Author Topic: I HATE ticks.... (Read 5181 times)

Regolith · « **on:** July 10, 2008, 09:51:36 PM »

Went the to the range today. Shot a bunch of shotgun (12 gauge slugs and 00 buck), .30-06 and .22. Came home around 6:00 PM. Good day.

At least until an hour ago. Found a freaking deer tick crawling on me. It wasn't attached or engorged, but it looked like a male which means it may have already fed on me and was looking to make good on its escape. Doesn't help that I have a near-phobia when it comes to picking up animal and insect borne diseases. I'm probably going to spend the next week sweating it out, looking for rings or signs of fever. angry

Thankfully, I live in an area that has a very low incidence of tick borne disease.

Last time I go out without putting on insect repellent and checking religiously for ticks. I used to check for ticks whenever I went into the field, but I had never had one on me (till today) so I got complacent and stopped checking. So yeah, learn from my mistakes, check for ticks whenever you go out into the field.

Antibubba · « **Reply #1 on:** July 10, 2008, 09:59:17 PM »

What caliber for ticks??

Regolith · « **Reply #2 on:** July 10, 2008, 11:34:24 PM »

Quote from: Antibubba on July 10, 2008, 08:59:17 PM

What caliber for ticks??

I prefer good old fashioned fire, myself.

mtnbkr · « **Reply #3 on:** July 11, 2008, 01:51:13 AM »

This has been a bad year for ticks. I've removed more from me this year than I have in the past decade. My wife has even found a couple on her and she doesn't go into the woods like I do. I must have brought them home without realizing it.

One of the guys I bike with got Lymes this year. He caught it early and was treated, so he's going to be ok, but it was still scary. Several weeks after the bite, he still had a big mark on his leg.

Chris

Sergeant Bob · « **Reply #4 on:** July 11, 2008, 03:18:06 AM »

I have a lot of ticks around my place and I seriously do hate them. Not all bites from ticks carrying lyme disease look like a bullseye, and some won't even leave a noticeable mark. I think I got bitten by a couple last week. I had one small bullseye on one leg and a pretty big welt on the other. I have a doctor's appointment next week so I'll get a blood test (for all thats worth) for lyme then.

Even the blood tests do not always pick up the disease and there is a lot of controversy concerning testing methodology.

Here's a good place to go for information. http://www.lymenet.org/

MechAg94 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 11, 2008, 04:19:04 AM »

I guess I don't get out in the woods as much as I did when I was younger. Certainly not crawling around in the grass/dirt. I don't think I have seen a tick on me in years. They are nasty creatures though I don't hate them as much as I hate fleas.

Now The Tick cartoon was pretty damn funny.

roo_ster · « **Reply #6 on:** July 11, 2008, 04:48:54 AM »

Quote from: MechAg94 on July 11, 2008, 03:19:04 AM

I guess I don't get out in the woods as much as I did when I was younger. Certainly not crawling around in the grass/dirt. I don't think I have seen a tick on me in years. They are nasty creatures though I don't hate them as much as I hate fleas.

Now The Tick cartoon was pretty damn funny.

SPOON!

Tallpine · « **Reply #7 on:** July 11, 2008, 07:02:56 AM »

You wimps

We deal with ticks every day. Pulling them off our dogs, pulling them off our horses, and pulling them off ourselves.

I guess that's why this part of Montana won't be overpopulated with people anytime too soon Wink

mtnbkr · « **Reply #8 on:** July 11, 2008, 07:21:24 AM »

I don't have a problem with ticks, but I'd like to know why they seem so much worse this year. I haven't changed my habits, but have found a decade's worth of them on me this year so far.

Chris

coppertales · « **Reply #9 on:** July 11, 2008, 09:05:13 AM »

I guess I am lucky.....I haven't seen any ticks or chiggers at my camp at all...............chris3

Brad Johnson · « **Reply #10 on:** July 11, 2008, 09:06:37 AM »

I usually give my lower legs a liberal dose of repellent before going out to the range. Pretty much everything from the knee down, socks, shoes, and all. Pants too. Around these parts ticks aren't too bad but chiggers will eat you alive.

Brad

never_retreat · « **Reply #11 on:** July 11, 2008, 09:18:26 AM »

Sounds like you need to get some guineahen.
They love to eat ticks and other insects.

MechAg94 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 11, 2008, 11:36:12 AM »

Quote from: Tallpine on July 11, 2008, 06:02:56 AM

You wimps

We deal with ticks every day. Pulling them off our dogs, pulling them off our horses, and pulling them off ourselves.

I guess that's why this part of Montana won't be overpopulated with people anytime too soon Wink

I used to spend hours petting an de-ticking my dogs, but that was a while back. I still rarely got them biting or even on me. My parents put that liquid stuff on their dog and it seems to keep the pests off pretty good.

I hear a dab of rubbing alcohol gets them off fast. At least it worked for seed ticks.

Regolith · « **Reply #13 on:** July 11, 2008, 01:22:46 PM »

Quote from: MechAg94 on July 11, 2008, 10:36:12 AM

I hear a dab of rubbing alcohol gets them off fast. At least it worked for seed ticks.

That's not a good idea.

While it may get them out, it will also cause them to vomit into the wound, which increases the chance of transmitting disease.

The only recommended way that I know of is to use tweezers, and to make sure you get the head out.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #14 on:** July 11, 2008, 01:31:04 PM »

Quote

It wasn't attached or engorged, but it looked like a male which means it may have already fed on me and was looking to make good on its escape.

I have never heard of that before. I thought if a tick was crawling around on you, it simply meant that it hadn't found a good place to eat yet, because once it does it stays put. Nor have I ever heard of an engorged tick on a human; only on animals. I'm pretty sure you would find it well before it could eat that much.

