Ticks... Nasty Wee Beasties!

[+Jango & Boba Fett]

I got a bite on my forearm last week while doing the Culbin Sands cache on the edge of Culbin Forest.

I was there a week later and found a little plump beastie sucking at the back of my knee when I had a bath that evening. He was so sated that he literally fell off into the bath. nice way to *bump* this very useful thread

 

Oh and I agree with DorsetGal & GeoDog that more cache owners need to make better use of the existing tick and snake attributes.

[+Johnmelad]

A couple of months ago we moved to Scotland. We love the life here and the scenery.

However, in the last couple of weeks our Geocaching adventures have been somewhat

marred by evil blood-sucking monsters.

 

Admittedly they are small but on several occasions each of us (there are 4) has had one

attached to us when we return from a caching day out.

 

We previously lived and cached in Cambridgeshire and never saw a single tick.

 

They are not difficult to remove, however having read up on them we gather it is possible

to get Lymes Disease from them.

 

Has anyone heard of anyone getting Lymes Disease, has a cacher ever had it?

Is there a vaccination? Are we just worrying about nothing?

 

Look here

[+LollyBob]

I got a bite on my forearm last week while doing the Culbin Sands cache on the edge of Culbin Forest.

I was there a week later and found a little plump beastie sucking at the back of my knee when I had a bath that evening. He was so sated that he literally fell off into the bath. nice way to *bump* this very useful thread

 

Oh and I agree with DorsetGal & GeoDog that more cache owners need to make better use of the existing tick and snake attributes.

 

They say its the way you remove ticks that They are very easy to use and the ticks stay intact too! Less chance of them regurgatating using them!.

 

Our dog has never got them until we went to Somerset ewwwwwwww nasty 'orrible little things!!

[+Jango & Boba Fett]

Look here

I think what John meant to say was look on the previous page where there is all the information you require thoughtfully supplied by the combined outdoor knowledge of your fellow cachers. He also wanted to say that what's great about this thread is it both dispells the myths and alerts you to the to potential risks of both ignoring tick bites and some of the traditional methods of tick removal.

 

Ah so that was why this thread was *bumped* Oh yes John and where's me beer money for doing walks in the flat boring bit for you.

[+Pharisee]

Myself, Omally and Hi-Tek were caching in Pember Forest, near Basingstoke last week end. All three of us found that we'd attracted these nasty little b*ggers. I removed mine easily using an O'tom tick removal tool that I'd bought some time ago from the vet where my cat was registered. It worked extremely well, even though the tick in question was very small.

[+Nellies Knackers]

Thanks guys for this very useful information, we now have a o'tom removal kit as part of our caching kit, at £4 from our local vet and very little to actually carry I'd recomend it to everyone.

[+Flyfishermanbob]

Thanks guys for this very useful information, we now have a o'tom removal kit as part of our caching kit, at £4 from our local vet and very little to actually carry I'd recomend it to everyone.

 

Have a wee look in your vets surgery car-park.... spot the top of the range Merc?

 

O'Tom tool ...... £ 1.20

Cummon ..... I've had toys from Xmas crackers which were more complex....

[+Stuey]

O'Tom tool ...... £ 1.20

Cummon ..... I've had toys from Xmas crackers which were more complex....

 

True, but where can we get them cheaper than £4? Anyone know?

[+TMM-Sarah]

Ok, I am now convinced that I must attract these nasty blighters.

 

Caching for 6 months and can "boast" 9 of them. Rest of the family? I hear you ask.

 

None, not even the dog!

 

Now a removal expert!

 

Sarah

 

The Morgan Mob

[+MBFace]

True, but where can we get them cheaper than £4? Anyone know?

 

£3.26 inc postage online from the Furry Pharm. Used mine for the first time after orienteering on Monday - I was impressed, the tick wasn't!!!

 

MBF

[lakeuk]

This year is the first year I've had ticks, and so far I've attracted them 3 times, 2 of those they were just on the clothing but the other I had 4 babys lodged.

[+Johnmelad]

lakeuk

 

Your signature is not working!

[+daytribe]

Well the weather has warmed up and so has our caching exploits.

After a winter of virtual cache hibernation in Scotland, the longer and

warmer days are enabling us to "get out there" again.

 

But warmer days mean the little blighters are back and now seems like

a good time to bump this thread. Many people have contributed lots

of interesting and helpful information that this years new cachers

might find useful.

 

Over the past week my family and I have been on 4 or 5 caching trips

and 2 of us have picked up 3 little baby ticks each.

