junk i've ingested in the last 46 years leopard, a few matches aint gonna be a big deal at all ;-P

loon

Could it be that some of the junk you've ingested in the last 46 years might have led you to the chewing-off-matchheads stage of your life?

Just askin' . . .

 

[Intheswamp]

Same here. No snakes. No ticks. No termites. (I mean, really, termites?) No alligators. No ticks. Most of the stuff that can nastify ya are in-your-face big: grizzlies, moose, mosquitoes. Trailmaker, remind me to put you on my ignore list. THAT PICTURE IS GROSS!

Nope, no alligators, snakes, spiders, poison ivy, chiggers, IRS agents,...

 

[weatherguy]

They're bad here in the northeast, my co worker got lyme disease twice, his territory was Connecticut, which may have something to do with it.

 

[loon]

the amount of junk i've ingested in the last 46 years leopard, a few matches aint gonna be a big deal at all ;-P

loon

Could it be that some of the junk you've ingested in the last 46 years might have led you to the chewing-off-matchheads stage of your life?

Just askin' . . .

just might be.. but the scissors will be coming out for this.

loon

 

[remkel]

Ticks are out in force here. I hate them, they are tiny little juggernauts that won't stop until they find a nice place to burrow in. I'm thinking I might have some belt loops sewn into my pants just below the knees so I can wear tick dog collars on each leg. There are certain spots on my property where I just can't go right now because of the ticks.

Well at least those appear to be the larger ticks, not the deer ticks we are concerned about up here. Those buggers are small, and can burrow in without you even realizing it until you start to see the old bullseye forming- then it is Lyme Disease treatment time.


When I was younger we used to run through the fields all the time and if we got a tick on us it was not big deal- just take it off or if it burrowed pick it off or burn it off etc....now it is a paranoia with all this disease.

 

[fireview2788]

We killed a deer this fall that had several ticks the size of that big bugger. It was the first deer in ten years we saw ticks that big so we knew he was an old deer (not to mention he weighed at least 250lbs). Lyme disease hasn't been found here yet, although it has been found in NW Ohio, near Akron/Canton. my tick was a dog tick too so I'm not worried about it.

fv

 

[firefighterjake]

I would be afraid that if I swallowed to many match heads that my JT might self ignite while having coitus. Think I will try the supplement instead...or eat a bunch of wild leeks.

 

[Woody Stover]

Well at least those appear to be the larger ticks, not the deer ticks we are concerned about up here. Those buggers are small, and can burrow in without you even realizing it until you start to see the old bullseye forming- then it is Lyme Disease treatment time.

When I was younger we used to run through the fields all the time and if we got a tick on us it was not big deal- just take it off or if it burrowed pick it off or burn it off etc....now it is a paranoia with all this disease.

Yep, deer ticks are tiny, especially in the nymphal stage. Wife and I were outside painting part of the house. There must have been a new hatch in the ground cover next to the house; We each had well over 100 nymphal ticks that we had to pick off us with tweezers. Tiny, tiny...barely visible with the naked eye.

I'm a little freaked right now. I usually catch any deer ticks on the first day, but a couple weeks ago I found one that I think may have been on me a couple of days. Now for the last few days I've felt a bit out of sorts. Easily fatigued, weird low-grade intermittent headache. If this persists over the next couple of days, it's Lyme test time for me...