Ticks! Ticks! Ticks!

[+Lieblweb]

Just curious to know what you guys/gals are doing to prevent tick exposure?

 

My husband and I have always had outdoor hobbies where spraying one-self with bug spray everytime was needed. However - we've failed to do this for geocaching lately. We've been lucky and some of the wooded-area caches never posed a threat for ticks (or so we never found any). We've found a couple here and there but just yesterday, walking through (what we thought) was just tall grass (8") and the cache was located only 10 feet in the woodline. I took a more direct route in and my husband took a longer route. Didn't 'look' like a tick infested area.... He didn't have his shirt tucked in, I did. Walking back to the truck, we found 6 ticks on him (2 were on his skin/chest) and 4 others on his jeans. I found 2 on my jeans. Wow...couldn't believe it. These ticks were sizable enough to spot with your eyes. Not sure about those other types that are smaller. We wear hats too.....

 

Needless to say, we'll be spraying ourselves with bug spray EVERY time we go out.

 

So, what's your secret? Anything other than spraying yourself with bug spray and wearing a hat? I'm paticularly wondering (in the summer months) about wearing shorts....bare legs, etc. Do you have guys have any special tips/tricks?

Thanks!

Jandy

[+LukeTrocity]

Wearing dark clothes attracts ticks, so try to stick to lighter clothes. Besides sprays, some companies sell actual treatments you put in the washer with your clothes.

 

Beyond that thorough checks after hiking should be done regularly.

[+Chokecherry]

I do premathrin on my clothes and deet on my skin when I go out. Then wash any clothes I wear out pretty much immediately so the little guys that managed to get in pockets and stuff are killed.

[+Mom-n-Andy]

Wear light colored clothes (makes it easier to see the ticks.)

Wear long pants, especially if you have hairy legs (it's easier for ticks to grab onto hair.)

Tuck shirt into pants and pants into socks.

Use bug spray.

Remove your clothes as soon as you get home and check for ticks.

If a tick bites use one of these to remove it: http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___88774

Don't try to remove a tick by grabbing its body, putting anything on it, setting it on fire, etc. Use the tick remover and follow directions. You do not want to do anything to distress the tick and cause it to regurgitate its stomach contents into your bloodstream.

After you remove the tick, clean the bite with alcohol.

Consider saving the tick in a baggie or other container for identification if you do get sick.

 

Put tick preventer on your geodog as recommended by your vet, and check him for ticks too.

[+briansnat]

I treat my clothing with permethrin and use a DEET based repellent on my skin. Light colored clothing also helps to allow you to see them before they crawl underneath.

[+TheLoneGrangers]

Mom N Andy, thanks for the link, I just bought one.

[+wiseye]

In the summer while wearing shorts I use a black market preperation that is made from frog droppings and hamster grease.

it is formulated and sold by a small dealer in the Seattle area. Works good, smells like crap.

[+Shaved Ewok]

BEN'S 100 BUG SPRAY! Nothing will come near you with this stuff. I've also found that it's high DEET percentage also repels Canadians. Not always a bad thing, lol.

[+crazysnowbdr]

Funny this should come up last night my fiance and I were walking through a park not even caching so we were on a paved trail and my dog some how picked up 5 ticks they were large wood ticks but still they are everywhere.

[+fuzziebear3]

...

 

We've been lucky and some of the wooded-area caches never posed a threat for ticks (or so we never found any). We've found a couple here and there but just yesterday, walking through (what we thought) was just tall grass (8") and the cache was located only 10 feet in the woodline. I took a more direct route in and my husband took a longer route.

 

...

 

 

I have found that you are much more likely to pick up ticks in the tall prarie grasses areas, than in a wooded area. They hang on the tall grass and jump right on you when you walk through. (It's called questing). Just be sure to look yourself over well when you come out.

[+dfx]

Just stay at home...

[+YooperSnowman]

Perhaps a little off topic. I have placed several caches in wooded areas where I live in the U.P. of Michigan. To help cachers understand what they might be getting into, in the cache description I select the ticks attribute but also state in the cache description to be prepared for ticks, mosquitoes, and changeable weather. Goes with the territory here.

[+moose61]

I use DEET, long pants (also in the summer) and check frequently when hinking in the woods and tall grass. I also take a shower when I am back home. If the tick did not bite yet, it will be washed away.