 

For an additional weapon to add to the arsenal against these varmints

have a look at www.nontix.co.uk

 

The key ingredient needed can be purchased on eBay, if you have no

other way of getting hold of them. I've just got a batch for my family

and we're going to try it out. I'll let you know how we get on.

Edited April 12, 2007 by daytribe

[+davy boy]

I also had 3 of the little blighters on me after a trip to Dartmoor on sunday,cannot remember ever having them in my younger days.

Just a thought,they stopped dipping sheep quite a few year ago now and numbers seem to have increased since then and they are a real pain in the a-s now literaly!!!

Edited April 11, 2007 by davy boy

[lakeuk]

I had lots on Sunday after attempting a shortcut through dense wildiness, luckily they were just on my clothing (lots of babies), so just many forceful flicks required to get rid of them and resigned to stick to the paths (which the signs in the area recommend inorder to avoid the ticks)

[Cache Traders]

DITTO..

 

Anyone out in the Bramshill, NE Hants area be warned, these critters are awake and roving. We removed some from our clothing this week, (we had taken a narrow trail to get back to the car quickly, it was probably a deer track!!) Fortunately none were found on any skin.

 

I have now made a resolution to geocache in light clothing and stick to large paths...

 

NEW GEOCACHERS BE WARNED!!!!

 

Daytribe. please keep us posted with the results of your research.

[+Mr'D]

Here's an INJURY I picked up last summer

 

Still not sure what caused this, but it was like a wasp sting at the time. Just one of the joys of caching I guess

 

Jon

[+Alice Band]

Found three very tiny ticks enjoying my blood after caching in my local deerpark. They like climbing up bracken to wait for passers by, but I also caught two crawling up my arm after resting on a rocky outcrop. I was wearing a pale blue top which made them obvious to the eye. Thankfully they didnt crawl onto my 7 year old son. I usually get rid of them via a hot needle held onto them, but thanks to the above advice I wont be doing that anymore!

 

Do those vet gadgets work on the tinier ticks or are they just for the bigger ones?

 

As for Mr.Dewdrop, I think you have been victim of a horsefly. Nasty little so and so's, them.

Edited April 13, 2007 by Alice Band

[+The Forester]

Do those vet gadgets work on the tinier ticks or are they just for the bigger ones?

They come in two sizes.

[couched_potato]

We only seem to have a problem with our dogs getting ticks in our part of England and not us, although when I was backpacking in Aussie in the late eighties I got one on the inside of my thigh and discovered that using a lighter to try and burn it off wasn't such a clever idea as I not only succeeded in ridding myself of the tick but also all of the hair on my right leg! Yes; I'm that hairy, and I got some weird looks off people as I backpacked my way around Aussie with one leg hirsute and the as other smooth as a baby's bum.

[+minxyy]

No ticks yet but I'm sure we're not immune! However I have been following the tick thread on the main board

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php...92&hl=ticks

 

As a retired midwife, I have a great interest in cross placental transfer and have been doing some reading about it in relation to 'Lymes disease' . It has been shown to cause miscarricage and notable 'birth defects' in babies so definately not worth leaving it to 'run it's course' if you are thinking of getting pregnant or if you have had probs with miscarriages.

 

A link about the use of DEET in pregnancy

http://www.otispregnancy.org/pdf/DEET.pdf

 

Sorry I can't find the link I looked at the other day.... most medical studies are inconclusive. However they do state that there is a "theoretical" possibility that placental transfer may occur so if at all concerned about your pregnancy or repeated miscarriage it's poss worth a mention to the Dr that you Geocache as a Hobby/sport, if you go into tick infested areas as the rash does not always appear! The spirocete can be dected using a blood test (again not 100% accurate) This is a new area of science and it's a case of 'watch this space'.

 

Also if I have understood the literature correctly Lyme's Disease can leave the sufferer with symptoms similar to Tertiary (end stage) Syphillis as well as MS/ME type symptoms.

 

I appologise if I have upset anyone by adding this thread, it is deffinately not my intention. I have been looking into it for a while for my sister in law who has had 5 miscarriages and 1 full term delivery of a child with undiagnosable disabilities.

 

Have fun all scritch scritch

minxyy

Edited April 15, 2007 by minxyy

[Cache Traders]

 

Do those vet gadgets work on the tinier ticks or are they just for the bigger ones?

 

 

Yes, definitely. It is a bit fiddly, but if you follow the instructions it does work on very small ticks...

