Tick questions

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Phil M.

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Good morning.

I'm creating an article on ticks for a green industry publication. If anybody has had a relevant experience with ticks and would be willing to be quoted in this piece, please message me. Have you had issues with ticks while on the job? What specific precautions do you take to avoid ticks?

Thanks in advance.
 
Highly recommend that you advise people in the article to always consult with the region/county that they are a part of to determine if increases or decreases are noticed. At least this way people can understand what amount of vigilance they will need to consider prior to going out. I know in the Ontario region they're reporting a 400% increase in ticks which is crazy to think of, but again, their not using DEET anymore.

Also, encourage the readers to take a look at the Tick App. Good way of providing identifiable guides.

If you want more from me just send me a message.
 
I had Lyme already! Be vigilant out there use a Permethrin based spray for clothing when in an area that has ticks. There are a few types made some for sticking to foliage some sticks to livestock and one is made to stick to clothing. Sawyers Permethrin in a spray bottle applied to clothing and let dried should keep them off you. Read the suggested uses and applications some ain't for clothing.
I just bought a sprayer to spray my whole perimeter these things are at war with us!
 
No more chemicals, the wild turkeys eat ticks. I feed them cracked corn. The broods are here four to five times a day. I’d like to get those yard geni fowl next.
 
Yes we use a thing called tick twister they come right out. The tics come out whole. You need to get them out early. Tics are in the nests of mice there’s another product that the mice take to there nests it’s cotton with tic killer on it. Haven’t tried it yet it’s a plastic looking wood with cotton inside it you put it around your property.
 
Yes we use a thing called tick twister they come right out. The tics come out whole. You need to get them out early. Tics are in the nests of mice there’s another product that the mice take to there nests it’s cotton with tic killer on it. Haven’t tried it yet it’s a plastic looking wood with cotton inside it you put it around your property.
just put Permethrin on cotton balls and leave outside the mice bring it back to the nests and it kills the ticks on the mice which carry Lyme.
 
I worry about what else may grab the permethrin?

I have tons of wildlife even broods of turkeys come to feed.
 
Ticks are horrible this year. I had to go to the doctor yesterday for antibiotics. Some kind of bug bit me on my back and a knot came up after a few days. Dr. just said it was a bug bite, and was full of infection. Don't know if it was a tick or a spider.
 
Back in the old days when we had good gasoline I would wash my hands and arms when I gassed up the saws. Never got bit by anything. So much rain here the bugs aren’t fully out yet. Just tics here and there.
 
Ticks are horrible this year. I had to go to the doctor yesterday for antibiotics. Some kind of bug bit me on my back and a knot came up after a few days. Dr. just said it was a bug bite, and was full of infection. Don't know if it was a tick or a spider.
Red itchy bump is a tick I had that many times.
 
I have been treated for lyme years ago when I got a bite but never saw the tick. They pumped me full of doxycycline with an IV for a few hours then oral for a month.

If you get bit don't wait for symptoms, get on two weeks of oral doxycycline. If your doctor will prescribe a few extra it's good to have in case you can't get to a doctor for a script right away. It has a 1 year shelf life so don't use old pills. The last time the pharmacy screwed up and when I got home found I had enough pills for 3 two week treatments. The extra came in handy when I got bit this spring. The quicker you treat it the less chance you have of getting an infection.

The permethrin sprays for clothing work great. I spray down 2 or 3 sets of work clothes so I can always have clean/treated clothes in the woods. The Sawyer product works great but is expensive. A doctor recommended the concentrate (10% Gordons) sold at TSC, dilute it 20 fold (0.5%) and spray on just like the Sawyers. TSC also has nice 1-quart sprayers. Make sure it ONLY has permethrin. One quart is $20 and dilutes to make 5 gallons of spray. Sawyers is ~$15 for less than a quart. Don't let cats come in contact with permethrin or treated clothes/areas until it dries; it is toxic to cats.

Permethrin can also be used to control other pests and is used in barns with livestock; works great on fleas. Every spring my old farmhouse gets an invasion with ants, I spray down the foundation with permethrin. The other thing that takes care of ants are bait traps with boric acid. Make up a solution with sugar and put those out where ants are trailing, the ants will drink the solution and bring it back to their nest. Much less expensive than commercial ant traps. You can get boric acid at the pharmacy, it is used as an eye wash, and an ingredient in Visiense (sp?)

I was skeptical of permethrin at first. I treated some pants then went into a tick infested area. I picked up a deer tick near my ankle then observed it. The tick crawled almost to my knee then stopped, after about a minute it started to twitch then fell off dead. It works.

Even with treated clothes check yourself well after being outside, use a mirror for your back. If your clothes are not treated put them in a garbage bag until you can wash them. Check yourself well in the shower.

I have never got a tick bite when wearing my treated clothes; socks, pants, shirt. I have got ticks from my cat when she brought them in and jumped up on my lap. Same problem with dogs. A friend had ticks in his truck courtesy of his spaniel.

You can also make your own treated cotton balls as mentioned by Lone Wolf. Mice are a bigger carrier of deer ticks than deer. Put the treated cotton ball inside empty TP or paper towel rolls. The mice will line their nests with the cotton and kill the ticks. You will need quite a few of these to be effective.

