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it is now tick season, take precautions


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I was out caching today and when I got home I found my first tick of the season, living in IL it's a common thing, but it's also something not to be taken lightly.

 

I would love to see a link to this on the geocaching main page, or a write of of their own. :)

 

Here is a quick general Q&A, mostly taken from the CDC website.

 

What are some of the more common diseases that you can get from a tick bite?

 

• Babesiosis

 

• Ehrlichiosis

 

• Lyme disease

 

• Rocky Mountain spotted fever

 

• Southern tick-associated rash illness

 

• Tick-borne relapsing fever

 

• Tularemia

 

Other diseases that you can get from a tick in the United States include anaplasmosis, Colorado tick fever, and Powassan encephalitis.

 

Some species and some life stages of ticks are so small that they can be difficult to see, but all hungrily look for animals and people to bite. Depending on the species, you can find ticks in various environments, often in or near wooded areas. You may come into contact with ticks when walking through infested areas or by brushing up against infested vegetation (such as leaf litter or shrubs). Ticks also feed on mammals and birds, which play a role in maintaining ticks and the pathogens they carry.

 

How do I protect my self from tick bites?

 

1. Use a repellent with DEET (on skin or clothing) or permethrin (on clothing) and wear long sleeves, long pants and socks. Products containing permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear which can remain protective through several washings. Repellents containing 20% or more DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) can be applied to the skin, and they can protect up to several hours. Always follow product instructions! Parents should apply this product to their children, avoiding the hands, eyes, and mouth.

 

2. Wear light-colored clothing, which allows you to see ticks crawling on your clothing.

 

3. Tuck your pant legs into your socks so that ticks cannot crawl up inside of your pant legs. Some ticks can crawl down into shoes and are small enough to crawl through most socks. When traveling in areas with lone star ticks (which are associated with Southern tick-associated rash illness, ehrlichiosis, and possibly Rocky Mountain spotted fever) you should examine your feet and ankles to ensure that ticks are not attached.

 

4. Avoid tick-infested areas. If you are in a tick-infested area, walk in the center of the trails to avoid contact with vegetation. (yeah right LOL)

 

Perform Daily Tick Checks

 

Check your body for ticks after being outdoors, even in your own yard. Conduct a body check upon return from potentially tick-infested areas by searching your entire body for ticks. Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body and remove any tick you find. Check these parts of your body and your child's body for ticks:

 

• Under the arms

 

• In and around the ears

 

• Inside belly button

 

• Back of the knees

 

• Under the arms

 

• In and around the hair

 

• Between the legs

 

• Around the waist

 

Check your children for ticks, especially in the hair, when returning from potentially tick-infested areas. See the list above for the places on your child's body to check for ticks. Remove any tick you find on your child's body.

 

Check your clothing and pets for ticks. Ticks may be carried into the house on clothing and pets. Both should be examined carefully, and any ticks that are found should be removed. Placing clothes into a dryer on high heat effectively kills ticks. See the "Prevent ticks on animals" section of this page for more information.

 

Watch for signs of illness such as rash or fever, and see a health care provider if these develop.

For fully detailed information about tick removal, see the Rocky Mountain spotted fever Web site.

 

What is the best way to remove a tick?

 

Removal of an embedded tick using fine-tipped tweezers

1. Use fine-tipped tweezers or notched tick extractor, and protect your fingers with a tissue, paper towel, or latex gloves. Persons should avoid removing ticks with bare hands.

 

2. Grasp the tick as close to the skin surface as possible and pull upward with steady, even pressure. Do not twist or jerk the tick; this may cause the mouthparts to break off and remain in the skin. (If this happens, remove mouthparts with tweezers. Consult your health care provider if illness occurs.)

 

3. After removing the tick, thoroughly disinfect the bite site and wash your hands with soap and water.

 

4. Do not squeeze, crush, or puncture the body of the tick because its fluids may contain infectious organisms. Skin accidentally exposed to tick fluids can be disinfected with iodine scrub, rubbing alcohol, or water containing detergents.

 

5. Save the tick for identification in case you become ill. This may help your doctor to make an accurate diagnosis. Place the tick in a sealable plastic bag and put it in your freezer. Write the date of the bite on a piece of paper with a pencil and place it in the bag.

Edited by justchad
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Since tick prevention is not a Geocaching.com Web Site feature request -- although it might be considered a "bug report" -- I am moving this thread to the Geocaching Topics forum.

 

Although a tick is an arthropod it is not a bug. Bugs are a relatively small group within the insect class. You did good. :)

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2. Wear light-colored clothing, which allows you to see ticks crawling on your clothing.

 

 

I'll qualify what I am going to say by first admitting that this is unpublished data (at least I don't think its been published in the scientific literature), but I knew someone that was studying the distribution of ticks. To do this, they would drag large pieces of cloth through fields and they found that ticks seem to be attracted to lighter colored cloth.