[+wheelybarrow]

Doing a lot of walking on Dartmoor we see a lot of ticks - were picking loads off the dogs at the weekend - don't know if it is partly due to the weather having been so dry. Also found one attatched to me which was soon removed.

What hasn't been mentioned so far is that the symptoms of Lymes disease can take months to appear so be warned - if you get any flu like symptoms go to your doctor quickly and say you had been bitten and when.

[+Alice Band]

From today's BBC news and a timely reminder for the summer

 

I'll leave it for you to decide about the 'handy guide to removing ticks' advice.

[+Us 4 and Jess]

I thought I would give this thread a bump as myself and Daniel picked up a couple of ticks caching at Kielder reservoir last weekend, I suppose we are pretty lucky really as this is the first ones any of us has ever had. the one I had was smaller than a freckle tiny little thing it was, so please check yourself carefully after caching.

 

It is really hard to check Jess though as her fur is so long and thick, does anyone have any suggestion?

 

Is there an area of dogs ticks particularly go for?

 

Mandy

Edited June 5, 2007 by Us 4 and Jess

[+thekennelat79]

True, but where can we get them cheaper than £4? Anyone know?

 

£3.26 inc postage online from the Furry Pharm. Used mine for the first time after orienteering on Monday - I was impressed, the tick wasn't!!!

 

MBF

 

I have just bought a set of these "plastic chip forks" from Furry Pharm.

Super fast delivery and they work very well on all sizes of ticks.

 

After years of plastering on Frontline, Vaseline, and Surgical Spirit, all I have to do now is a 2 second flick and twist with the "fork". The head of the tick comes out and the dog just looks at me as if to say "what was all that about?".

 

Mandy - my collies pick up ticks all over their bodies but the head and neck are a favourite area for the little ****s to attach to.

 

Rod

[+jerryo]

Ticks won’t totally specialise exclusively on any particular part of the body though. On the same caching trip with Mandy, our dog picked up three: one on her back, one near her ear and one near her elbow (near her, er, dog pit). You just have to look hard and perhaps wait until they get bigger. Hmmm, lovely. Ideally you should use a bespoke tick repellent/killer as often as recommended on the tin to protect the animal.

 

DO NOT put Vaseline on ticks or try any other crap home made remedy as it will probably make the tick puke its guts all over the place. You don’t want tick chunder anywhere near you if you can avoid it and bursting them while trying to get them out is a bad thing. The little fork things are great but need a little care. Ideally you should keep the tick if it’s been attached to a person as it could:

1) be used to identify any possible infection later on

2) make an ideal pet – easy to look after.

[+The Hoffies]

Just a quick note to say that we successfully used the O'Tom tool a couple of times last weekend while caching near Beer Head in Devon. Checking for these creatures has now become just another part of a day out caching.

We bought them through bada-uk.org, a little bit more expensive but it also helps with the charity (we hope).

 

Happy Hunting

[+Stuey]

Just a quick note to say that we successfully used the O'Tom tool a couple of times last weekend while caching near Beer Head in Devon.

 

Thanks for the update Dirk. I have now also added the "Tick" attribute to my three Beer head caches.

[+The HERB5]

Just back from West Wales.

Ticks active, got about 10 on the dog.

Removal tool was £3.50.

 

Maybe we could get Bill Oddie to do a Feature on SpringWatch.

Or preferably Kate Humble, hubba hubba

[+jerryo]

Maybe we could get Bill Oddie to do a Feature on SpringWatch.

Or preferably Kate Humble, hubba hubba

She’s certainly better than her co-presenter, Bill (Panurus biarmicus).

 

A general comment though:

 

It's still best to dose your dog with a proprietary tick spray like Frontline. This makes the ticks easier to remove, less likely to transmit disease (dogs can get Lyme disease too) and LESS PAINFUL for your dog when you remove them. Contrary to popular opinion, the local anaesthetic that the ticks use when inserting their bits into the flesh doesn’t stop it hurting when you wrench them out with a crocodile clip.

[+The HERB5]

It's still best to dose your dog with a proprietary tick spray like Frontline.

 

Our Heidi is protected, but be sure to read the smallprint.

For a 8 week dose your pet is only protected against ticks for 4 weeks.

[+DonB]

A couple of months ago we moved to Scotland. We love the life here and the scenery.

However, in the last couple of weeks our Geocaching adventures have been somewhat

marred by evil blood-sucking monsters.

 

Admittedly they are small but on several occasions each of us (there are 4) has had one

attached to us when we return from a caching day out.

