Suggestions on how to repell ticks?

[+walkingmax]

 

I carry a highly sophisticated, precision engineered but slightly modified yogurt lid. Smooth and Creamy works the best.

 

Seems like the same idea. Nice diy.

[+hzoi]

 

I carry a highly sophisticated, precision engineered but slightly modified yogurt lid. Smooth and Creamy works the best.

 

I dropped a few euro on a Tsechenkarte, a credit-card size piece of plastic that essentially does the same thing. Your solution looks a bit cheaper...and delicious!

[+dbrierley]

I use Deep Woods Off; anything with a lower concentration of DEET only seems to repel mosquitoes, not ticks. The Tick Key is good for tick removal.

Edited April 11, 2011 by dbrierley

[+DonB]

Anyone know why you're supposed to twist them, wouldn't there be a possibility of twisting the head off?

[+briansnat]

I've tried a few tick removers and this one seems to the be the easiest and most effective. Got mine free at the local veterinarians office. He had a bowl of them as swag stamped with his name and phone number.

 

Edited April 12, 2011 by briansnat

[Little Miss Muffet]

A question about the various removal tools....

 

Can the tick get away once you removed it? Are they stuck on the tool? Do they hop off quickly? I'll be damned if some little blood sucker that I remove off one of us is going to live!! Do you have to be quick to squish it? Or is it easy for them to get away, and then I'm freaking out because I can't find it and have to start the tick checks all over again.

 

I'm preparing to take my little kids on a camping trip. In an area that normally isn't used for camping. We will be there for 5 days with kids playing in the stream, hiking trails, running thru the fields in SW Pennsylvania in June. So wearing long pants/long sleeves would just be miserable. Suggestions on how often to do tick check? or any other suggestions for that matter, greatly appreciated.

Edited April 12, 2011 by Little Miss Muffet

[+walkingmax]

Anyone know why you're supposed to twist them, wouldn't there be a possibility of twisting the head off?

 

I found a video that described it like a bristle brush (will post it if I can find it again). It's not actually the head that gets twisted, it's the mouth part. It looks like a brush (barbed). If you pull the tick, it breaks apart because the barb does not release. If you twist it instead, it unscrews (for lack of a better word).

[+GeoGeeBee]

A question about the various removal tools....

 

Can the tick get away once you removed it? Are they stuck on the tool? Do they hop off quickly?

 

Ticks are slow moving. They crawl, they don't hop or jump.

 

They can be hard to kill, though. Squeezing them with your fingers generally won't do it, you'll need to get them between your fingernails or use some hard object to squish them. At home, I find it easier to flush them down the toilet.

[+hzoi]

If you do it right, the tick removal tool gets them out alive. Then you squish 'em between your fingernails, because they're tough to kill otherwise.

 

If you do it wrong, the head comes off, the tick dies, and then you need to worry about infection, Lyme disease, and so on.

[mtbikernate]

The few times I've actually been bitten by ticks, I've felt them latch on and have been able to get them out without incident - even without tools. Killing them is really tough. My fingernails are usually too short to be of much use, so I usually either flush them or crunch them between two rocks.

 

I've noticed some repellents seem to only work in certain regions. I used Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus for black flies and mosquitoes in Michigan with some effectiveness. I tried to use it in Texas and found that it ATTRACTED "love bugs" when they were doing their mating swarms in the late spring/early summer. The stuff seems to set off their pheromone receptors or something.

Edited April 13, 2011 by mtbikernate

[+GeoGeeBee]

I've noticed some repellents seem to only work in certain regions. I used Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus for black flies and mosquitoes in Michigan with some effectiveness. I tried to use it in Texas and found that it ATTRACTED "love bugs" when they were doing their mating swarms in the late spring/early summer. The stuff seems to set off their pheromone receptors or something.

 

It's funny how different insects react to different products. Here's a little-known fact: banana oil smells, to a honeybee, just like the pheromone given off by a stinging or injured bee. Don't eat bananas near a beehive!

[+ventura_kids]

We haven't picked up any ticks so far....but they don't usually hang around the mall parking lot where we geocache at.

[+OHail]

Off doesn't work too well for me. I spray with Repel 40% Deet before getting dressed. (Doesn't seem to have had any effect on my cats.) When I get to the cache site, I spray my clothes, socks and boots. I also spray enough on my arms so I can wipe my ears, neck and face with my arms which keeps it out of my eyes and mouth. I have been using this method for a couple of years and I haven't gotten any ticks (nor mosquitoes) when I remember to follow it.