 

Still at least ones a year one of them eats me. Then remove it as quickly as possible. Use good tick removing equipment, not the tongs used to remove ticks from animals. When removed check for the next weeks there is no infection. If you don't think it is OK, consult a doctor.

 

Information how to remove a tick and how to check for an infection can be found on the Internet.

[+wimseyguy]

Perhaps a bit TMI, but this method has worked well for me. I keep a small spray bottle of Repel 100 DEET in the bathroom and spray a band above my ankles, at my shoulders and on my back and neck after my morning shower and before getting dressed. I haven't had any of the buggers get a grip on me in 3-4 years since I started this program. I do avoid walking through tall grasses, and setting my backpack or rear on rotting logs when I find the cache and am signing the log. I've read that they like to nest in those logs.

 

No matter what-a full on TSA scan afterward is essential as they won't get a good grip and start sharing nasty bodily fluids in the first few hours of contact anyway.

[+Chokecherry]

Anyone notice if it's a worse tick year where you are? Here it seems to be a worse year than usual for the little guys.

[+Coldgears]

Here in bucks county we have a lot of deer, and deer ticks, and a lot of lyme disease.

[+LukeTrocity]

Anyone notice if it's a worse tick year where you are? Here it seems to be a worse year than usual for the little guys.

 

Yes. This season Northern New Jersey is terrible. I was bitten already, and have found several on the dog even with frontline.

[+cfever]

Anyone notice if it's a worse tick year where you are? Here it seems to be a worse year than usual for the little guys.

 

Yes. This season Northern New Jersey is terrible. I was bitten already, and have found several on the dog even with frontline.

It's been really bad in central Illinois. A few weeks ago my 2 sons and I went caching at a local lake and we pulled 17 of the buggers off of us! I even checked my oldest son when we got home, checked his hair and everything was fine. The next day we found one crawling on his back and when I double checked his head there were 13 more of them attached to his scalp! He was not happy and of course being the smart aleck that he is, he yelled out "I'm ticked off!"

[+kniezgoda]

Just had 2 o me today YUK!!!

[knowschad]

Happens every year. I also hunt morel mushrooms, so get plenty of ticks that way, as well. Even with DEET and all of those other protections, I still end up with a bunch of itchy red bites every year. Have never yet caught anything from them yet, at least.

[+Lieblweb]

Thanks Gang!!

Went out last night and really sprayed ourselves with bug spray and didn't find any. Phew!!

 

I'm doing a bit of research on permethrin. What types of permethrin are you using?

Found the 'soak your clothes' type

http://www.caplock.com/Permethrin.htm

or the spray type

http://sectionhiker.com/treating-your-clothes-with-permethrin/

Definately sounds like something to have in the arsenal.

 

Not sure I'd want to soak our clothes in it, but permethrin might be good to spray on our boots and/or soak our socks.

[+LukeTrocity]

Thanks Gang!!

Went out last night and really sprayed ourselves with bug spray and didn't find any. Phew!!

 

I'm doing a bit of research on permethrin. What types of permethrin are you using?

Found the 'soak your clothes' type

http://www.caplock.com/Permethrin.htm

or the spray type

http://sectionhiker....ith-permethrin/

Definately sounds like something to have in the arsenal.

 

Not sure I'd want to soak our clothes in it, but permethrin might be good to spray on our boots and/or soak our socks.

 

Presumably the type you wash your clothes in.

[+Lieblweb]

Presumably the type you wash your clothes in.

I'm not finding any information about putting permethrin in the washer to treat clothes. It's mostly all soaking or spraying it on/let dry. But then again, I suck at the internet.

[+Chokecherry]

Presumably the type you wash your clothes in.

I'm not finding any information about putting permethrin in the washer to treat clothes. It's mostly all soaking or spraying it on/let dry. But then again, I suck at the internet.

 

I've soaked and sprayed. I haven't had any that I use in the washer to coat the clothes.

[+TheLoneGrangers]

we are issued permethrin in the military when we deployed and we are required to use it, you are suppose to soak your clothes in it, best in a trash bag tied up and placed outside.

[+sword fern]

Ughh.. Ticks are my worst nightmare...

 

From everyones posts, ticks don't sound like much when people are saying something about a "rash".

