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With the warm weather comes the bloodsuckers.....


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This seems like the proper day to start a thread about the bloodsucking vermin out there. :D:D:D

 

So how bad is it where you cache? So far up here on the edge of the northern plains we haven't seen any of the things that can turn the simplest of cache hunts into true adventure. Ticks by the legion, mosquitoes by the their thousands, and that ever present plant with leaves of three, are all out there just waiting to pounce. For those of you in the South there is the lovely chigger. Our fellow cachers in Southwest have to contend with all their venomous friends. And everywhere thorns, stickers, briars, and burrs.

 

If they're not out yet, you can bet they will be soon. With the warmer weather comes more caching and all the pests. When the two meet, often a interesting tale of woe and the mayhem that ensues is created. Share your horror stories with us as "The Season of the Blood Suckers" (and other assorted ner'-do-wells) unfolds.

Edited by Totem Clan
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Well, I saw the first mosquito of the season last night. It wasn't quite a cache trip, but was in the parking lot of the local craft store where I stopped to get some things to make sig items. Does that count?

 

Where there's one, there is bound to be more. The season is just beginning. :D

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Over Easter, our family went to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Daytime highs were in the 20s to low 30s. After one cache hike through the snow we returned to the car and I spotted a tick on my 4 year old's arm. Thought it would have been too cold out. Sun warming certain areas is all I could think of.

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Two days after placing a new cache, and picking ticks off my pants, I discovered one feasting on me! And I thought I did all the right things when I got home.

 

Got a dose of antibiotics (didn't appear to be a deer tick), and hoping the symptoms don't kick in (it's been a week). If they do, I have the first 30 days of antibiotics ready.

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Florida really doesn't have a season for nasty bugs, snakes and plants. It's pretty much a year round thing. If we get a couple cold days, the population might lay low, but once the mercury starts rising, so do the nasties. One bonus with cold weather Florida caching is that any venomous snakes you encounter will be much easier to move out of your way.

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This seems like the proper day to start a thread about the bloodsucking vermin out there. :):(:mad:

 

So how bad is it where you cache? So far up here on the edge of the northern plains we haven't seen any of the things that can turn the simplest of cache hunts into true adventure. Ticks by the legion, mosquitoes by the their thousands, and that ever present plant with leaves of three, are all out there just waiting to pounce. For those of you in the South there is the lovely chigger. Our fellow cachers in Southwest have to contend with all their venomous friends. And everywhere thorns, stickers, briars, and burrs.

 

If they're not out yet, you can bet they will be soon. With the warmer weather comes more caching and all the pests. When the two meet, often a interesting tale of woe and the mayhem that ensues is created. Share your horror stories with us as "The Season of the Blood Suckers" (and other assorted ner'-do-wells) unfolds.

I cannot wait till they become prolific again. I do not mind them, I never wear insect repellent, and I often never even bother to pull ticks off my skin, at least until many hours after I have first noticed them. I particularly love the little deer ticks so prevalent here in the mountains of Western Maryland. All these bloodsucking and biting insects are, in my opinion, are quite harmless and simply hungry for a quick snack. And, all those rumors that the ticks around here carry Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted fever, Babesiosis and variants of hantavirus and typhus, well, they seem to be largely rumors at this point, and not much more.

 

Oh, and there is a beautiful 3 foot long fat female copperhead snake who lives under the top stone step on our stone steps set in the mountainside here in our front yard -- she is my perrenial favorite and I cannot wait for her to show her face again this year!

 

Lastly, I like spiders, I like thorns, I like poison ivy and poison sumac, and I am not sensitive to either of the latter.

 

So, no offense intended, and I am sure that your original post was sincere and well-intentioned, but the whole thread seems to me to be a bit of an attempt to be sensationalistic. You may wish to try to find a job writing sensationalistic stories for the National Enquirer tabloid. The actual fact of the matter is that all of the things which you have cited, along with coyotes, bobats, grizzly bears and cougars, have been co-existing quite well with us on earth since the beginning of time. Enuf said.