 

Like I said, I don't think they actually did an experiment to test this, but I think about it a lot when I am deciding wheather to wear the white t-shirt or the darker t-shirt when I am going to be out in the woods.

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I can confirm that ticks are very bad this year, at least in western PA. About three weeks ago, I emerged from the woods and found 6 ticks on my clothes. Found one embedded in my stomach a short time later and my wife found one embedded in my back at home. About a week and a half later, another cacher and I got swarmed by them in Erie, PA. Picked 11 off total I believe. After these experiences, I bought my first can of DEET for the year. Last weekend, another cacher spotted one chilling on my shouder. I think he was not quite right from the DEET because he was just sitting on my shoulder.

 

 

Take precautions. This is the worst year I've seen in my area.

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It's interesting how tick season starts at different times of the year for different part of the country. Tick season around here (Northern California) seems to start with the first rains of winter. (eg: November, December) and are much less of a problem now that it's dry.

 

Back in December my dog picked up 22 ticks during a 35 minute hike. During 3 hour hike in February I pulled 68 ticks off him.

 

We primarily have deer ticks here and the threat of Lyme disease is our biggest concern.

 

Although I've flicked plenty off my clothes, I've only had 3 actually embed themselves in me in 2 years of extensive hiking. For Lyme disease, if the tick is removed within 24 hours there is little chance of being infected.

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Good advice. One correction though. It's not now tick season, it's nearly always tick season.

 

I've seen ticks in mid winter and I don't mean Tampa and San Diego mid winter, I mean in the northeast.

 

If temps are above freezing there will be some ticks about.

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Good advice. One correction though. It's not now tick season, it's nearly always tick season.

 

I've seen ticks in mid winter and I don't mean Tampa and San Diego mid winter, I mean in the northeast.

 

If temps are above freezing there will be some ticks about.

This is true.This past winter I found one crawling on my wrist.I think it was mid december or January.I suspect it came of my buddy's dog or out of the firewood,but still.We've found them on us in the woods too during that time.

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Since this discussion is about ticks, let me discuss why my wife refuses to geocache with me anymore, especially in the deep woods.

 

During Aug 2007 we went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. On the way home (4-hr drive back to NC) I stopped to grab a cache or two. Well the last cache was in the woods. I found it, swapped some TBs and SL......and thought that was easy, no big deal.

 

As we were driving from the cache site to a gas station my wife said "hey, that's a new freckle" while looking at her leg. Upon closer inspection is was a baby tick. About two seconds later, it was "oh crap, they're all over me". I just thought they got on her, but I stopped and took a my legs, and guess what, I was covered in baby ticks too.

 

Apparently we had gotten into a tick nest, and all the babies were now on us, and crawling on our shoes, pants, socks, and legs.

 

So after a gas fill-up we spent about 30-45 minutes picking and wiping the ticks off of us, I would say in the hundreds of ticks. The gas station worker came out and asked if we were OK. Luckily we had a change of clothes in the car so all the infested clothes and shoes were thrown in the trunk.

 

Now was the fun 4-hr drive back home. Every little body itch we got freaked out on. Finally we got home and threw all the clothes and shoes in the washer, on the very hot cycle.

 

Not a very good tick experience. Big ticks are OK because you can see them and pry them out, but those baby ticks are little monsters.

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Since this discussion is about ticks, let me discuss why my wife refuses to geocache with me anymore, especially in the deep woods.

 

During Aug 2007 we went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. On the way home (4-hr drive back to NC) I stopped to grab a cache or two. Well the last cache was in the woods. I found it, swapped some TBs and SL......and thought that was easy, no big deal.

 

As we were driving from the cache site to a gas station my wife said "hey, that's a new freckle" while looking at her leg. Upon closer inspection is was a baby tick. About two seconds later, it was "oh crap, they're all over me". I just thought they got on her, but I stopped and took a my legs, and guess what, I was covered in baby ticks too.

 

Apparently we had gotten into a tick nest, and all the babies were now on us, and crawling on our shoes, pants, socks, and legs.

 

So after a gas fill-up we spent about 30-45 minutes picking and wiping the ticks off of us, I would say in the hundreds of ticks. The gas station worker came out and asked if we were OK. Luckily we had a change of clothes in the car so all the infested clothes and shoes were thrown in the trunk.

 

Now was the fun 4-hr drive back home. Every little body itch we got freaked out on. Finally we got home and threw all the clothes and shoes in the washer, on the very hot cycle.

 

Not a very good tick experience. Big ticks are OK because you can see them and pry them out, but those baby ticks are little monsters.

Alcohol wipes work great for that. They will remove most of the small critters and the alcohol will kill the rest.

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Was out geocaching Saturday in Buckingham County, VA with the 3 kiddos, and we pulled no less than 20 ticks off the 4 of us. We got most of them before they buried in, but my 5 year old who wasn't even with us when we think we got most of them ended up having 2 that were already burrowing in by the time we got to the camp showers where I could check her over good. We promptly bought some bug repellant, although I've never been one to like to put that stuff on my kids, I'm now considering it the less of two evils with everything ticks can pass on.