 

We previously lived and cached in Cambridgeshire and never saw a single tick.

 

They are not difficult to remove, however having read up on them we gather it is possible

to get Lymes Disease from them.

 

Has anyone heard of anyone getting Lymes Disease, has a cacher ever had it?

Is there a vaccination? Are we just worrying about nothing?

If the product Repel is available where you are at, they make a product called Repel Permanone that not only repels ticks and mosquitoes, it kills them. You don't apply it to your skin, you spray your clothing and let it dry for a couple of hours before you wear the article. They claim it will last for up to two weeks and through several washings.

[+Dorsetgal & GeoDog]

Living on the edge of a large heathland which is inhabited by deer, I find ticks can even venture into my garden occasionally.

 

Three summers ago, GeoDog had 17 embedded ticks within a 14 day period, in spite of the fact that I checked him each time he came in.

 

On advice from our vet we switched from Frontline to Advantix; result is that in the time since he has only had one embedded tick (on his nose, in France).

 

I would also recommend the O'Tom tick removing tools, small, cheap and easy to keep wth you. I permanently have a set in a pouch on my wheelchair and another set in the "glove box" of my off roader.

[+jerryo]

On advice from our vet we switched from Frontline to Advantix

That sounds sensible. I'll have to see my vet now. Again

[+MadBilly]

Just got home from a week in the Lake District and my dog, Sadie, had about 4 or 5 a day. The vet in Ambleside recommended the O'TOM removers and we found them to work on both the pea sized monsters and the babies. Luckily me and the mrs remained tick free.

[+scanker]

Thought I'd bump this thread too. We've just spent the weekend in Dorset, where I found 14 caches (even in all the rain and fog). However, this morning my wife used our o'Tom tick remover for the first time to remove 9 ticks from me! My own fault I suppose - I didn't think to use insect repellent, but I didn't really think I needed it, wearing wellies, trousers, t-shirt, coat and hat. I was wrong.

 

They seem pretty prevalent down there. Lyme disease is on the increase too - a friend of my wife's family down there is suffering from it and knows of someone else at the same surgery who has also been recently diagnosed.

 

Make sure you get someone to check you over, as you can't always see the ones on your back or back of your legs.

 

On the plus side, the o'Tom tick remover worked a treat and the wee beasties are currently languishing in a sample bottle.

[synesis]

I live in the Lyme Disease capital of America (and perhaps the world): Suffolk County on Long Island, New York. We get more cases of Lyme here than anywhere else in the US. Given this unpleasant fact it did not come as a complete shock to me that after six months of sporadic caching and bushwhacking I recently came down with a case of Lyme Disease myself. Well, I do admit I was kind of suprised it was me that had it and not some acquaintance, family member, or friend. Things like this always seem to happen to someone else.

 

Until last week I knew very little about Lyme Disease, except that it was transmitted through tick bites and that this area was a Lyme Disease epicenter. But now that I have it myself, I've read a ton on the subject, and having read through this thread I see there's a lot of misinformation out there.

 

So if you're serious about learning the facts about this illness, how it's transmitted, and how you can prevent and detect it, I suggest looking to a reputable source of information, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention page on Lyme Disease: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme

 

For something a bit less formal, I can recommend this article: http://www.yankeemagazine.com/issues/2007-...res/lymecountry

 

There are a number of precautions you can take to prevent getting bitten by a tick. Here are the CDC's recommendations: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/Preve...ntion_Avoid.htm

 

So, apart from bushwhacking through the woods in Lyme Central, why did I get Lyme Disease? I think it's because I did just about everything wrong in terms of prevention and detection (though even if I'd done everything right there's no guarantee I wouldn't have been infected):

• It's recommend that you wear light colored clothing, I wore dark clothing.
   
   
  
• I never checked my clothes for deer ticks (though it would have been futile anyway, considering my clothes were so dark the ticks would be impossible to distinguish from the clothes). Deer ticks carrying Lyme Disease can be very small, by the way. They can be as small as the period at the end of this sentence, and still bite and infect you.
   
   
  
• As per the recommendations, I did wear long sleeved shirts and long pants. But when it got hot I stripped down to my t-shirt, giving ticks easy access to my skin.
   
   
  
• It is recommended that you tuck your pants in to your socks. Nope. Didn't do that either. Who wants to go traipsing through the woods, wearing all white and with your pants tucked in to your socks? You'd look like a complete dufus... Well, I'm paying for that particular choice of fashion.
   
