Go'in camping in June; Should I worry? (Vail, Idaho Springs: environment, travel)

[Mike78613]

Actually June or July (go'in camping) and notice that these are around:

"Colorado tick fever"

MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Colorado tick fever

Anyone here ever got it? I read off another forum that a guy recenly got it from his outdoor hike in the mountains. I hear it makes you feel like you want just want to DIE.

Should I worry?
Would bug spray prevent this Colorado tick to keep off us?

Thanks

[winglady]

I've lived in Colorado my entire life, and have done a great deal of camping and hiking here. I've had 2 ticks EVER, and one I picked up in a car where people had just returned from hiking, but I wasn't even along. I didn't pick up tick fever either time. None of my many, many hiking friends has ever had tick fever.

The ticks here are large enough to be seen easily on your skin -- I'd say they're probably at least 1/8" in diameter. If you've been hiking near bushes, or have sat on downed trees, just check yourself thoroughly afterwards. Ticks don't seem to attach themselves right away when they get on you, so you can generally just brush them off.

[jazzlover]

Yes, ticks can be thick from now through July (some places all summer), especially if it has been wet. Info here: Zoonosis Program - Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology . Some years are worse than others. I've gone a whole season without seeing a tick; in other years, I've found dozens crawling on me after a day in the hills. Ticks especially like to lurk in tall grass or brush. I have not ever been infected with tick fever, though I have had plenty of 'em crawling on me and burrowing after a trip to the hills. I had a co-worker who got Rocky Mountain Tick Fever (the name is sort of a misnomer--it didn't originate in the Rocky Mountains, and is more common elsewhere in the US than it is in the Rockies)--he nearly died, and was plenty miserable for quite awhile. As the above link says, the important thing is to get the ticks off of you before they have had a chance to burrow in and be there awhile. A "tick inspection" is standard procedure for me after a trip to the hills.

Typically, after being in "tick country" for day, I will strip off my clothes and throw them in the bathtub--the dark ticks show easily on the light-colored bathtub when they crawl out of clothing. I then do a very careful body inspection--and I won't go into detail, but I do mean careful--to find any ticks that may be on me or burrowed in. See this for removing them: Removing a Tick .

Insect repellent does seem to help. I especially spray my pants cuffs whenever I'm out in tick country. I never use insect repellent that is any less than 30%-40% DEET, either. The weaker stuff doesn't seem to stop ticks or mosquitoes very well, in my opinion.

One other thing--I found this out the hard way when I was living on the ranch. Ticks can live several days in a vehicle. So, if you've been in and out of the ol' truck a lot out in tick country, you may have to check yourself for ticks every time you drive your vehicle for a few days afterward. It really cools off your date when you tell her that she probably ought to check herself for ticks after she rides in your truck, too. Also found that out the hard way.

[Neditate]

Excellent info and advice, jazzlover. Mike, no need to "worry", just take precautions.

[Sockeye]

Also beware of the elusive shakeytail this time of year. They're often lying on rocky surfaces warming themselves, particularly after a rain when the sun comes out. A walking stick (or rod case) comes in handy, as you make a bit more noise, which alerts the snake ahead of time, and usually won't uncoil at you when they're not suddenly startled. If per chance they do, better your walking stick than your calve. In short, DON'T walk quickly and quietly, or preoccupy yourself with fear of them.

[Swampy101]

Aren't ticks and rattlesnakes limited to the lower elevations?

I've heard that rattlesnakes generally don't like it above 7,000 feet for instance. So far, I've found it true by not running into any above 7,000 feet in my personal experiences. For instance, my house sits at 7035 feet. Never seen one here. Down the road a few miles, the elevation is 6500 feet and I've seen them there.

Not true? How about the ticks? I didn't think they were a promenent issue here in CO, especially at higher elevations. Again, I've never seen a tick on my property and I've done a lot of walking around through heavy brush areas here at my house and much higher elevations around Grandby Lake, Idaho Springs, Georgetown, Vail, etc.

My wife is from Missouri and we dread visiting as ticks are EVERYWHERE. It's an everyday job to do the "body inspections" after being outside, even in the city.

