How do you handle ticks?

[Rainer]

A place I was going to spend a week deer hunting is covered in them. I walked in 4k and had 19 0f them on my legs.

 

[Beignet]

My level of prevention is really all dependent upon where I’m recreating. If you look at CDC’s Lyme map the North East and Upper Midwest have it bad. The NE ticks also transmit a red blood cell parasite called babesiosis which was a doozy for me in conjunction with Lyme.

There’s this relatively new thing called Heartland Virus that a colleague lost a dog to in Arkansas (or at least they believe that was the case). That’s one to put on the radar.

Ticks sure do suck. Har har.

Though the Bitterroots were the birthplace of Rocky Mountain Spotted fever (hence the National Lab in Hamilton), there’s not really a prevalence of tick borne illnesses in the northern Rockies at all these days. I don’t really give them a second thought in Montana.

 

[Mustangs Rule]

The most ticks I have taken off myslf at one time was almost 50. I went hunting through a bottle neck in the brush where the deer would wait and see if all looked good to proceed forward,

A friend came to visit me last spring. He is a wildlife photograher.

He was going about mindless to ticks wearing shorts. He ignored my warnings.

I insisted that he do a strip search in my garage before coming into the house. I gave him mirrors.

One night he awoke aware that ticks were boring into him.

One was in his shoulder, another in his neck and the third in his scrotum.

I pulled two out and gave him a mirror for his privates.

After that he bought womens nylon pantyhose , wore it religiously and also nylon shirt and heagear.

I adjust where and when I go places.

After late summer i cannot find a singe tick anywhere.

Yale medical school did the most intense study about Lymes Disease. A perfecr storm of factors caused it to explode, one was lack of predators.

In Belgium research showed that stopping the hunting of small and medium predators dramtically reduced Lymes in people in rural populations.

Lymes is actually carried much more in mice and shrews than deer. Depending on the ecology of an area hunting foxes and coyotes will transfer to more people getting lymes.

For many years I lived in the totally tick free soutwestern deserts. I would cheerfully take living with rattesnakes over ticks.

My cousin almose died from babesisious.

On another side note, what is now becoming a huge disease problem in the southwest are cattle watering ponds. Mosquitos now carry Denge Fever and deady enchephalitis.

With the warming from climate change these tropical diseases will be moving north.

The absolute worst mosquito explosions I have experienced were in the Mohave Desert caused by cattle watering ponds. Ridiculous since the cattle carrying capacity was so low. But the ranchers went all over the desert with bulldozers digging out depressions to retain rainwater. Then the tropical monsoons bring rain carrying these tiny ferocious disease bearing mosquitos which lay eggs that hatch in a few days.

I was out scouting one time for a desert deer hunt and got hit with rain and the mosquito explosion. Even miles and miles away from the cattle ponds the mosquitoes were unbearable.

Nowadays digging such watering ponds would never pass environmental impact studies and would not be permitted.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I only have to deal with a couple every year. They don't worry me too much. Deer ticks are around but so far only encountered wood ticks. Learn to identify both. It's easy enough. No problem pulling off a wood tick with my fingers. Just grab on and gently pull till it let's go. This can take a minute or two. Deer ticks would be more of a concern I guess because you don't want them puking stuff back into your blood stream. But in all reality if the deer tick has already latched on and is infected with Lyme disease, you've already probably been infected. Just watch the bite area carefully afterwards for bullseye ring. Only one case of Rocky Mtn spotted fever ever recorded in Ontario so I'm not much worried about that. I once read that wood ticks are suspected of also possibly carrying tulerimia and sleeping sickness but extremely rare if at all. They are creepy buggers but you learn to get over it and just deal with them. Same with bird lice on waterfowl. Creepy but harmless for humans.

 

[OntarioHunter]

My level of prevention is really all dependent upon where I’m recreating. If you look at CDC’s Lyme map the North East and Upper Midwest have it bad. The NE ticks also transmit a red blood cell parasite called babesiosis which was a doozy for me in conjunction with Lyme.

There’s this relatively new thing called Heartland Virus that a colleague lost a dog to in Arkansas (or at least they believe that was the case). That’s one to put on the radar.

Ticks sure do suck. Har har.

Though the Bitterroots were the birthplace of Rocky Mountain Spotted fever (hence the National Lab in Hamilton), there’s not really a prevalence of tick borne illnesses in the northern Rockies at all these days. I don’t really give them a second thought in Montana.

I presume you are vaxed for COVID? You have already demonstrated a weak immune system if you reacted badly to babesiosis which puts you in high risk for serious COVID reaction. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't know but want to be sure. Did you eventually kick Lyme or still dealing with residual effects?

 

[Lost Arra]

Permethrin clothing is key, but deet is also part of the plan - I like 3M's ultrathon spray - it is encapsulated so you don't have the harsh solvents like traditional deet products.