In my barns/outbuilding I just kill the mice with "spinning bottle/water bucket traps". They work great, bait with peanut butter, and just dump out the drowned mice.

mousetrap.jpg

Ticks are a problem on deer. I hunt and you have to be very careful when dressing out a deer. If you are going to keep/tan the hide, spray it down with permethrin after skinning them, salt (non-iodized for hair on) , and bag the skin.

They have made deer feeding stations with permethrin treated paint rollers built so the deer have to contact the rollers to get at the corn. Sort of the same idea as
"dusters" they hang in cow barn doors. I don't like feeding deer, it concentrates the deer and can help spread CWD in infected areas.

Also try to keep fields mowed and cut back brushy areas near you home. Ticks crawl up grass/shrubs and when an animal brushes by they hitch a ride.

I'm in the northeast, and as a child I was out in the woods always hunting/fishing/exploring, unless I had to be in school. I never even saw a tick. They got here mid 1980s and are an infestation now.
 
I have been treated for lyme years ago when I got a bite but never saw the tick. They pumped me full of doxycycline with an IV for a few hours then oral for a month.

If you get bit don't wait for symptoms, get on two weeks of oral doxycycline. If your doctor will prescribe a few extra it's good to have in case you can't get to a doctor for a script right away. It has a 1 year shelf life so don't use old pills. The last time the pharmacy screwed up and when I got home found I had enough pills for 3 two week treatments. The extra came in handy when I got bit this spring. The quicker you treat it the less chance you have of getting an infection.

The permethrin sprays for clothing work great. I spray down 2 or 3 sets of work clothes so I can always have clean/treated clothes in the woods. The Sawyer product works great but is expensive. A doctor recommended the concentrate (10% Gordons) sold at TSC, dilute it 20 fold (0.5%) and spray on just like the Sawyers. TSC also has nice 1-quart sprayers. Make sure it ONLY has permethrin. One quart is $20 and dilutes to make 5 gallons of spray. Sawyers is ~$15 for less than a quart. Don't let cats come in contact with permethrin or treated clothes/areas until it dries; it is toxic to cats.

Permethrin can also be used to control other pests and is used in barns with livestock; works great on fleas. Every spring my old farmhouse gets an invasion with ants, I spray down the foundation with permethrin. The other thing that takes care of ants are bait traps with boric acid. Make up a solution with sugar and put those out where ants are trailing, the ants will drink the solution and bring it back to their nest. Much less expensive than commercial ant traps. You can get boric acid at the pharmacy, it is used as an eye wash, and an ingredient in Visiense (sp?)

I was skeptical of permethrin at first. I treated some pants then went into a tick infested area. I picked up a deer tick near my ankle then observed it. The tick crawled almost to my knee then stopped, after about a minute it started to twitch then fell off dead. It works.

Even with treated clothes check yourself well after being outside, use a mirror for your back. If your clothes are not treated put them in a garbage bag until you can wash them. Check yourself well in the shower.

I have never got a tick bite when wearing my treated clothes; socks, pants, shirt. I have got ticks from my cat when she brought them in and jumped up on my lap. Same problem with dogs. A friend had ticks in his truck courtesy of his spaniel.

You can also make your own treated cotton balls as mentioned by Lone Wolf. Mice are a bigger carrier of deer ticks than deer. Put the treated cotton ball inside empty TP or paper towel rolls. The mice will line their nests with the cotton and kill the ticks. You will need quite a few of these to be effective.

In my barns/outbuilding I just kill the mice with "spinning bottle/water bucket traps". They work great, bait with peanut butter, and just dump out the drowned mice.

View attachment 740943

Ticks are a problem on deer. I hunt and you have to be very careful when dressing out a deer. If you are going to keep/tan the hide, spray it down with permethrin after skinning them, salt (non-iodized for hair on) , and bag the skin.

They have made deer feeding stations with permethrin treated paint rollers built so the deer have to contact the rollers to get at the corn. Sort of the same idea as
"dusters" they hang in cow barn doors. I don't like feeding deer, it concentrates the deer and can help spread CWD in infected areas.

Also try to keep fields mowed and cut back brushy areas near you home. Ticks crawl up grass/shrubs and when an animal brushes by they hitch a ride.

I'm in the northeast, and as a child I was out in the woods always hunting/fishing/exploring, unless I had to be in school. I never even saw a tick. They got here mid 1980s and are an infestation now.
Excellent post.
 
Ticks are really bad here right now as are fleas and I haven’t seen fleas like this in years! Be careful out there.
 
Cheap permethrin can be bought as animal treatment by the gallon. Also generic ant spray or powder, same thing. Ticks are hardwired ti only climb up, never down, so folds in clothing can act as traps for them. Double cuffs on the trouser leg, big collars etc. They will get stuck in these areas and can be emptied whenever. That's why old fashioned boots had a big fold-over at the top. They say if you get bitten and remove the tick within 24 hours, you will not get Lyme's, apparently it takes a few days for the infection to "take" (might want to check that).
 
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