Edited by Vinny & Sue Team
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last summer we were both attacked by a big patch of stinging nettles! ouch!!

 

Stinging nettles are an herbaceous perennial, growing to 1-2 m tall in the summer and dying down to the ground in winter. It has very distinctively yellow, widely spreading roots. The soft green leaves are 3-15 cm long, with a strongly serrated margin, a cordate base and an acuminate tip. Both the leaves and the stems are covered with brittle, hollow, silky hairs that were formerly thought to contain formic acid as a defence against grazing animals. Recent research has revealed the cause of the sting to be from three chemicals - a histamine that irritates the skin, acetylcholine which causes a burning sensation and serotonin, that encourages the other two chemicals (Elliott 1997). Bare skin brushing up against a stinging nettle plant tends to break the delicate defensive hairs and release the trio of chemicals, usually resulting in a temporary and painful skin rash similar to poison ivy, though the nettle's rash and duration are much weaker.

 

nettle.jpg

they stung & burned for most of the day.......

we'll be more careful this year!

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Luckly I'm missing Blackfly season next month. :D

 

For you folks that have never had the pleasure of Blackflys(Mayfly to some,athough I can assure you it's not the flyfisherman's hatch matching kind),imagine a cloud of biting gnats.Bitning with a super vengence,and leave welts.They laugh at Off!.A mixture of bleach and water is the only thing I've ever heard of besides bear grease(Heard that from old timers...what the indians used to use.Basically lard from bears.) that will keep them off of you.Luckily they only last a month.They've drove me out of the woods on a run more than once as a kid.I've wisened up since then...Although turkey season is in May.... :D

 

I'm sure all you northern folks (Especially Alaskans and New Englanders)might have some experience with what I'm talking about.

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Luckly I'm missing Blackfly season next month. :D

 

I'm sure all you northern folks (Especially Alaskans and New Englanders)might have some experience with what I'm talking about.

Ahhh...... The Alaskan Black Fly.

 

blackfly.jpg

 

Ok, so there is one thing I don't miss about Alaska. Them and Devil's club. Ok that's two things.

 

 

 

But I'm still moving back there someday. :D

Edited by Totem Clan
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Ticks and mosquitoes are starting to come out here now....they aren't out in droves yet, but that's just around the corner.

 

Be interesting to see what everyones favorite form of repellent is.

The mosquitoes haven't come out here in force yet, but a cacher left a log on one my caches saying they....

 

..... SL LN T several ticks. Sorry for not trading fair. LOL
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Luckly I'm missing Blackfly season next month. :anicute:

 

I'm sure all you northern folks (Especially Alaskans and New Englanders)might have some experience with what I'm talking about.

Ahhh...... The Alaskan Black Fly.

 

blackfly.jpg

 

Ok, so there is one thing I don't miss about Alaska. Them and Devil's club. Ok that's two things.

 

 

 

But I'm still moving back there someday. :)

 

You know what I'm talkin' about.And there's nothing you can do to keep them off you.Unless you Alaskans have a secret we New Englanders don't know about....other than netting or staying out of the woods :):D

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Ahhh...... The Alaskan Black Fly.

 

blackfly.jpg

 

Ok, so there is one thing I don't miss about Alaska. Them and Devil's club. Ok that's two things.

 

 

 

But I'm still moving back there someday. :anicute:

 

You know what I'm talkin' about.And there's nothing you can do to keep them off you.Unless you Alaskans have a secret we New Englanders don't know about....other than netting or staying out of the woods :):)

I've had them crawl up the buttoned down sleeve of a flannel shirt before biting. :D

 

Deet helps, but it won't cure it.

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Be interesting to see what everyones favorite form of repellent is.

Avon Skin so Soft. (SoS). No deet, smells pretty good, yet manages to make the bugs not like you.