   
  
• It's recommended that you wear insect repellent. I meant to do so, but just never got around to it.
   
   
  
• When I was young I was told to "check your hair for ticks", so I was under the mistaken impression that ticks would only infest one's head, so I only checked my hair and scalp. In fact, ticks can bite any part of your body and I believe that bites on one's body rather than one's head are more common (though don't quote me on that).
   
   
  
• I knew to look out for a rash, but I expected the rash to itch, so was quite surprised that when I finally checked my entire body for a rash (after I'd already been diagnosed with Lyme Disease from a Western Blot blood test) that I had a big, painless and itch-less rash on my back, just under my left shoulder blade, where I would have ordinarily never noticed it unless I was meticulously checking my entire body. I had become too complacent and only casually looked for abnormalities on my skin where I could easily see them (like on the fronts of my arms, hands, legs, and torso). Now I realise how important it is to periodically check one's entire body, even "out of the way" places like one's back. "Out of sight, out of mind" is the path of least effort and stress, but you could wind up paying for such an attitude down the line.
   
   
  
• Despite living in a Lyme endemic area, and knowning that there was a risk of contracting the disease if I went in to the woods, I never really took the risk seriously. It was one of those "it only happens to the other guy" situations. I never really thought it would happen to me, even though I well aware of and would have readily admitted its possibility.
   
   
  
• Finally, not only did I go in to the woods in an area where Lyme Disease is endemic, but I went in to a parts of the woods where there are lots of deer, and deer ticks are the primary means Lyme Disease is transmitted.
  

So, if I hadn't gone in to the woods at all (at least not around here), I probably wouldn't have gotten bit. If I'd followed the other precautions like using insect repellent, I probably wouldn't have gotten bit. If I had detected ticks on my clothes or body I might have removed them before they could bite. If I'd regularly inspected my entire body for a rash I might have started treatment a lot sooner. But it wasn't until I'd started having some rather severe symptoms that I even went to the doctor, and another week until I got the results of my blood tests diagnosing Lyme Disease.

 

With Lyme Disease it's crucial to start treatment as soon as possible after being bitten by a Lyme Disease carrying tick. That's when the prognosis is best. The longer treatment is delayed the more likelyhood there is of getting more severe and long-lasting symptoms.

 

So now I'm on my first week of a four week course of antibiotics, and feeling better, but only time will tell how this disease will affect my life in the long run.

 

The disease has not been recognized by modern science until relatively recently (the term "Lyme Disease" did not become the standard way of referring to this disease until 1992). So there is still a lot that is unknown about this disease, and there's a lot controversy about its diagnosis, treatment, and theraputic outcome.

 

Don't become a victim of it. Be careful, especially if you're in an area where it is endemic.

 

As for me, after I (hopefully) get "cured", I am not setting foot in the Long Island woods again. Having had Lyme Disease will not make me immune to contracting it again, and once was enough. Now that I realize just how real the risk of getting the disease around here is, I also realize the risk is just not worth it. And even if I take all those precautions against getting bitten and go in to the woods wearing a mothballed hazmat outfit, it's still no guarantee against getting infected again. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to hang up my GPS as long as I'm in Long Island, or maybe just stick to urban caches (that is, if I'm still able to walk after Lyme Disease gets through with me).

 

::synesis::

Edited July 4, 2007 by synesis

[+keehotee]

A bump for this thread by way of a question........

 

Now that Summer's as good as gone, I feel I'm safe in saying I've not picked up a single tick.

 

Ever.

 

In 42 years -

- despite spending the first half of my life in the New Forest, and the second half on or near Dartmoor.

 

My tick resistance has come at a price though. I had exczema as a kid, and just as I got rid of that South West Water dumped a lorry load of Aluminium Sulphide into the water at Wadebridge and gave me psoriasis.

 

What I was wondering is.....am I a freak of nature, or has anybody else got skin so unpallatable that the ticks just drop off again?

[+MartyBartfast]

A bump for this thread by way of a question........

 

What I was wondering is.....am I a freak of nature, or has anybody else got skin so unpallatable that the ticks just drop off again?

 

Well I'm pushing 45 and I've never had a tick, despite routinely going out in shorts and Tshirt. I've spent a fair ammount of time in the countryside, including numerous holidays in the New Forest, although I've always lived in towns. I also seem to be the last choice for midges and have only been stung once when I put on a jumper which had a bee inside it at the time. I even escaped unscathed when I inadvertantly jumped into a wasp nest - they all went for my sister first

Edited October 1, 2007 by MartyBartfast

[nobby.nobbs]

What I was wondering is.....am I a freak of nature,?