I grew up with Tallpine-like tick conditions. I've removed perhaps a hundred ticks from myself and my dogs, with just fingers or a tweezer. Between me, pets and other family members, no tick has ever left his head behind. Or if he did, it didn't matter.

Regolith · « **Reply #15 on:** July 12, 2008, 01:04:33 PM »

Quote from: fistful on July 11, 2008, 12:31:04 PM

Quote

It wasn't attached or engorged, but it looked like a male which means it may have already fed on me and was looking to make good on its escape.

I have never heard of that before. I thought if a tick was crawling around on you, it simply meant that it hadn't found a good place to eat yet, because once it does it stays put. Nor have I ever heard of an engorged tick on a human; only on animals. I'm pretty sure you would find it well before it could eat that much.

I grew up with Tallpine-like tick conditions. I've removed perhaps a hundred ticks from myself and my dogs, with just fingers or a tweezer. Between me, pets and other family members, no tick has ever left his head behind. Or if he did, it didn't matter.

I did a little research on the interwebz after I found the damn thing. Turns out males will feed for about an hour or so, then disengage and go looking for females. Females usually feed for several hours before dropping off in order to lay their eggs.

MechAg94 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 12, 2008, 02:56:30 PM »

I guess that is why I would often find a big one along with one or more little ones on my dogs.

I was thinking my mother said you could ward off ticks by eating local honey. Whatever it was we did, it seemed to work. Before we moved out to my Grandfather's land as a kid, I would get them all the time when just visiting. After moving there, I would rarely find them at all on me, much less actually biting. Perhaps it was behavioral.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #17 on:** July 12, 2008, 03:58:23 PM »

Quote

I did a little research on the interwebz after I found the damn thing. Turns out males will feed for about an hour or so, then disengage and go looking for females. Females usually feed for several hours before dropping off in order to lay their eggs.

Interesting. Since they got so huge on my dog Tessie, (she had the run of the neighborhood) I always thought that ticks just stayed put for days or longer. But that wouldn't even make much sense, now that I think of it.

Scout26 · « **Reply #18 on:** July 12, 2008, 04:26:43 PM »

Quote from: mtnbkr on July 11, 2008, 06:21:24 AM

I don't have a problem with ticks, but I'd like to know why they seem so much worse this year. I haven't changed my habits, but have found a decade's worth of them on me this year so far.

Chris

Global Woerming or Fistful's Fault....Pick One. grin

Scout26 · « **Reply #19 on:** July 12, 2008, 04:30:33 PM »

Quote from: Regolith on July 11, 2008, 12:22:46 PM

Quote from: MechAg94 on July 11, 2008, 10:36:12 AM

I hear a dab of rubbing alcohol gets them off fast. At least it worked for seed ticks.

That's not a good idea.

While it may get them out, it will also cause them to vomit into the wound, which increases the chance of transmitting disease.

The only recommended way that I know of is to use tweezers, and to make sure you get the head out.

Fire, alcohol and tweezers are not recommended to remove ticks. The latest and greatest is to coat them and the area with vaseline and they'll back out without vomiting or leaving their head behind. (Makes it so they can't breathe and they back out to get air. )

Regolith · « **Reply #20 on:** July 12, 2008, 04:53:56 PM »

Quote from: scout26 on July 12, 2008, 03:30:33 PM

Quote from: Regolith on July 11, 2008, 12:22:46 PM

Quote from: MechAg94 on July 11, 2008, 10:36:12 AM

I hear a dab of rubbing alcohol gets them off fast. At least it worked for seed ticks.

That's not a good idea.

While it may get them out, it will also cause them to vomit into the wound, which increases the chance of transmitting disease.

The only recommended way that I know of is to use tweezers, and to make sure you get the head out.

Fire, alcohol and tweezers are not recommended to remove ticks. The latest and greatest is to coat them and the area with vaseline and they'll back out without vomiting or leaving their head behind. (Makes it so they can breathe and they back out to get air. )

Got any links? I've never heard of that...tweezers are the only thing I've ever heard of being recommended, including in the classes I took in order to become certified for first aid.

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #21 on:** July 12, 2008, 06:21:21 PM »

Maybe the tweezers are what's causing the heads to come off. I've used tweezers before, in my vast experience, but only very rarely. Fingers usually work pretty well, and like I said, detachable heads have never been a problem for me.

And I'm not kidding about vast experience. I'm talking about hundreds of tick-ectomies.

Regolith · « **Reply #22 on:** July 12, 2008, 06:57:14 PM »

Quote from: fistful on July 12, 2008, 05:21:21 PM

Maybe the tweezers are what's causing the heads to come off. I've used tweezers before, in my vast experience, but only very rarely. Fingers usually work pretty well, and like I said, detachable heads have never been a problem for me.

And I'm not kidding about vast experience. I'm talking about hundreds of tick-ectomies.

No; if you do it right, tweezers will always bring the head out with the rest of the body. Here's a couple of websites that show how to do it:

http://www.tickencounter.org/education/videos/
http://www.lyme.org/ticks/removal.html

Perd Hapley · « **Reply #23 on:** July 12, 2008, 08:05:51 PM »

Show you how to do it? It baffles me that people think there is any trick to removing ticks. You grab. You yank. Done. I know there is new concern now, due to Lyme disease, but still; grab and yank.

I know I'm kind of weird about this. But it is a subject that comes up fairly often, believe it or not. undecided

The Annoyed Man · « **Reply #24 on:** July 13, 2008, 03:46:37 AM »

The bigger ones (dog ticks?) are easy to remove using the fine side of a pocket comb.

The little ones you just use tweezers.

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Author Topic: I HATE ticks.... (Read 5181 times)