This ^^
Permethrin+Ultrathon is a great use of modern chemistry

 

[OntarioHunter]

The most ticks I have taken off myslf at one time was almost 50. I went hunting through a bottle neck in the brush where the deer would wait and see if all looked good to proceed forward,

A friend came to visit me last spring. He is a wildlife photograher.

He was going about mindless to ticks wearing shorts. He ignored my warnings.

I insisted that he do a strip search in my garage before coming into the house. I gave him mirrors.

One night he awoke aware that ticks were boring into him.

One was in his shoulder, another in his neck and the third in his scrotum.

I pulled two out and gave him a mirror for his privates.

After that he bought womens nylon pantyhose , wore it religiously and also nylon shirt and heagear.

I adjust where and when I go places.

After late summer i cannot find a singe tick anywhere.

Yale medical school did the most intense study about Lymes Disease. A perfecr storm of factors caused it to explode, one was lack of predators.

In Belgium research showed that stopping the hunting of small and medium predators dramtically reduced Lymes in people in rural populations.

Lymes is actually carried much more in mice and shrews than deer. Depending on the ecology of an area hunting foxes and coyotes will transfer to more people getting lymes.

For many years I lived in the totally tick free soutwestern deserts. I would cheerfully take living with rattesnakes over ticks.

My cousin almose died from babesisious.

On another side note, what is now becoming a huge disease problem in the southwest are cattle watering ponds. Mosquitos now carry Denge Fever and deady enchephalitis.

With the warming from climate change these tropical diseases will be moving north.

The absolute worst mosquito explosions I have experienced were in the Mohave Desert caused by cattle watering ponds. Ridiculous since the cattle carrying capacity was so low. But the ranchers went all over the desert with bulldozers digging out depressions to retain rainwater. Then the tropical monsoons bring rain carrying these tiny ferocious disease bearing mosquitos which lay eggs that hatch in a few days.

I was out scouting one time for a desert deer hunt and got hit with rain and the mosquito explosion. Even miles and miles away from the cattle ponds the mosquitoes were unbearable.

Nowadays digging such watering ponds would never pass environmental impact studies and would not be permitted.

Great info. Thanks.

 

[Mustangs Rule]

Great info. Thanks.

Animals and Nature

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[44hunter45]

Say you get one the embeds itself in you … what's the best way to remove?

chain saw

 

[44hunter45]

I moved to NM.............lol Only seen a couple since moving here.

Hate ticks. They were thick on the Central Coast CA.
Don't think I ever took a buck in CA that did NOT have ticks & fleas on them,at least a few.
Debate was let the deer lay for an hour and most would leave the critter, but by then the meat bee's would be all over you.

My wife found one behind my son's ear after a day of watching the Tule Elk at Point Reyes years ago. It was smaller than the head of a pin. I would never have found it, but she would go over those kids with a magnifying glass.

We had chickens in our yard in Boulder Creek. I think they kept the scorpions and ticks down. Not to derail the thread, but watching a chicken eat a big scorpion is more fun than watching Animal Planet.

 

[RobG]

The type of tick that carries Lyme disease is on the ear of FDR. I found this one on me at my in-laws' in PA this spring. I felt it on my leg while showering. These invisible bastards scare this Montana boy more than grizzly bears.

 

[RobG]

Montana deer. Better him than me. Interestingly enough I never seem to get ticks from deer.

 

[Beignet]

I presume you are vaxed for COVID? You have already demonstrated a weak immune system if you reacted badly to babesiosis which puts you in high risk for serious COVID reaction. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything you don't know but want to be sure. Did you eventually kick Lyme or still dealing with residual effects?

Thanks for asking! Yup, I got covid on “opening weekend” in NYC and it kicked my butt for a while. It was the first time I’d been sick at all in a good three years. Now that you mention it, the prior exposure to babesiosis might explain why I got so darn sick from covid. I had some oddball residual inflammatory effects for a few months after, like a wildly intense reaction to a sunburn. I got vaxxed up the day I became eligible have been feeling fine since.

Fortunately, my GP at the time of Lyme has a place in the Catskills and is familiar with tick borne illnesses, he got me on an atomic dose of doxy from the get go, but I ended up having to do a full month cycle cause the first go didn’t quite me get back to normal. Felt like junk for a few weeks, but all was eventually good. They couldn’t treat the babesiosis at the same time (the reason escapes me now), but I reckon all is normal. This was oh, 7 years ago).

Funny thing, I wanted to donate plasma after recovering from covid for early trials of convalescent plasma treatments, but prior exposure to babesiosis was a specific question on the form that prevented me from enrolling in the trial.

I’d actually be curious to have the panels for Lyme and babesiosis run again all these years later to see what’s possibly still lingering around.

 

[Beignet]

The type of tick that carries Lyme disease is on the ear of FDR. I found this one on me at my in-laws' in PA this spring. I felt it on my leg while showering. These invisible bastards scare this Montana boy more than grizzly bears.

View attachment 197679

Not to be flippant, but I’ll take griz, lions, and moose most any day of the week.