 

Yghhh Ticks. Ticks. Ticks. I always ignore caches with a Tick attribute. The honey tick-has a horrendous glob of bubble honey on its butt-wait the honey isits but.

Ive never encountered a tick, and will go to extra measures that I don't...

 

Hey, I shouldn't be badmouthing ticks. They are creatures that need to survive and they are probably badmouthing humans as we speak.

[+Coldgears]

Ughh.. Ticks are my worst nightmare...

 

From everyones posts, ticks don't sound like much when people are saying something about a "rash".

 

Yghhh Ticks. Ticks. Ticks. I always ignore caches with a Tick attribute. The honey tick-has a horrendous glob of bubble honey on its butt-wait the honey isits but.

Ive never encountered a tick, and will go to extra measures that I don't...

 

Hey, I shouldn't be badmouthing ticks. They are creatures that need to survive and they are probably badmouthing humans as we speak.

You don't need an attribute to know there are ticks. If it requires you to go under a tree, whether in the suburbs or in a patch of woods, there's bound to be ticks waiting to drop on your head.

[+Crow-T-Robot]

I use DEET, long pants (also in the summer) and check frequently when hinking in the woods and tall grass. I also take a shower when I am back home. If the tick did not bite yet, it will be washed away.

 

Still at least ones a year one of them eats me. Then remove it as quickly as possible. Use good tick removing equipment, not the tongs used to remove ticks from animals. When removed check for the next weeks there is no infection. If you don't think it is OK, consult a doctor.

 

Information how to remove a tick and how to check for an infection can be found on the Internet.

 

How big are these ticks??

[+Cardinal Flyer]

Make sure the ticks you are trying to remove from your dogs belly aren't it's nipples.

[+Lieblweb]

Make sure the ticks you are trying to remove from your dogs belly aren't it's nipples.

 

Is that speaking from experience?

 

OUCH!!

 

[+AlohaBra and MaksMom]

Just stay at home...

 

bummer...I am caching in San Francisco...for micros.... [concrete jungle...bums..not ticks]

[+fuzziebear3]

Out caching last evening and passed through some prarie grasses on the way to one of them. When I got back to the car, over the next 10 minutes or so, I found 5 ticks on my clothes (Maybe it was the same one just kept sticking to me?). Creepy-crawlie feeling anyway, ughh. But it doesn't stop me -- just check for them and remove them, and then on to the next cache.

 

But yes, I think this year seems worse for them. Maybe it has been the weather.

[+Lieblweb]

All this prompted me to read about the darn nasty ugly things. Seems May-July is when they're most active. I'm definitely ordering some perithren spray, tick removal tool, and following all suggestions. Bug spray and more bugspray! Lyme disease is no laughing matter.

Thank you everyone for the much needed tips!

[+A & J Tooling]

Just hold the lit end of your cigar to their butt while they're sucking on your blood. It'll teach those critters!

[+hzoi]

I wonder if Burt Reynolds's character from Striptease found a working solution to the tick problem...

[+Team Dennis]

Anyone notice if it's a worse tick year where you are? Here it seems to be a worse year than usual for the little guys.

 

In my experience this year has not been as bad as last year. It's probably due to the fact that it's been so darn cold this spring. I know last year I was getting COVERED with ticks back in April but not nearly as much this year. My personal record was about 50 ticks after caching in some hunting land early last spring. I kind of forgot the insect repellent at home that day.

[+Chokecherry]

Anyone notice if it's a worse tick year where you are? Here it seems to be a worse year than usual for the little guys.

 

In my experience this year has not been as bad as last year. It's probably due to the fact that it's been so darn cold this spring. I know last year I was getting COVERED with ticks back in April but not nearly as much this year. My personal record was about 50 ticks after caching in some hunting land early last spring. I kind of forgot the insect repellent at home that day.

 

Up here this year has been much worse. Last year wasn't so bad and that was a really early spring last year up here. Couple ticks here and there. This year everyone (non-caching) is commenting on noticing more ticks and I have to agree. Here they seem very thick this year.

[+sword fern]

Reading this thread is giving me TMI (in a good or bad way, doesn't matter). I guess ignorance really is bliss!

[+seanny_cache]

DEET and a Pair of Tweezers

[knowschad]

I use DEET, long pants (also in the summer) and check frequently when hinking in the woods and tall grass. I also take a shower when I am back home. If the tick did not bite yet, it will be washed away.

