Tick Season (house, buy, inspection)

[Maineah]

Ticks are a very big problem here on the Southern Coast of Maine. As soon as the grass turns green you can expect to get several of these little buggers on you each and every time you go into the woods. The biggest problem from early spring until mid summer is the brown dog tick. These are fairly good sized ticks, pretty easy to spot or feel before they attach to you somewhere. Once they attach they can be fairly hard to get off. Traditional tricks like holding a hot match to them or dousing them in alcohol work most of the time as does daubing them with petroleum jelly. They fall off in just a short while. If you pull them off often part of the mouth will stay in the skin and become infected.
The deer tick is very tiny by comparison and much harder to detect. They also have the added bonus of sometimes carrying Lyme Disease. These little ticks are much harder to see and feel so use caution after mid summer when these ticks are prevalent.
I have gotten into the habit of taking a shower and washing my clothes immediately after working out in the woods. It also helps to tuck your pant legs into your boots and use some tick spray on them. Having a partner who will do a tick inspection for you now and then helps too. No matter how careful I am though I always get one walking up my neck ,arm, or leg when I’m sitting down for the night, they’re creepy little things that’s for sure.

I have contacted the State etymologists several times asking why there are so many more ticks around here than there were 20-30 years ago. I have yet to receive an answer. We NEVER got ticks on us when we were kids. Once in a great while you would get one. My kids however used to pick literally dozens of them off each other just from playing in the fields around the house in the last 6-7 years.

The last two years there have been fewer around than the previous 6-7 years. Perhaps it has to do with the general cooling down of the last two summers (sorry Al Gore…it’s a fact )

[island mermaid]

Also wanted to add that vaccinating your dogs with the lyme vaccine is ultra important. It's hard to watch a young dog with lyme disease turn old and lame in a very short time. Please, make an appt to see your vet soon.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Blouse your trousers or slacks and wear high socks. I wear knee socks during black fly season. We have no ticks here. When I say "blouse", I mean get an elastic and tuck your trouser legs up under the elastic. You can use heavy rubber bands, but you can buy packages of special elastics in a military surplus store. They are round and don't cut into your legs. I looked at a piece of land with my son several years ago and when we got back to the truck he told me to check myself for ticks. I had about a dozen on my trousers. They are tough little buggers.

[Nor'Eastah]

Originally Posted by Maineah

The deer tick is very tiny by comparison and much harder to detect. They also have the added bonus of sometimes carrying Lyme Disease. These little ticks are much harder to see and feel so use caution after mid summer when these ticks are prevalent.

I was wondering if you had ticks up there with Lyme disease! We are closer down here to Lyme, CT where the disease got its name. RI is swarming with them and I need to keep the lawn cropped pretty close. Been bitten a few times but did not get Lyme. They are tenacious little buggers and hard to get out. I've taken to wearing knee-high rubber boots when I go off the beaten track; I leave them out on the porch when I come back in. There's a whisk broom out there that I use to brush myself off before coming into the house. Then I change clothes and look myself over very carefully. We never had them here, either, till about 20 years ago, that I noticed.

[AlisonL]

Actually the best way to find ticks on you when outdoors is to wear shorts and light colored clothing. I know we want to prevent being bit, but bare skin shows them alot faster.

I know when we were kids, ticks were plentiful. I have a faint scar on my stomach from one. In all years I had horses, I never found a tick on them.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Nor'Eastah

I was wondering if you had ticks up there with Lyme disease! We are closer down here to Lyme, CT where the disease got its name. RI is swarming with them and I need to keep the lawn cropped pretty close. Been bitten a few times but did not get Lyme. They are tenacious little buggers and hard to get out. I've taken to wearing knee-high rubber boots when I go off the beaten track; I leave them out on the porch when I come back in. There's a whisk broom out there that I use to brush myself off before coming into the house. Then I change clothes and look myself over very carefully. We never had them here, either, till about 20 years ago, that I noticed.

Yes! Lyme Disease is prevalent here and growing every year. (Southern Maine) My dog has it. I've been checked twice and don't have it (yet). Not as much of a problem up country as there are few ticks up there. There is a growing problem in the north for moose. It's called the winter tick. They infest moose and will grow to a population of 50,000 on a single animal. They get on the moose in fall and breed all winter. The moose go nuts rubbing off their fur and losing their winter coat in the process. Weaker ones die from blood loss, or from the cold. They're really a bad problem that's just starting to show up.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Fort Lauderdale mermaid

Also wanted to add that vaccinating your dogs with the lyme vaccine is ultra important. It's hard to watch a young dog with lyme disease turn old and lame in a very short time. Please, make an appt to see your vet soon.

Too late for our dog...he became infected at about four years old. He's eight now. He gets lame when he's cold and doesn't run as much. We can't tell if it has affected him mentally as he's number n' a pounded post anyway! He doesn't act much different.

[libbykt]

I just wanted to add my 2 cents, for those of you who are thinking of vaccinating but are unsure if it's necessary since virtually all (well, most) dogs in New England get Lyme, according to my vet. It's just that some show symptoms and others don't. And then there are the rare few, like my baby girl, who contract Lyme disease and for whatever reason it escalates to a fatal kidney disease called Lyme nephritis. Doctors are seeing it more and more in recent years, particularly in retriever breeds (labs and Goldens) and Shelties. If you have a high risk breed, please please talk to your vet about vaccinating against Lyme disease. We only lived back there with her for one summer, and I only ever saw one tick on her. That was enough. I would hate to see anyone have to go through what I went through with my Shilo a few months ago.

Off the soapbox.

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by libbykt

IAnd then there are the rare few, like my baby girl, who contract Lyme disease and for whatever reason it escalates to a fatal kidney disease called Lyme nephritis.

I really thought you meant a human baby here.... Sorry for the loss of your DOG.

[CapeCodder]

Originally Posted by Fort Lauderdale mermaid

Also wanted to add that vaccinating your dogs with the lyme vaccine is ultra important. It's hard to watch a young dog with lyme disease turn old and lame in a very short time. Please, make an appt to see your vet soon.

Done! This is the first year I've given it to them (it's never been offered to them before).