 

Is it OK to leave small lotion bottles in the cache? I've seen them leave the individual deet wipes.

 

My mom used to sell Avon and I've used this years ago, but I didn't feel like it did a great job. :anicute:

 

Willing to try it out again..especially on the kids. Wonder if it's worth anything on ticks...

Edited by egami
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Ahhh...... The Alaskan Black Fly.

 

blackfly.jpg

 

Ok, so there is one thing I don't miss about Alaska. Them and Devil's club. Ok that's two things.

 

 

 

But I'm still moving back there someday. :)

 

You know what I'm talkin' about.And there's nothing you can do to keep them off you.Unless you Alaskans have a secret we New Englanders don't know about....other than netting or staying out of the woods :anicute::)

I've had them crawl up the buttoned down sleeve of a flannel shirt before biting. :D

 

Deet helps, but it won't cure it.

 

Thank the Lord they only last for a month! :)

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Be interesting to see what everyones favorite form of repellent is.

Avon Skin so Soft. (SoS). No deet, smells pretty good, yet manages to make the bugs not like you.

 

Is it OK to leave small lotion bottles in the cache? I've seen them leave the individual deet wipes.

 

My mom used to sell Avon and I've used this years ago, but I didn't feel like it did a great job. :anicute:

 

Willing to try it out again..especially on the kids. Wonder if it's worth anything on ticks...

I remember last summer someone posted something about this stuff you treat your clothes with to keep ticks and mosquitoes away. I don't remember what thread or anything. Any help here?

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Be interesting to see what everyones favorite form of repellent is.

Avon Skin so Soft. (SoS). No deet, smells pretty good, yet manages to make the bugs not like you.

 

Is it OK to leave small lotion bottles in the cache? I've seen them leave the individual deet wipes.

 

My mom used to sell Avon and I've used this years ago, but I didn't feel like it did a great job. :anicute:

 

Willing to try it out again..especially on the kids. Wonder if it's worth anything on ticks...

I remember last summer someone posted something about this stuff you treat your clothes with to keep ticks and mosquitoes away. I don't remember what thread or anything. Any help here?

 

Permethein?(Not sure about my spelling on that one)Supposed to be super potent stuff to keep away mosquitos,spiders,ticks and whatever else.They gave that stuff to me to treat my clothes with before coming here to Iraq.I know they do make it available for civilian use.Just a guess.

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Permethein?(Not sure about my spelling on that one)Supposed to be super potent stuff to keep away mosquitos,spiders,ticks and whatever else.

 

Permethrin. It's a contact insecticide. Kills mosquitoes and ticks on contact. It should be applied only to clothing or netting, not to skin.

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Two days ago I performed some maintenance on a nighttime cache. I spent about an hour checking and replacing reflectors during the day. Final count, 24 ticks but none feasting. B)

Question, do ticks attack at night or are they a 'heat of the day critter'?

Maybe I should do my maintenance after dark. (It would be easier to find or not find the reflectors) :)

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It's 100 out here in the Sonoran Desert and the Old Watchmaker is enjoying spectacular views and wonderful caches. You have to be ready ... which means a hiking stick for the rattle snakes and javalenas and lots and lots of water. It's not hard to get into trouble in the desert.

 

Reading about ticks and bugs and cold is kind of fun because, of course, we don't get that! We do have cactus ... one in particular is amazing in it's stiking ability ... the Jumpin Cholla (Chow-Ya). It has light clusters of thorns that are extremely thin and barbed. Walking past one too close will get an attack and simply put ... you will know it. It hurts so much ... it makes you laugh through the tears. You need a pliers to get the needles out.

 

Most of the other cactus behave themselves and stay over there when you're over here. The springtime brings cactus flowers of all shapes and colors ... some come out only at night once every couple of years. It's really something. If you go at night to see them, bring a blacklight to watch for scorpions ... and I'm afraid of mosquitos?

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