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Here is a article I wrote for Today's Cacher about 4 years ago. I swear it's true.

 

If you have geocached long enough, chances are you have had the pleasure of a tick hitching a ride and getting a free dinner. Any forage in the woods during tick season mandates a thorough checking of oneself to make sure you didn’t pick up one of the little hitchhikers. Here is a story of what happens if you don’t.

 

I had the day off from work and decided to go get a long needed haircut. I was chatting with the pretty young lady that was cutting my hair, when all of a sudden she stopped. I could see her through the mirror looking at the back of my head. I knew I was getting a little thin there, but it shouldn’t have caused the alarm I saw on her face.

 

“I’ll be right back,” she said. She then disappeared into a backroom.

 

In a few minutes she emerged with another pretty young lady and the two of them came and stood behind me starring at the back of my head.

 

At this point I was beginning to wonder if the numbers 666 had appeared back there. After all I am El Diablo. Finally I can’t stand it any longer, so I asked, “What’s wrong?”

 

They looked at one another and the 2nd lady said, “You’ve got a tick on your head.”

 

Man was I relieved, no numbers! “Well pull it off,” I told them.

 

“We can’t,” she said.

 

“Why not?” I asked.

 

“It’s against Health Department rules,” she replied.

 

“You can’t take a tick off someone?” I asked.

 

“No. It has to be done by a professional. If we try it and the head breaks off and you get an infection, then we are liable,” she answered.

 

“There is such a thing as a professional tick remover?” I asked.

 

“Well, a doctor,” she said.

 

“I’m not going to a doctor to get a tick removed! Give me a mirror and I’ll do it.”

 

She explained that due to the location of the tick, I was likely to leave its head in my skin if I tried it.

 

“Ok. I’ll get my wife to do it when she gets home,” I said. So she starts to take the robe off of me and I ask, “Are you going to finish cutting my hair?”

 

““What about the tick?” she wants to know.

 

“Well just cut around it and try not to disturb the little darling.”

 

So now I’m on my way home tick and all, when I get to thinking about it. I’m starting to have irrational thoughts. What if that thing is sucking out my brains? If it stays in too long will I get Rocky Mountain spotted fever? I feel the back of my head and sure enough it’s starting to grow. My intentions were to get home and wait on my wife to get there and get the little demon off of me.

 

I’m trying to stay calm, but panic is beginning to set in and I’m losing touch with reality. All I want to do now is to get home and get this brain-sucking thing off my head! I looked in the rearview mirror and sure enough I can see the edges of it growing from the back of my head. I almost stopped the car and called 911.

 

Just be calm I kept telling myself, and you’ll pull through this ordeal. So now I’m taking deep breaths and trying not to think about it.“dadgum, did you see the size of that tick on that guys head?” But it’s getting bigger. The thing now feels about the size of a watermelon. I’m also noticing other people that are passing me are turning around in their seats starring back. I can just imagine what they are saying, “dadgum, did you see the size of that tick on that guys head?”

 

I’m in a full state of panic now. I’m breaking the speed limit, ignoring red lights and stop signs. I just have to get home and get this thing off! I’m desperately trying to figure out how to slay this monster, when I remember hearing that if you touch it with a hot match it will turn loose and not leave it’s brain sucking head in. O.k. I have a plan now.

 

I careen into the driveway and come to a screeching stop and bail out of the car on a dead run! Well I was running as fast as that huge thing would let me. I stagger into the house and grab a box of matches and run to the bathroom. The cat was hot on my heels to find out what was going on, and to see what that thing was hanging off the back of my head.

 

So I’m standing in front of the bathroom mirror striking matches, blowing them out and then sticking them to the back of my head. After almost an entire box of matches,I stood there with a smoking head very relieved that I had gotten it. a lot of burned hair, and huge blisters, it finally came off!

 

The moral of the story, follow the advice from the professionals on how to avoid ticks and how to remove them if you get one.

 

El Diablo

Edited by El Diablo
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hahahahahha i'm sorry el i'm not laugh at you but your wonderfuly retelling of you experience with ticks. i rememeber emerging from the woods once as a kid with one inbedded in my belly button and freaking out and my parents using a match head to get it off.

i grew up on the chesapeake bay where ticks were common and leeches too! another story for another time...lol... . so as a kid it was a nightly chore for my mom.

but as an adult living here in colorado you constantly hear about rocky mountain spotted fever. it's hard to say really when the tick season starts. the weather actually dictates it because of the unexpected snow storms that we can get in the summer. the last two days there has been a winter storm in the high country where over a foot of snow has fallen and here in town we have gotton snow about 2" then it turned to rain. i've seen it snow on the fourth of july here!

when the season's here decide to change their order in the scheme of things. i've only seen ticks during a whole hunting season with spring/summer weather. when i was skinnng out the deer hide did i seen any and after i was done i had my buddy check my clothing to see if any had "jump" onto me . then i checked myself once i got home. luckily there were no jumpers.

also you can put any kind of salve like vasoline on them because it sufficates them and since they can't breathe they will back themselves out after a few minutes and you can easily pull them off, head and all. NO MORE FREAKING MATCHES...lol... .

