[brewmaster15]

Hi all,
Just wanted to remind those of you out and about in the great outdoors to be careful of ticks. With climates changing alot and many areas are seeing an expansion of tick species ranges and with it more and more diseases they carry. Having had lyme disease several times and spent a few summers years ago as a research assistant collecting ticks in lyme CT (where lyme disease was discovered)..its kind of scary where things are today and how little we have come in methods of control and treatment.

I would highly advise people to treat your outdoor clothes with permethrin.. it lasts weeks and its very effective. I was out this past weekend and had several of the larval stage of the deer tick on my hands.. thats troublesome as these are the smallest stage ...tiny really.. and usually not around until mid summer (july august). Mild winters really bump up tick populations.

Example of a tick expanding range.. here in CT USA lone star ticks were very rare.. now they are establishing large permanent populations in their march North. That one worries me.. my luck I would be one of the ones that gets bit and develops an allergy to red meat.. you might as well take me outback and shoot me if I cant have a steak on the grill! Seriously though..these buggers can carry some pretty nasty pathogens..one of my stints with lyme disease left me with some serious neurolgical issues that luckily subsided after 2 months of antibiotics..

Becareful out there.. Diseases like Lyme disease can lead to loss of mobility, impaired cognitive ability and worse..early treatment is key. Sadly there are many other diseaes ticks can carry depending on where you are in the world. In the northeast east USA ,Lyme disease is public enemy number one if you are out doors at all.


AL

[steephill]

I have already removed two ticks this year and I expect I will pick up more freeloaders as the year progresses. I usually pick them up when gardening but these first two came from forest walks in south central England. I must have suffered a couple of hundred bites over the years thankfully without contracting Lyme disease so far but it is a constant threat and cases are rising locally.

[mee]

A welcome reminder, esp as we see warmer weather and opportunity for more outdoor photography.


Looks like there is a far worse incident level of Lyme up there than there is here further south (which surprises me since the warmer climate tends to support more bugs here I'd have guessed). Still better to be safe than sorry with that!

[aslyfox]

good advice

You Tube

You Tube

[dstar]

Hi all,
Just wanted to remind those of you out and about in the great outdoors to be careful of ticks. With climates changing alot and many areas are seeing an expansion of tick species ranges and with it more and more diseases they carry. Having had lyme disease several times and spent a few summers years ago as a research assistant collecting ticks in lyme CT (where lyme disease was discovered)..its kind of scary where things are today and how little we have come in methods of control and treatment.

I would highly advise people to treat your outdoor clothes with permethrin.. it lasts weeks and its very effective. I was out this past weekend and had several of the larval stage of the deer tick on my hands.. thats troublesome as these are the smallest stage ...tiny really.. and usually not around until mid summer (july august). Mild winters really bump up tick populations.

Example of a tick expanding range.. here in CT USA lone star ticks were very rare.. now they are establishing large permanent populations in their march North. That one worries me.. my luck I would be one of the ones that gets bit and develops an allergy to red meat.. you might as well take me outback and shoot me if I cant have a steak on the grill! Seriously though..these buggers can carry some pretty nasty pathogens..one of my stints with lyme disease left me with some serious neurolgical issues that luckily subsided after 2 months of antibiotics..

Becareful out there.. Diseases like Lyme disease can lead to loss of mobility, impaired cognitive ability and worse..early treatment is key. Sadly there are many other diseaes ticks can carry depending on where you are in the world. In the northeast east USA ,Lyme disease is public enemy number one if you are out doors at all.


AL

You absolutely right
Lyme disease very nasty staff

[aslyfox]

You absolutely right
Lyme disease very nasty staff

and it isn't always an insect you have to be worried about -

Hunter Accidentally Shot Hiker, ‘Thinking He Was a Turkey’: Police
Alberto Luperon 5/9/2021
…

A hunter accidentally shot a hiker, mistaking him for a turkey, say police in St. Charles County, Missouri on Saturday.

Hunter Accidentally Shot Hiker, ?Thinking He Was a Turkey?: Police

[dstar]

Good for turkey save life for better hunter🤗

[csa]

Thanks for the warning. Ticks really frighten me, as they tend to love me!

[fuzzyphotos]

I have pulled several off this year, a couple friends also had several. We sprayed shoes and pants but still had a few get on us. They really suck! (pun intended).

[vonBaloney]

A welcome reminder, esp as we see warmer weather and opportunity for more outdoor photography.


Looks like there is a far worse incident level of Lyme up there than there is here further south (which surprises me since the warmer climate tends to support more bugs here I'd have guessed). Still better to be safe than sorry with that!

Lizards may be protecting people from Lyme disease in the southeastern United States | Science | AAAS

I was glad to read this article (I'm in Savannah) because I see ticks all the time in the forests around here, and they've gotten me a couple of times. But we do have a million lizards and skinks as well...

[dms]

I would suggest you use Permethrin (as the OP said)--it is sprayed onto clothing (especially socks, pants cuff, etc.). I gather it is effective for ticks and mosquitos. Apparently it lasts thru many washings. REI for one has it. (I use it although that does not prove anything.)

[Rondec]

The permethrin spray is definitely the way to go. Too many places sell deet based sprays and as far as I can tell, they don't do anything for ticks.

We've had a lot of alpha gal allergies in our area secondary to bites from the Lone Star Tick, as well. Kind of a weird thing where people develop allergies to mammal meats after a tick bite.

[gaweidert]

Why don't they have flea and tick collars for humans?

[aslyfox]

nothing comes without a down side:

Important Note: the following article compares DEET with Permethrin as a tick repellent for humans. While Permethrin is fairly safe to humans when used properly, it is very toxic to cats, fish and aquatic life in general! More information is provided below, under the heading "Additional information about DEET and Permethrin".


DEET versus Permethrin as a Tick Repellent
By Tom Grier
Springtime is tick time. This means we will soon be seeing those cautionary ads on television telling us to use tick repellents. In almost every instance, the active ingredient in those advertised tick repellents will be DEET, which is the active ingredient in most mosquito repellents.

DEET is an excellent mosquito repellent, but it is a fairly poor tick repellent. We are inundated with so many DEET repellents because there are several huge corporations that manufacture hundreds of variations of DEET products. There is only one small company, Coulston Laboratory, that markets a handful of competitive tick repellent products for human use that contain 0.5 % permethrin. . . .

There are pros and cons to each product, but as a tick repellent, permethrin wins hands down. . . .

[brewmaster15]

nothing comes without a down side:

Allen this is true. The thing to keep in mind is deet is sprayed on skin.. permethrin should never be sprayed on skin. Even though its not terribly toxic to humans. Its sprayed on clothing off your body and then allowed to dry there ,usually over night . It bonds with the cloth and can stay on for weeks and even through washing.. there are even companies that sell permethrin treated clothes and treat clothes you send them.. If I remember.right permethrin was actually first isolated from chrysanthemums.

Permethrin is also.the active ingredient in sprays used to treat bedding for bed bugs


Used as intended, its generally thought to be safe and effective for ticks.. Always best to research any chemicals applied to your bodies or in contact and weigh the risks vs benefits.

---------- Post added 05-22-21 at 06:46 AM ----------

As a side note on Deet.. I really try not to use it all even for mosquitoes except on my clothes.
we had a small party here a few years ago and it was late summer.. a very wet one with a bumper crop of mosquitoes.. people were spraying "OFF" everywhere. The next day my yard was covered with dead patches of grass.. A quick test.and sure enough.. deet burns grass and.incredibly fast. .. kinda of make me think..hmmm...do I really need that on my skin!
Al