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It isn't that all ticks are not bad enough; but the deer ticks are the worst. The problem is that the female nymph ticks are so small one can easily overlook them. Yes; that lint roller looks like a great idea - but if you have that many ticks on you; you will probably overlook the one small female nymph tick that will give you Lyme disease. My feeling is that you are better off avoiding areas that are tick infested. You can also try to stay away from high weeds and rubbing against branches and limbs. Use DEET around your cuffs and on your shirt sleeves - anyplace the little buggers can get at you.
What can really make you paranoid about ticks is when you check yourself really well and three days later you find one crawling on your floor!
We live right next to a long time deer trail. Even with a deer fence up we still find deer ticks on us all the time. Sometimes I do nothing more thasn stand in the mowed lawn and water my garden and find deer ticks on me. They fall from the trees and apparently are in the grass as well.
Our next door neighbors are Russian. She is a prominent physician at Duke. The first time she found a tick on her young son she panicked and took him to the ER! Can you imagine going to the ER for every tick? I feel sorry for people without a parent or partner who can check them for ticks. We keep tweezers in a case in the basket with all sorts of clippers and trowels and other hand tools. Even with spraying ourselves we almost always find ticks on us.
I've been doing that for years. After I saw people in my hiking club use duct tape to remove ticks, I figured that the lint roller would be easier. People who commented about the article suggested essential oils. Give that a try.
I think ticks actually like DEET. It'll repel mosquitoes and chiggers, but ticks aren't put off in my experience. I think the only way you're going to keep them out of your yard is to treat it.
There are endless videos and articles about flea and tick preventative. I'm so worried about doing something which will kill or injure song birds and upset the eco system. For the life of me I can't think of one redeeming value of either fleas or ticks so would we really miss them if they are eradicated?
Location: Scott County, Tennessee/by way of Detroit
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I have always gotten SO BIT UP here in Tennessee since we have acres of woods....This year I tried this organic spray called Ecosmart.... You smell like a walking citronella factory..it contains lemongrass geraniol wintergreen rosemary oil and cinnamon oil...I have not gotten any bites or ticks.....unless I didn't put it on...very surprising it works so good... Oily and a little goes a long way...
We live right next to a long time deer trail. Even with a deer fence up we still find deer ticks on us all the time. Sometimes I do nothing more thasn stand in the mowed lawn and water my garden and find deer ticks on me. They fall from the trees and apparently are in the grass as well.
Our next door neighbors are Russian. She is a prominent physician at Duke. The first time she found a tick on her young son she panicked and took him to the ER! Can you imagine going to the ER for every tick? I feel sorry for people without a parent or partner who can check them for ticks. We keep tweezers in a case in the basket with all sorts of clippers and trowels and other hand tools. Even with spraying ourselves we almost always find ticks on us.
They don't fall from trees. They come from the ground and the grass.
You're right. If my beloved Walter Reeves says so then It Must Be True. I assumed the ones in my head and upper part of my body came from the trees. It's horrible to think they hopped all the way from my feet to my scalp and I didn't see or feel them. I knew they came from the ground but I assumed they hitched rides up trees on birds and squirrels.
You're right. If my beloved Walter Reeves says so then It Must Be True. I assumed the ones in my head and upper part of my body came from the trees. It's horrible to think they hopped all the way from my feet to my scalp and I didn't see or feel them. I knew they came from the ground but I assumed they hitched rides up trees on birds and squirrels.
Yep, they climb right up our bodies, and most of the time we never feel them until they settle in for a bite. We have found them everywhere, from the ankles to waist to head. I hate the things.
Deer received a bum rap with the term "deer tics". The grey squirrels and mice are the real culprits. It isn't that the deer do not have tics - it is just, on the East Coast, the White-footed mouse is the biggest culprit: What Causes Lyme Disease? | Bay Area Lyme Foundation.
All I do know is that nobody wants to get Lyme disease:Lyme Research Alliance - Symptom List. Then, besides Lyme, we have the West Nile Virus and a few more tic borne illnesses. Who said inside treadmills were not safe!
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