Edited by jmythng
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Good advice. One correction though. It's not now tick season, it's nearly always tick season.

 

I've seen ticks in mid winter and I don't mean Tampa and San Diego mid winter, I mean in the northeast.

 

If temps are above freezing there will be some ticks about.

 

The ticks are already out in full force and I live in the upper midwest. I had my first encounter this year while scoring a cache about 4 weeks ago and it was about 40 degrees out. Found 6 ticks on me and discovered 2 more that were latched on my legs when I got home. The area I was caching in is loaded with ticks and there are 3 caches hidden along the canyon. I found 2 of them last June but we had to turn back because we were crawling with ticks and my son was freaking out. I must have have over 40 ticks on me and that is no exaggeration.

Goes to show you that it doesn't have to be sunny and warm and the ticks will come out to play. Even though we are now experiencing a blizzard and expected to receive 3 feet of snow with this current storm system, the ticks will be back out in a few days when it warms up. Hard to believe we had 80 degree temps a few days ago and now the city is practically shut down.

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They are present here in Sacramento pretty much all the time. But it seems that during the fall and spring they are more prevalent. I have been picking them off of my dog all spring. I haven't found any attached to me but I have found a couple on my clothes.

 

Here is an article I found on the internet about where the hide and here is a link to it greater detail: http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/20...4/08_tick.shtml

 

Last Updated: 2004-04-08 16:32:01 -0400 (Reuters Health)

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Want to avoid ticks? Avoid sitting on logs, experts advised on Thursday.

 

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, used themselves as bait to see where the greatest risk of picking up a tick was, and found logs were the worst places to sit.

 

"We sat on logs for only five minutes at a time, and in 30 percent of the cases, it resulted in exposure to ticks," said Robert Lane, a professor of insect biology who led the study.

 

"It didn't matter if we sat on moss or the bare surface; the ticks were all over the log surface. The next riskiest behavior was gathering wood, followed by sitting against trees, which resulted in tick exposure 23 percent and 17 percent of the time, respectively," Lane said in a statement.

 

Writing in the Journal of Medical Entomology, Lane and colleagues said they were looking for ticks carrying Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease .

 

"If we're going to develop effective strategies and educational programs for the prevention of Lyme disease, it is critical that we understand how people are exposed to the ticks that transmit the bacteria in the first place," Lane said in a statement.

 

"We intentionally looked at behaviors that people would typically engage in while spending time in the woods."

 

Sitting in leaves was not especially risky, they found.

 

SOURCE: Journal of Medical Entomology, 2004.

Edited by ao318
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This is the fist year I have ever seen a baby tick. It was on me not attached but looking for a spot. I could not believe how small it was. I have always seen larger ones. I always check myself after caching. I rarely take my dogs caching because I tend to hit the drive up caches because of physical restrictions. Can't do any over 2/2 in this area but I have a feeling a 2/2 in Georgia is not the same as a 2/2 in Colorado or Arizona. just be aware of those little SUCKERS. I have to admit here in GA spring and summer are more tick season then fall and winter. I will remember the good advice about not sitting on down logs. I have to admit i would totally freak out if I found a tick attached to any private private places. OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!! EEKKKKKKK /mcellen :D [/color]

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If your burning ticks off or using vasoline you may as well pull them off. Doing either of these causes the tick to panic and release it's saliva into the bloodstream which, when done, pretty much gives you whatever disease the thing is carrying. Burning and Vasoline are myth removals. I use an open flame and keep it over where the tick is and was for up to 30 seconds (high pain thresh hold). This bakes the saliva and blood in the area. Though after some research I may avoid even this now.

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Permethrin (sp?) is my new best friend. For $8 - $10 you get a bottle of permethrin that you spray on your clothing (NOT on skin), let it dry for at least a couple hours, and voila - no more ticks! I have a moderately severe insect phobia (ticks particularly), which would have prevented me from continuing to GC during any time of the year other than the dead of winter. I did a search of previous tick prevention strategies and found permethrin. The directions for the bottle said to use 1/2 of the bottle for a shirt, pants and socks, but being that my clothes are bigger than the average person's, and I wanted to be absolutely sure to not have any ticks on me, I used the entire bottle. I have not yet had any adverse reactions, and even if using this chemical has future health repercussions I figure that the quality of tick-free life is infinitely more important than my length of life (I seriously cannot handle ticks, but don't want to spend oll of spring, summer and fall indoors)The permethrin lasts for about 6 washings, and I use it only on dedicated caching clothing so that I'm 1) Not spending a fortune on coating all of my clothes with permethrin, 2) limiting my exposure to the chemical by not having it on me when I'm not in the woods and have little chance of tick exposure, and 3) not getting the chemical on others that may touch me (I work with kids). I have only seen one tick on me (while I was sitting on a log - remember the earlier post?) while using permethrin, and that tick was half dead, couldn't walk, and fell off on its own while I was signing a cache log.

