[Meg Lesher]

Some folks swear by "Skin so Soft" by Avon as a repellant to chiggers and ticks. I can't stand the perfume of it myself. Deep Woods will help keep them off you, and Front Line will help keep them off your dogs. The cheap bug repellants available for dogs WILL NOT. Wear light colored clothing; somehow ticks are attracted by dark colors. Ticks are going to be worst on the verges of woods, where they meet meadows. Check yourself and your dogs when you come in. You won't be able to see the chiggers; they are small enough to fit on the head of a pin and they're almost transparent. They go for clothing edges, like waistbands, sock bands, etc. Tucking your shirt into your pants and your pants into your socks can help keep chiggers off. They seem to me to be worst in long grass. Ticks will navigate to the warmest spots on your body. Guess where those are? :-) There are two main types in Arkansas. I don't know the name of the big grey bloodsuckers, but they swell up like balloons and then fall off the host, engorged with blood. If you step on one you'll have a bloody mess tracking across your floor. They tend to get on dogs, not people so much. Deer ticks are smaller. The babies are as small as a pinhead but itch just as much as an adult. They are reddish, round bodied and close to flat in shape, and have a little white mark on their back. They can spread lyme disease, but fortunately this isn't very much of a problem in Arkansas. Be aware though, that lyme disease is serious. It can cause neurological damage. I once knew a woman who permanently lost almost all movement in her left arm due to lyme. After lyme, all she could do with that side was wiggle the ends of her fingers. And I had a dentist once who suffered brain damage from it; his practice went down the tubes, myself included. About lyme symptoms: like flu. Often, a rash with a bullseye appearance at the site of the bite. But this doesn't always happen. Aches, headaches, fever. Acute arthritic symptoms, stiffness, lethargy. If you suspect you or your dog have lyme, get a blood test. Antibiotics will knock it out but damage wraught is done. When I have to pull ticks off my dogs, I keep a container with water handy and throw them in it. They're poor swimmers and won't escape. Then I flush them down the toilet. And be aware that if your dog seems to be a tick magnet, it could be a sign of underlying health problems in the dog. I had an old pointer who always got many more ticks than her kennelmates who ran the same fields and slept in the same dirt. The ticks seemed to home in on her; maybe by a slight scent clue? The old girl's gone on to doggie heaven now, but if you suspect something might be causing your dog to attract ticks by the dozens, see a vet.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Meg Lesher

Some folks swear by "Skin so Soft" by Avon as a repellant to chiggers and ticks. I can't stand the perfume of it myself. Deep Woods will help keep them off you, and Front Line will help keep them off your dogs. The cheap bug repellants available for dogs WILL NOT. Wear light colored clothing; somehow ticks are attracted by dark colors. Ticks are going to be worst on the verges of woods, where they meet meadows. Check yourself and your dogs when you come in. You won't be able to see the chiggers; they are small enough to fit on the head of a pin and they're almost transparent. They go for clothing edges, like waistbands, sock bands, etc. Tucking your shirt into your pants and your pants into your socks can help keep chiggers off. They seem to me to be worst in long grass. Ticks will navigate to the warmest spots on your body. Guess where those are? :-) There are two main types in Arkansas. I don't know the name of the big grey bloodsuckers, but they swell up like balloons and then fall off the host, engorged with blood. If you step on one you'll have a bloody mess tracking across your floor. They tend to get on dogs, not people so much. Deer ticks are smaller. The babies are as small as a pinhead but itch just as much as an adult. They are reddish, round bodied and close to flat in shape, and have a little white mark on their back. They can spread lyme disease, but fortunately this isn't very much of a problem in Arkansas. Be aware though, that lyme disease is serious. It can cause neurological damage. I once knew a woman who permanently lost almost all movement in her left arm due to lyme. After lyme, all she could do with that side was wiggle the ends of her fingers. And I had a dentist once who suffered brain damage from it; his practice went down the tubes, myself included. About lyme symptoms: like flu. Often, a rash with a bullseye appearance at the site of the bite. But this doesn't always happen. Aches, headaches, fever. Acute arthritic symptoms, stiffness, lethargy. If you suspect you or your dog have lyme, get a blood test. Antibiotics will knock it out but damage wraught is done. When I have to pull ticks off my dogs, I keep a container with water handy and throw them in it. They're poor swimmers and won't escape. Then I flush them down the toilet. And be aware that if your dog seems to be a tick magnet, it could be a sign of underlying health problems in the dog. I had an old pointer who always got many more ticks than her kennelmates who ran the same fields and slept in the same dirt. The ticks seemed to home in on her; maybe by a slight scent clue? The old girl's gone on to doggie heaven now, but if you suspect something might be causing your dog to attract ticks by the dozens, see a vet.

Meg, great information. I had heard about the skin so soft for some creatures but not particularly ticks. thanks for the advise. Also thanks for letting people know the cheap stuff for dogs don't work. It is like chearp flea spray.