[Sockeye]

Yes, they're mainly found between 5500 and 7000 ft. elevations, i.e., hogbacks and foothills. Prairie Rattlers, a different variety, cover the entire eastern plains.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Swampy101

Aren't ticks and rattlesnakes limited to the lower elevations?

I've heard that rattlesnakes generally don't like it above 7,000 feet for instance. So far, I've found it true by not running into any above 7,000 feet in my personal experiences. For instance, my house sits at 7035 feet. Never seen one here. Down the road a few miles, the elevation is 6500 feet and I've seen them there.

Not true? How about the ticks? I didn't think they were a promenent issue here in CO, especially at higher elevations. Again, I've never seen a tick on my property and I've done a lot of walking around through heavy brush areas here at my house and much higher elevations around Grandby Lake, Idaho Springs, Georgetown, Vail, etc.

My wife is from Missouri and we dread visiting as ticks are EVERYWHERE. It's an everyday job to do the "body inspections" after being outside, even in the city.

I've run into rattlers as high as 9,700 feet elevation in southern Colorado (a fellow I know got bit by one while working at 9,000 feet)--ticks to over 9,000. Less common at higher elevations? Maybe, but they are still out there.

[Idunn]

About the last thing I'd concern yourself with is ticks. Not that you may not encounter them, but I go out 'in' the woods all the time and never think about it, or have had reason to. Make of it what you will, but whether snakes or ticks or whatever, that you are most concerned with will probably find you. Please exercise due caution, but the most dangerous entity you are likely to encounter in your travels your fellow humans.

Actually, my first thought was your question concerned with fire and not ticks. Were I you, this would be much more of a consideration. The pine beetle has become prevalent enough that large swaths of forest are affected, and in many instances dead or dying. Certain established camp sites you may be considering will be closed in consequence. More importantly, in certain areas it is entirely feasible that massive forest fires may occur this summer. There have already been many small fires, unrelated, on the eastern plains. But if camping in the wrong place and time a good likelihood of ending up dead . . . unless very fleet of foot.

Still, Colorado remains a fabulous option for camping. Only within the vast range of possibilities, you may wish to reconsider what is most likely to get you.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Idunn

About the last thing I'd concern yourself with is ticks. Not that you may not encounter them, but I go out 'in' the woods all the time and never think about it, or have had reason to. Make of it what you will, but whether snakes or ticks or whatever, that you are most concerned with will probably find you. Please exercise due caution, but the most dangerous entity you are likely to encounter in your travels your fellow humans.

Actually, my first thought was your question concerned with fire and not ticks. Were I you, this would be much more of a consideration. The pine beetle has become prevalent enough that large swaths of forest are affected, and in many instances dead or dying. Certain established camp sites you may be considering will be closed in consequence. More importantly, in certain areas it is entirely feasible that massive forest fires may occur this summer. There have already been many small fires, unrelated, on the eastern plains. But if camping in the wrong place and time a good likelihood of ending up dead . . . unless very fleet of foot.

Still, Colorado remains a fabulous option for camping. Only within the vast range of possibilities, you may wish to reconsider what is most likely to get you.

A quite true statement, especially about the humans--the most dangerous critter in the forest, or anywhere else.

As to fire, I don't think most people yet recognize the powder keg we're sitting on in Colorado and the rest of the Rocky Mountain West. A wet winter in the mountains has made us complacent, but a lot of foothills forest areas have had a dry spring. That's Problem #1. Problem #2 is the beetle-killed timber, mostly in the 7,500-9,000 foot elevation range, which may be OK until mid- to late-summer because of the latent soil moisture from the winter, but if the Southwest Monsoon is later or weaker than normal, there could be real trouble ahead. The worst case scenario would be a dry early to mid-summer, with a weak Southwest Monsoon with mostly dry lightning storms. That could start some legendary mega-fires with a virtually unlimited supply of beetle-killed timber. In that scenario, there would not be much that could be done, except get out of the way. I have been closer than I have wanted to be to some serious forest fires, and have been at "ground zero" not long after a couple of Colorado's relatively recent "mega-fires." You only have to see one even sort of close to put the fear of God into you about that.

Finally, as to insect risk, my biggest worry is West Nile virus from mosquitoes, having known several people who have gotten that, and one who died from it.