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It's interesting how tick season starts at different times of the year for different part of the country. Tick season around here (Northern California) seems to start with the first rains of winter. (eg: November, December) and are much less of a problem now that it's dry.

 

Back in December my dog picked up 22 ticks during a 35 minute hike. During 3 hour hike in February I pulled 68 ticks off him.

 

We primarily have deer ticks here and the threat of Lyme disease is our biggest concern.

 

Although I've flicked plenty off my clothes, I've only had 3 actually embed themselves in me in 2 years of extensive hiking. For Lyme disease, if the tick is removed within 24 hours there is little chance of being infected.

 

I too live in Northern California and can attest to the necessity of getting treated for tick bites. My dad got bit by a tick years ago before Lyme Disease was known and treated for. As a result, he now is crippled sometimes, has seizures and often fatigued where he will sleep for hours during the day. If you get a tick bite, GO GET IT TREATED. It isn't worth it to have Lyme Disease advance to the stages we have seen in my dad. If you get it treated promptly, the effects are minimalized. If you don't, it is too late and you end up with years of misery like my dad.

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This is a lot, but VERY useful info for us in the Northeast! Thanks to Team Kasch for this info:

 

"This is a long read but you can purchase a pint of 10% Permethrin for less than $20.00 delivered and have no more problems. I buy it online at http://epestsolutions.com/.

 

Permethrin Repellents

 

The DOD Chemical Protection System: The Department of Defense (DoD) utilizes a system of two chemical components in conjunction with the field dress uniform. The EPA approved components of this system include the insecticide permethrin and the insect repellent DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-tiluarnide) in concentrations less than 33%.

 

Permethrin is virtually non-toxic to humans and no systemic effects have been reported. In EPA and FDA tests, it was uncommon to have any skin reddening, rash or other irritation. When used as a repellent, permethrin is applied to exterior clothing where it dries and bonds to the cloth fiber. This water-based formula is non-staining, odorless and has exceptional resistance to degradation by sunlight (UV), heat and water. Although permethrin is approved for skin application under certain circumstances such as head lice formulas, it is not applied to skin as a repellent. Permethrin does not bond to skin (stick) and is quickly deactivated by skin's esterase action into inactive compounds. Because of these attributes permethrin offers no repellent benefit on skin. It is only effective when used as a clothing treatment. Deactivation of permethrin on skin occurs in approximately 20 minutes, when placed on clothing it will last 2 weeks (even up to 1 year with special application) and will even last through weekly launderings. With the long history of success permethrin has achieved, it is best not to second-guess these extraordinary results. By following the directions provided on the product you can be assured of results that achieve protection at or near 100%. Any variation of instructions that placed less permethrin on clothing will result in diminished performance.

 

Permethrin Mosquito Tests: The early history of permethrin development involved tests on mosquitoes conducted by the US Army and Air Force. Tests showed that when lightweight uniforms were treated until moist (approximately 3 ounces) the permethrin alone (0. 5% solution) gave 97.7% protection from mosquitoes and 99.9% protection when used in combination with DEET (33% solution). Two detergent washings did not diminish mosquito repellent and killing action of permethrin-treated uniforms.

 

An interesting side note: The effectiveness of permethrin can be shown in the following report highlight that was reported in a very matter of fact statement. During testing in the Everglades, "Mosquitoes were also repelled because of the side-stream effect caused by numerous treated uniforms within the same general location. This required that the test site be moved to locate more mosquitoes!"

 

Permethrin Tick Tests: Test on ticks conducted in Massachusetts concluded that 100% protection was provided against the Deer tick (Ixodes Scapularis), which is the primary vector of Lyme disease in the Midwest and Northeast. The same outstanding results occurred when testing the Western Black Legged tick, Lone Star tick, American Dog tick and Brown Dog tick. Similar results have been found with other tick species throughout the United States and Europe. Two detergent washings did not diminish repellent killing action of permethrin-treated uniforms. In tests, ticks that crossed only 10 inches of treated fabric fell from the uniform, later dying due to this limited exposure.

