ticks in western washington + woodstacks

[iron]

i've lived in the seattle area for 13 years now. i've always understood that ticks don't exist west of the pacific crest line of the mountains. however, my inlaws were just visiting with their dog and they found and removed 4 ticks in the course of a week. our best guess is that the ticks were in our yard, in the wood stacks, and that the dog got them there while chasing after balls.

are woodstacks a breeding ground for ticks? how would the ticks even get there if the wood was locally scrounged from an area that supposedly has no ticks. very concerning given that we have a 10 month old baby (though she won't be playing near the woodstacks...)

 

[peakbagger]

Ticks usually go through an intermediate host which is usually mice and other rodents (birds can also host them). Therefore if your stacks are popular with rodents than you could have more ticks. There are ticks traps which don't trap ticks, what they can consist of is a cardboard tube filled with cotton soaked with permethrin. Mice and rodents really like cotton for nesting and will haul it off to build nests. Any ticks on the mouse will get killed by the permethrin in the nest.

Here is an interesting study where they use a different approach (broken link removed to http://calag.ucanr.edu/Archive/?article=ca.v052n02p43)

 

[pernox]

Permethrin is where it's at imo. We've got a whole host of critters around here for ticks to nibble on, and a very healthy population of them in the area (woods of western MA) - I keep permethrin on my wood processing clothes and boots, and knock wood, haven't pulled one off of me since I started using it. We use Advantix on the dog, and she's good too.

We have a baby also (8mos), figure I'll use a treatment on the grass once she's big enough to be rolling around in it.

 

[blacktail]

i've always understood that ticks don't exist west of the pacific crest line of the mountains.

Not true. I get a couple on me every year from clearcuts and powerlines in eastern Snohomish and Skagit counties.
A co-worker also told me recently that his dog picked up a couple at a dog park in Bothell.

 

[blacktail]

I was talking to my neighbor tonight. He told me about two of his co-workers who live in the area and found ticks on their dogs this summer. The dogs hadn't gone anywhere so the ticks were locally acquired. This is in the Lake Goodwin area.

 

[Highbeam]

We were always warned about them when I worked in the woods but in the last 40 years that I've lived in Western WA I Have never even seen a tick. Many many years of clearing forest, cutting trees, etc.

I worry more about bees.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Ticks aren't that big of a deal unless they are carrying lyme. As a kid, I never worried about ticks...then came lyme and everyone is getting it.

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

We were always warned about them when I worked in the woods but in the last 40 years that I've lived in Western WA I Have never even seen a tick. Many many years of clearing forest, cutting trees, etc.

Common wisdom previously was that ticks didn't inhabit Western Washington. But they are here now. They don't live in dense forests in Western Washington, they like grassy and rocky areas with scattered trees. I've found them on the west side of Fidalgo Island, less than a 1/4 mile from the sea. They will be worse after a series of mild winters. Long, very cold winters seem to knock them back quite a bit.

It's not the tick that's problematic, it's what they can carry. And since there is no way to tell if they have Lyme's (without testing them), they all need to be treated with extreme caution. I ground a pair of tweezer so I could remove them without crushing their bodies. Works really well.

 

[blades]

Ticks now they have found a spieces that is so small ( 1/2 the size of a period on this page) that carries all the nasties as well. Lyme's is only the surface of of the problems associated with ticks according to the latest reading I have done. Scary to say the least- and no defense devised for some of the more recent findings.

 

[fishki]

We have a wide variety of ticks, deer ticks, dog ticks, lone star ticks, you name it, you want ticks, come to Kansas, if you go hiking out thru the brush, you're going to get a few ticks unless you spray yourself down good. And then you're still guaranteed to get a couple.

 

[Doc C]

I spray a product called Tempo SC Ultra on my wood pile after I'm done stacking it in the spring. We have a huge problem with wasps bedding in our wood pile and then in the winter when I'm bringing wood in the house the wasps start crawling out and I end up stepping on them and getting stung.

Tempo is obviously a chemical but it's one that I am not sensitive too and I am very sensitive to chemicals. It's approved to be used in food service areas.

Do some research and see if your comfortable with using it vs bringing ticks in the house. And also verify it's effective for ticks.

 

[velvetfoot]

I like the o'tom remover:
http://www.otom.com/en/

 

[johneh]

http://www.otom.com/en/

Our Vet gives them away 2 different sizes and they work like a charm

 

[WoodyIsGoody]

I like the o'tom remover:
http://www.otom.com/en/

That looks pretty slick. Has anyone ordered one from the website? I'm wondering if there is any customs duty due?