 

of course you are but what's that got to do with ticks?

[+T.R.a.M.P.]

A bump for this thread by way of a question........

 

What I was wondering is.....am I a freak of nature, or has anybody else got skin so unpallatable that the ticks just drop off again?

 

Similarly, in 50+ years living and holidaying in the South of England I have never knowingly had a tick bite.

Having said that, I often get anonymous itchy bites - but no embedded ticks <yuck>.

 

Trevor

[markandlynn]

A bump for this thread by way of a question........

 

Now that Summer's as good as gone, I feel I'm safe in saying I've not picked up a single tick.

 

Ever.

 

In 42 years -

- despite spending the first half of my life in the New Forest, and the second half on or near Dartmoor.

 

My tick resistance has come at a price though. I had exczema as a kid, and just as I got rid of that South West Water dumped a lorry load of Aluminium Sulphide into the water at Wadebridge and gave me psoriasis.

 

What I was wondering is.....am I a freak of nature, or has anybody else got skin so unpallatable that the ticks just drop off again?

 

The odds are that you have just been lucky ive only had two ticks so far both gained from buswacking for caches in the same time period aaron has had about 6 but he is lower to the ground krystal one kelly one and lynn 1.

 

It can also be that you are being bitten but so far have had no reaction, there are people who appear immune to mosquitos the truth is they get bitten just as much as everyone but dont react to being bitten.

[+Pharisee]

It's not just this country, either. A couple of weeks ago I collected a tick whilst clambering through the Frauenwald in the northern Tirol. A quick flick with the mighty Otom and a dab of antiseptic soon settled his hash!!

[+Custheyder]

I have to say this thread has made me extremely nervous!

 

So much so I've ordered a pack of O'Tom in both sizes. It's not just this thread that has made me nervous though. Just last week I was chatting with a sheep farmer friend of mine and he was complaining that ticks on the Island were at near record levels!

 

As I spend quite a bit of time in the countryside and up on the mountain in the heather and bracken I felt it better to have a removal device handy than not have one.

 

I think I'll be trading in my small daypack for a quad bike and trailer soon .... to deal with all the geocaching "essentials"!!!

 

Cust.

 

Edit: Just rembered a fishig friend of mine that suffered with an embeded tick ... although how it got inside his boxers it's probably best not to ask ...... baaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! *cough cough*

Edited October 3, 2007 by Custheyder

[+scanker]

They get everywhere. On a morning's caching in boggy Dorset woodland I picked up 10 - around my ankles, legs, intimate crevices, back and shoulders. I was wearing socks (2 pairs) and underwear, long trousers tucked into wellies, t-shirt, coat and hat. I forgot insect repellent.

[+Realmofchaos]

Here's an INJURY I picked up last summer

 

Still not sure what caused this, but it was like a wasp sting at the time. Just one of the joys of caching I guess

 

Jon

 

That looks like some kind of beetle bite, thats what happened with my hand after one anyway!

Edited October 4, 2007 by Realmofchaos

[+tteggod trackers]

is there a time when ticks aren't around? we picked up one only last week in ebbor gorge somerset.

[+stonefielders]

Ticks are more prevelant in the summer. So now's proably a good time to revive this thread and remind everyone that it's worth checking yourself/ kids/ pets for ticks after a caching trip and removing any (that the ticks that is not the kids or pets ) in a safe way as soon as possible

I've published an article on my physiobench website about it: Ticks and Lyme disease

I think as cachers we are more at risk of ticks than many other outdoor activities because of the amount of time we spend off the paths, thrashing around in the greenery instead

Hope the article's helpful and here's to a sunny, tick free, cache packed summer

[+Teuchters]

This year looks like it's going to be a bad one....

Out caching at the weekend near Loch Ness - which was very enjoyable.

 

Now I knew that the area we were in was tick infested and there was a tick attribute on the cache page - but I was completely unprepared for the sheer number of ticks that we carried back with us to the car. We were just covered in the small crawling beasties. So many in fact, that we stopped counting. I have never seen so many - we just sat and watched them running around across our clothing, the seat belts, the seats, up our arms.....

 

However, I can recommend that you get a friend, completely strip off and look very, very carefully....

 

I could make light of this last comment, but I won't - it is the only effective way to ensure that you haven't got any in those places you just can't see. I do have a tick remover but usually, it isn't necessary due to the full body search before they get time to get a grip.