 

Note: Military application of permethrin (Permethrin Arthropod Repellent) varies from civilian application in that 4.5 ounces are applied to the uniform and the remaining contents of the 6 ounce container used to treat mosquito netting. The difference in application also results in increased protection. It is specified that "reapply after six weeks and sixth laundering." The additional 1.5 ounces doubled the 2 to 3 week protection realized from the civilian application of 3 ounces. Full protection is realized by use of permethrin AND application of standard issue repellent approved for skin application (3M Ultrathon)

 

DEET (N, N-.diethyl-m-tiluamide): is an approved repellent for skin application. Exposure to high concentrations of DEET can pose some limited health hazards. At the time concentrations of 33% as provided in the 3M Ultrathon product were chosen by the military for its superior performance and high margin of safety. Up until the 3M product was chosen the military had been using a 100% DEET. It was uncomfortable to wear and easily damaged certain materials. Since the 3M Ultrathon introduction, some new developments have been made using DEET in special micro encapsulated formulas that have tested quite well and last some 20 hours between applications. Based-based products are available in a wide variety of formulas that can address the very specific needs of the individual traveler, outdoors person, family member and even young children. Specific blends with other repellents to repel biting flies are called composites, while others formulas have been added to sunscreen for convenient dual-purpose application.

 

Early research on DEET showed that performance dropped off when concentrations of 35% or higher were tested. As an example, if a 30% DEET concentration offers satisfactory repellent action for four hours, an assumption that a 60% DEET would last eight hours is not correct. The 60% product may only last about 5 hours. In the use of standard DEET formulas, it is more effective to use lower concentrations of DEET with more frequent application than to assume the higher concentrations to be longer lasting. They are not. Most brand-name based-based products already have a DEET range from 15% to 33%. Once the threat of insect/tick bite is over, the repellent should be washed off. DEET by itself tested between 85% to 89% effective at repelling ticks (DEET does not kill either ticks or mosquitoes) and 97% against mosquitoes.

 

The DoD system consists of both permethrin treated clothing and DEET applied to skin. The use of one without the other will undermine the system and increase the risk of insect or tick bite. Many non-DEET products are available on the market and are not part of the DoD protection system. They show ineffective repellent performance and are not recommended for any situation where disease transmission is a threat.

 

 

 

PERMA-KILL® 13.3% PERMETHRIN SOLUTION

 

 

Previously sold under the PERMAKILL 4-WEEK TICK KILLER label, the new name best describes the product and its attributes. This has long been used as an economical means of applying permethrin to tents, camping gear, building premises, surrounding grounds, dogs, dog bedding, kennels and clothing. Permethrin is the product referred to by the CDC for use by travelers. The following information is gleaned from several sources including the US Army:

 

Permethrin Fabric Treatment

 

There are three specific dosages used to impregnate fabric with Permethrin.

 

For protection up to one year (52 weeks):

 

0.125-mg permethrin per square centimeter of fabric. The protection will last for the life of the garment, 50 detergent launderings, or 1 year, whichever comes first. It is accomplished by applying a dosage of 1 pint of .8% mixture to a garment using Perma-kill 13.3% Permethrin solution by way of Controlled Wicking, Spraying or Soaking (see below).

 

For protection up to 6 weeks:

 

0.026 mg per square centimeter of fabric will yield 6 weeks of protection or 6 launderings and is accomplished by applying by 2 1/2 ounces of .5% (1/2%) mixture to a garment by aerosol spray or non-aerosol spray.

 

 

For protection up to 2 weeks:

 

0.008 mg per square centimeter of fabric will yield 2 weeks of protection or 2 launderings and is accomplished by applying by 1 1/2 ounces .5% (1/2%) mixture to a garment by aerosol spray or non-aerosol spray.

 

 

TOTAL FABRIC IMPREGNATION USING PERMAKILL 13.3% SOLUTION

 

Controlled Wicking - The ideal application (preferred method) is to follow the prescribed military procedure that maximizes protection and minimizes waste. The process is a controlled wicking process where a specific amount (dose) of permethrin is introduced to an individual garment under controlled conditions.

 

You will need:

 

a - pint measuring cup

 

b - 1 ounce measurer

 

c - several 2 gallon sealable plastic bags (e.g. Ziploc ™)

 

d - a bottle of 13.3% permethrin

 

e - water

 

f - clothing (Do not treat any under garments, treat outer garments only).

 

g - several large rubber bands

 

h - rubber gloves

 

Instructions: Wear rubber gloves when handling wet solution. Add 1 ounce of Perma-kill 13.3% Permethrin to measuring cup and top off with 15 ounces of clean water to make 1 pint. Roll garment to be treated tightly to a size that will fit into bag and secure roll with rubber bands. Place garment into the bag, add the mixed (1 pint) of permethrin solution and seal the bag while removing excess air. Put bag aside for 2 hours minimum to allow thorough wicking. Remove garment, unroll the garment to ensure entire garment is damp without dry spots, air dry, mark with treatment date (month/year) and store. If wicking is not complete, roll garment and return to bag.

 

This method has been tested and delivers protection within the following guideline - Properly completed, this procedure will impregnate the garment with a dosage of approximately 0.125-mg permethrin per square centimeter. The protection will last for the life of the garment, 50 detergent launderings, or 1 year, whichever comes first.

 

Note: Measuring cups (a) & (:o and sealable plastic bags ©, must be dedicated only to this process and not used for ANY other purpose. Clothing to be treated must be washable and suitable for exposure to water. Dry Clean Only products should not be treated. Do not treat underwear.

