Ticks !

[fischer.family]

Our family loves geocaching. However, we have been coming home with ticks on our clothing (shirts, pants, jackets), hair, etc... We kill what we find however, my son found on in the laundry room as he was putting in some clothes. Now my wife is afraid our home will get infested... What can we do to prevent ticks from getting on us in the first place and how can we make sure our house doesn't become their new home..

 

Thanks!

Fischer.Family

[+briansnat]

For the best protection:

 

-Treat all clothing with a permethrin based repellent (Duranon, Permanone, Sawyer Permethrin and others)

-Treat your skin with a DEET based repellent

-Wear light colored clothing so you can see them if they hop on

-Tuck your pant legs into your socks.

[+MountainRacer]

Frequent tick-checks are a must, and are easier if you're caching in a group. Also, wearing a hat will shield your most high-risk body region; ticks that get under your hair usually take longer to be discovered and dealt with, and longer exposure time equals increased risk of pathogen transmission.

[Lurch77]

I hear you on this matter. After last weekend, I am going to stop calling this geocaching, and start calling it tick collecting.

[+TazDevil091102]

I treat my caching cloths with a insect repellent for cloths and myself with DEET, in my hair also, I just hope the DEET on the hair doesn't make it fall out.

[+Lacomo]

For the best protection:

 

-Treat all clothing with a permethrin based repellent (Duranon, Permanone, Sawyer Permethrin and others)

-Treat your skin with a DEET based repellent

-Wear light colored clothing so you can see them if they hop on

-Tuck your pant legs into your socks.

I agree with briansnat 100%. Permethrin beats the heck out of Deet on your clothes. Deet is great for your skin. I use Permethrin I get from my local farm store. It is actually the stuff they use on livestock and this is the cheapest way to buy it. It is concentrated and you have to delute it with water and apply it with a spray bottle.

[+EraSeek]

Hide in western Washington like I do. Just got a few bears, cougars, and earthqukes...no biggy...you can keep your ticks!

[+briansnat]

For the best protection:

 

-Treat all clothing with a permethrin based repellent (Duranon, Permanone, Sawyer Permethrin and others)

-Treat your skin with a DEET based repellent

-Wear light colored clothing so you can see them if they hop on

-Tuck your pant legs into your socks.

 

I did all this during a trail work trip on Sunday (except the geeky pant legs in the sock thing) and this morning I woke up with a tick attached to my stomach. It wasn't there yesterday and I haven't been anywhere since Sunday where I would pick up a tick.

 

My guess is that the tick was on my pack and when I came home Sunday and I threw the pack on the couch and the tick hopped off. I fell asleep on the couch last night and the tick found a meal.

 

So moral of the story. Don't just treat your clothing. Treat your pack too.

[+StaticTank]

So moral of the story. Don't just treat your clothing. Treat your pack too.

 

Good idea!

[+joranda]

I always have ahard time keeping them off me too. I just check myself over real good when I get home. I hate ticks too.

[+SwampYankee]

They are a problem here in Connecticut also. Both the large rocky mountain ticks and the tiny deer ticks. Fact I'm about 30 miles from Lyme where the Lyme Disease got its name. I use the deet and change cloths as soon as I get home. Usually put them outside. A warm shower and good check is about all you can do. Even them I've ended up pulling out 3 so far this year that either I missed or they were in other clothes and got me. A side thought is my cat goes out hunting all night and comes in will jump up on the couch to be petted. Some may be jumping off him also.... We have horses, dogs, cats etc and they are a concern. Careful inspection is the best bet.... Geo

[+Basianj]

I'm brand spanking new to geocaching, but have been a hiker/backpacker for years and used to work in the outdoors all the time. I second (okay, third and fourth and fifth) everything that Briansnat said.

 

I typically will spray a baseball hat with deet and usually carry a bandana or two with me in my pack - which in lieu of a hat - i'll spray the cloth with deet before putting it around my neck or over my hair.

 

for my clothes i recommend permethrin - it's strong stuff and i've found dessicated ticks on my socks afterwards. whichever brand you choose - please read the labels very carefully - the brand I've used had to be sprayed your clothes and must dry for a few hours before putting your clothes on.

 

(unfortunately b/c i was caching in what i consider an extension of my backyard the past two days i got complacent and wasn't as careful as i should have been - and we came back with adult and nymph ticks on us - black legged and dog ticks. i'm still a bit wary each time i feel an itch.)

[+Chuy!]

Below is my contribution from a few months ago.

 

Yesterday, for the first time in my geocaching career, I found a tick sucking away on my left shin. The only cache I hit was the day before - a short 400-foot walk roundtrip, but in high dry grass. And the cache was in a large bush three. I think it stayed in the truck overnight 'cause I took a shower that evening and on the way to work, I felt an ever-so-slight tingling of a bug crawling up towards my left knee under my pants. I never felt it bite in. I sure felt it coming off! I used the green tick removal tool below. Twisted gently and pulled the critter up. The blood-sucker gave a little fight but the extraction was a success; I can't even tell where it clamped down.

 

I didn't follow the CDC advice to store the tick for identification in case I got ill. Feeling fine - for now...

 

My wife put this in my Valentine's day goodie bag; gotta love her.

 

I've been using these quite effectively for Ginger!, our golden retriever.

 

But, these are for when the blood sucker have already clamped down - it's better to prevent them from latching on in the first place. Permethrin sprays are recommended for human clothing and for skin contact only on pets, not humans. DEET is the most effective that can be applied to the human skin.

 

The CDC take on ticks.

[+Parabola]

My wife found one on my back the other day that had been there for a few days as had missed it over a few tick checks and showers. I haden't seen one like it and had to look it up on the net. Found out it was a normal wood tick but it was "engourged". Which is what I guess they call it after they get alot of blood in them. It was about 1/4 engourged acording to the site and a compairson. But it almost looked just like my skin color as it had turned a darker tan color. She just noticed a bump and it turned out to be a tick. Freaked me out when I saw it and then reading all the stuff they can carry and pass on to you. Luckly he hadn't buried himself and we got him with some tweasers. But then she's been putting neosporine and a bandaid on the spot where it was at. No red around it anymore so I don't think it's infected but I've never had one on me for that long. Usually I find them before the've attached. And this is the second one this year already I've got that was there for a while. Well the first one hadn't be "engourged" but he buried himself and I got the body off but had to do some " home surgery" to get it's head out. I call it that cause at one point a kitchen knife was involved.

 

I've seen the removers as some had posted pictures on and need to invest but anyone have suggestions on I guess aftercare from getting one of the little vampires off of ya. My wife just believes in neospornine and a bandaid, which seems to work ok.

 

Also kind of wondering I know last year they came out very heavy like this but when do they start to dwindle out. I am wondering the lifespan of a tick. If they don't find a victum for food, what do they do and how long do they live?