 

Still at least ones a year one of them eats me. Then remove it as quickly as possible. Use good tick removing equipment, not the tongs used to remove ticks from animals. When removed check for the next weeks there is no infection. If you don't think it is OK, consult a doctor.

 

Information how to remove a tick and how to check for an infection can be found on the Internet.

 

How big are these ticks??

[yoshi2093]

I live in the UK so sometimes sun cream and walking boots.

[+geoexpress]

This website has very good information.

[+Crow-T-Robot]

I was out today and picked off about 4-5 deer ticks. Not bad considering I was in the woods/long grass all afternoon. We used to have nothing but wood ticks and now it seems like there is nothing but deer ticks. I'm much rather have the wood ticks. At least those you can see.

 

Bruce

[+sword fern]

I use DEET, long pants (also in the summer) and check frequently when hinking in the woods and tall grass. I also take a shower when I am back home. If the tick did not bite yet, it will be washed away.

 

Still at least ones a year one of them eats me. Then remove it as quickly as possible. Use good tick removing equipment, not the tongs used to remove ticks from animals. When removed check for the next weeks there is no infection. If you don't think it is OK, consult a doctor.

 

Information how to remove a tick and how to check for an infection can be found on the Internet.

 

How big are these ticks??

 

You just HAD to post a pic of a tick didn't you? Ughh...

 

BTW, anyone know if there are any ticks in western washington? If so, which ones and where? Considering my arachnophobia(more specific: spiders and ticks) I don't want to look at pictures which mostly most resources have.

[+sword fern]

Just curious to know what you guys/gals are doing to prevent tick exposure?

 

My husband and I have always had outdoor hobbies where spraying one-self with bug spray everytime was needed. However - we've failed to do this for geocaching lately. We've been lucky and some of the wooded-area caches never posed a threat for ticks (or so we never found any). We've found a couple here and there but just yesterday, walking through (what we thought) was just tall grass (8") and the cache was located only 10 feet in the woodline. I took a more direct route in and my husband took a longer route. Didn't 'look' like a tick infested area.... He didn't have his shirt tucked in, I did. Walking back to the truck, we found 6 ticks on him (2 were on his skin/chest) and 4 others on his jeans. I found 2 on my jeans. Wow...couldn't believe it. These ticks were sizable enough to spot with your eyes. Not sure about those other types that are smaller. We wear hats too.....

 

Needless to say, we'll be spraying ourselves with bug spray EVERY time we go out.

 

So, what's your secret? Anything other than spraying yourself with bug spray and wearing a hat? I'm paticularly wondering (in the summer months) about wearing shorts....bare legs, etc. Do you have guys have any special tips/tricks?

Thanks!

Jandy

Im glad I live 2000 miles away from PA. Im terrified of Ticks. Never encountered one, Hope I never will.

 

Some people might consider this as a bump. A bump it is. Lets continue the discussion parallel to my recurring one

[knowschad]

BTW, anyone know if there are any ticks in western washington? If so, which ones and where? Considering my arachnophobia(more specific: spiders and ticks) I don't want to look at pictures which mostly most resources have.

Distribution of Colorado Tick Fever and Its Main Vector.

 

 

 

sorry.

 

 

Source: http://www.aldf.com/usmap.shtml

[+Panther&Pine]

Distribution of Colorado Tick Fever and Its Main Vector.

 

 

 

Source: http://www.aldf.com/usmap.shtml

Which always makes me wonder why we call it Colorado Tick Fever.

[knowschad]

Distribution of Colorado Tick Fever and Its Main Vector.

 

 

 

Source: http://www.aldf.com/usmap.shtml

Which always makes me wonder why we call it Colorado Tick Fever.

 

'cause your state has so many good things to say about it, they felt you could handle it and still come out shining.

[+Panther&Pine]

Which always makes me wonder why we call it Colorado Tick Fever.

 

'cause your state has so many good things to say about it, they felt you could handle it and still come out shining.

[TheCacheSeeker]

BTW, anyone know if there are any ticks in western washington? If so, which ones and where? Considering my arachnophobia(more specific: spiders and ticks) I don't want to look at pictures which mostly most resources have.

I don't know, but I hope not. i also despise these horrible ticks.