 

Spraying - Wear rubber gloves when handling wet solution. Mix 8 ounces of Perma-kill 13.3% Permethrin with 120 ounces of water to make 1 gallon of mixed solution in an appropriate pump up garden sprayer. Lay clothing out and spray until wet, flip over and spray until wet, hang and let dry. One gallon of mixed solution will treat eight garments (@ 1 pint per garment) with the proper dosage of permethrin. See section on garments for proper definition of garment.

 

Submersion - Wear rubber gloves when handling wet solution. Follow all instructions for Controlled Wicking. Limit garment or equivalent (see section on garments for proper definition of garment) to 1-pint of mixed solution. Substitute pail or other dedicated container for sealable plastic bags.

 

Storage - The ideal storage is to pack into plastic bag after it's completely dry (black garbage bags are perfect) and store in a dark place when not in use.

 

Garments - A garment consists of one pair of long pants (or an alternate of two pairs of short pants) or one long sleeve shirt (or an alternate of two T-shirts). Garments to be treated must be treated individually except when treating an alternate. When treating an alternate both items (e.g.: two pair of shorts or two T-shirts) must be treated at the same time. An alternate pair must be made of like material to ensure accurate wicking of the full dosage. Example - do not combine cotton blend with a nylon garment.

 

PARTIAL FABRIC IMPREGNATION USING .5% (1/2%) PERMETHRIN

 

Other Permethrin Dosages - There are two other dosages that have been tested for clothing treatment. Both rely on a .5% (1/2%) solution, which is available in pre-mixed 6-ounce containers (either aerosol or non-aerosol).

 

0.026 mg per square centimeter of fabric will yield 6 weeks of protection or 6 launderings and is accomplished by applying by 2 1/2 ounces to a garment by aerosol spray or non-aerosol spray. Retreat garments after 6 weeks or sixth laundering.

 

0.008 mg per square centimeter of fabric will yield 2 weeks of protection or 2 launderings and is accomplished by applying by 1 1/2 ounces to a garment by aerosol spray or non-aerosol spray. Retreat garments after 2 weeks or second laundering.

 

Note: For trips of short duration (6 weeks or less) the use of Duranon Tick & Mosquito Repellent is far more convenient in either the aerosol or non-aerosol pump. By pre-treating before the trip and re-treating once during the trip, you'll find these products to be the perfect answer.

 

There are many recipes for use of this product while only a few have been tested. Only rely on tested methods for best protection. One frequently mentioned method is WRONG; here it is - Add the concentrate to the final rinse cycle while washing your clothing. DO NOT DO THIS! First you will over dilute the product thereby reducing its strength and effectiveness significantly. Secondly, you will be flushing the excess product into the environment through sewers or septic systems.

 

Always follow manufacturer's instructions as the basis for use. The use of permethrin clothing treatment requires that you use a DEET based repellent on skin. The DEET repellent can be any repellent of less than 35% DEET concentration. This combination is known as the DOD system (Department Of Defense) and is known to perform at nearly 100% effectiveness. Keep in mind that no protection system will be 100% effective and that you must use other means to supplement the repellent.

 

This would include:

 

Proper clothing, worn in a defensive manner.

 

Awareness of your environment and disease threats you're likely to encounter. Your choice to remain, or retreat from a threatening environment.

 

The choice is ultimately yours!

 

 

 

 

Mosquitoes as a group are the single largest carrier of infection to mankind. In less developed areas of the world the diseases they carry cause death and debilitating illness to millions of people each year. Children are especially venerable and succumb to diseases such as malaria and encephalitis at alarming levels.

 

But there's also good news in such countries as Ghana where slight changes in sleeping accommodations reduced infant mortality by up to 40% from these diseases . . . how? by using mosquito nets. Where these diseases are endemic the nets are treated with permethrin for added protection and reduction of mosquito populations.

 

The best method for stopping insect borne disease is to avoid the bite. This is equally true for both mosquitoes and ticks. The best system for accomplishing this is a repellent system known as the DoD system. It stands for Department of Defense and comprises two components: a topical DEET repellent applied to exposed skin AND treatment of clothing with permethrin.

 

Beside the threat of diseases introduced to humans by mosquitoes, the tick and its array of problems are a close second. The tick is, however, the more misunderstood of these groups in that folklore has played such an important role in establishing our beliefs. Our sources are the preeminent authorities in the field of entomology who assure us that our presentation materials are sound, realistic and based on fact. It's a pleasure to deal with scientists from such locations as Harvard Medical School of Tropical Diseases, Ohio State University Department of Entomology and Oklahoma State Department of Entomology to name but a few.

 

To begin with, ticks don't fly, jump or blow around with the wind; these suspects are not ticks. They are small, simple in their approach to locating a host and very patient. Their purpose in life like so many species is to propagate their species. They don't feed often, but when they do, they can acquire disease agents form one host and pass it to another to another host at a later feeding. Their sensory organs are complex and they can determine trace amounts of gases, such as carbon dioxide left by warm-blooded animals and man. They can sense the potential host's presence from long distances and even select their ambush site based upon their ability to identify paths that are well traveled.