I have only seen the big ticks guys in my life, we used to do about the same thing. Get them off the dogs or us on rare occassion and dump them in water before flushing them down the toilet. We actually got a tick off our dog right here in NM last summer. We had a very wet July, some pretty tall grass (weeds to be honest) and a dog that loves to lay in anything green. Sure enough we found a tick on his face. AS for chiggers, like I think I mentioned earlier all our years in TX and never did we have a problem. It does sound like using Deet is a good idea.

Nita

[Cali BassMan]

Thanks for the info, I guess I'll be magnet for them little suckers as I will always be in the fields and woods... Doggies will be fine, we use all the good stuff here, Wifie is a vet.........

[magrack]

Originally Posted by arguy1973

if u hunt...put a flea collar around your ankle

No, don't.

We tried that in 'Nam, but the issue is the flea collars are designed to allow absorption of the chemicals through the skin...for dogs or cats. That's why there are different flea collors for dogs and cats.

Different blood physiology.

Just use the Off, it's designed for people.

[jenn0816]

Having been a victim of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, take tick bites seriously. If you have fatigue or vomiting or any other flu-like symptoms that don't seem to improve, get tested!!! I almost died because the doctor was convinced I had a "nasty" flu before I ended up in an ER (after I told my mother to just let me die and she drove me there.). Also, for your pets, make sure they are on a heartworm medication AND a tick repellant. Mosquitos and ticks both carry nasty things for our 4-legged friends and a regular flea collar will not protect them from a lot of these things.

[cwhittiker]

I live in Oklahoma and it's basically the same environment. Ticks are very, very bad in the late spring, early summer. Insect repellent is a must unless you want no less than 30 on you, and thats me on a mountain bike through the woods (just ticks off of the leaves I brush against). As far as chiggers, I have not had them in years, but I will say I have had chiggers so badly that I was not able to sleep for days because of the pain and itch. Insect repellent and proper clothing if you know you are going to be tromping through deep weeds is a must here.

Pets are ok with basic insect repellent such as frontline, make sure they are also on a heartworm med, mosquitos are rampant here. Always inspect your pet also after any trip into the woods.

[JGAngel97]

Thinking about moving to NWA from Las Vegas, NV and am worried about the bugs as well. What about cockroaches??We had them in So. Cal, but these are seriously big enough to roast on the BBQ and they fly!
I am not kidding.

If you stay out of the woods are you safe from the chiggers and ticks? What about fleas?

We are considering an historic home on 2 acres in Rogers or a lakefront home in BV. I'm assuming the bugs would be about the same.....

Thanks!

[Sunset_Va]

Here in VA, I hate summers, hate chiggers and hate ticks. Also we have grass mites, if you mow your lawn, beware they are nasty little varmints that leave a whelp for weeks.

I hate chiggers, I hate ticks. Along with using Arid, every morning, I also spray on bug/tick repellent....and am wondering the side effects of using that every day, but at least I am not getting eat up by those evil creatures.

So, chiggers are other places than Va....

[jenn0816]

Originally Posted by JGAngel97

Thinking about moving to NWA from Las Vegas, NV and am worried about the bugs as well. What about cockroaches??We had them in So. Cal, but these are seriously big enough to roast on the BBQ and they fly!
I am not kidding.

If you stay out of the woods are you safe from the chiggers and ticks? What about fleas?

We are considering an historic home on 2 acres in Rogers or a lakefront home in BV. I'm assuming the bugs would be about the same.....

Thanks!

I made the opposite move, but I will tell you, the Cockroaches are not the same! I did live in one apartment in Ark where we had roaches, but they are small sneaky dark brown ones and raid works well. Not sure what you had in so cal but the ones in Ark are different then the huge nasty ones we see outside in Vegas all summer... That said, Roaches are not likely to be your problem in Ark since you are moving to a house. A good pest service will still work wonders, but living in the country will be different for you. Be prepared for ticks, fleas, and a variety of spiders and other insects. They come with all the beautiful trees and grass! Also, don't be alarmed if in the winter you get field mice in the house. A good cat (or dog in some cases) will help with that, but we always had problems with mice in the winters. Good luck with the move. Bugs and critters aside, it is beautiful there. (I don't recommend a pet door, though, unless you really like raccoons and possums in the house...)

[jinxjunk]

We moved here from the north and the #1 thing we dislike is the fleas and ticks. They are thick and everywhere. Lots of commercial & home remedies but they only do so much. AR has beautiful parks but we don't use them because of fleas & ticks. Also, gave up on having a dog as fighting the fleas & Ticks was too hard. Even without a pet we recently had fleas in our home so now we have an exterminator come.........Nice location, 4 mild seasons, low taxes, cheap housing and relaxed atmosphere so we stay.