 

Knowing this adversary is important. Understanding the disease potentials they threaten us with and having the capability to identify the basic tick group can help you help your doctor diagnose illness that may be tick initiated.

 

Although the number of tick species is in the hundreds, there are relatively few ticks that interact with mankind and domestic animals causing harm. While most ticks limit their host selection, others are opportunistic feeders and will feed on almost any accessible host. A tick, which feeds on a select host group, will move infective agents within that group. However, when a tick is a nonselective feeder, it can transmit disease agents from one host group to another. These nonselective ticks pose the largest threat of infection in man.

 

Ticks generally are not born with disease agents but rather acquire them during various feedings. They then pass the disease on to other animals and mankind during subsequent feedings. When an infection moves from an animal host to a human it is called zoonosise. Lyme disease, babiosisos, erlichiosious and tularemia are examples of such diseases.

 

Ticks have life cycles that involve three distinct life stages of: larval (infant), nymph (immature) and adult (mature). The ticks known for the greatest quantity of disease infections are the Ixodes group. The group consists of many ticks but the ones of most concern are ixodes scapolarius, ixodes pacificus, ixodes damini, and ixodes ricionoiuse.

 

Even experts find it difficult to distinguish the ixodes ticks based on physical characteristics alone since a large part of identification relies on the geographical location they inhabit. When the female tick engorges on blood, her body change of both size and color is so significant that she is unrecognizable when compared to her pre-engorgement appearance. Look at the below sequence of a Lone Star tick as she engorges . . . is this hard to believe? In an attempt to simplify identification we are providing photographs showing various stages of the tick during the feeding process. Regardless of the difficulty in identifying specific tick species within a group it is quite easy (with the aid of our photographs) to identify ticks belonging to the group. That is the purpose of this website!

 

 

Besides the body types associated to different tick species, each has a distinguishing characteristic called the shield. It is an area just behind the mouthpart and is the key part of this tick identification method. You'll see in the photographs that the shield remains constant in size and in relationship to the mouthparts. The only difference you will note is that the shield pivots forward in relation to the mouthparts as the tick becomes more and more engorged. By using this system and knowing where the tick specimen originated, you will be able to identify the tick with reasonable certainty.

 

If the tick’s origin is from an area known to have incidence of tick-borne disease and if the specimen is of a species of tick known to carry and transmit that disease, you can consider that the possibility of infection exists.

 

Other considerations in this assessment:

 

Percentage of infected ticks within the geographic area -- is it a low, medium or high?

 

How long did the tick feed before discovery? Was the tick flat (meaning it attached recently) or engorged (meaning it had fed for an extended time)? Research conducted at Ohio State University indicates that transmission of disease organisms (Lyme disease) begins at approximately 24 hours. Other diseases may vary.

 

These factors can assist you in making a decision to visit your doctor. The decision is yours. If you keep the specimen, it’s important to protect it from dehydration by wrapping it in a damp (not wet) paper towel. Should dehydration of the tick occur it could be extremely difficult to identify."

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ewww, ticks! I had one bite me twice then found it crawling around on my head. Is this normal behavior for ticks? I have heard of them embedding before but not bite and run.

 

The larger ticks, (deer) tend to climb to the highest point. That one must have found you a bit thick-headed. :o

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I'm sure this thread was more aimed at people, but while we're talking about it, in regards to our furry caching partners...

 

Up until a month ago, I lived in southwest Michigan and worked at an animal hospital there. We saw very, very large numbers of dogs who tested positive for lyme disease. It can be just as devasting for a dog as for a human, but lucky for them, they can be vaccinated against it. The lyme vaccine isn't a part of the core vaccination program at most clinics, but if you cache with your dog and live in or travel to areas where lyme disease is an issue, you may want to consider discussing the vaccination with your dog's veterinarian.

 

Deer ticks are actually really hard to spot on a dog, so even a thorough check after hiking may miss them. Also keep your eyes open for a bullseye-shaped mark on the skin; that can indicate that the dog may have been bit by a lyme carrier, and should see a veterinarian.

 

... sorry, crazy semi-paranoic dog owner here. =p

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Tick season never closes in NC, especially with such mild winters.

 

Great info, but i'd argue against tweezers for removal.. things like "Ticked Off" or "Tick Twister" are great. Basically a notch in a bowl shaped end, so you can pull the bugger off without squeezing all the tick guts into the wound (where all the nasty bacteria live) which is all you achieve with tweezers.

 

Regardless, get 'em off before 24 hours after they embedded and you're good. They don't make enough bugs in their guts to give you an infection in that time...it takes a day of sucking your blood to make enough bugs. Soo...just check every time you've been out. I usually get caught out with 'em behind the knee.

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