Damn Ticks (Hope: moving, yard, best)

[Love the Sunshine]

Living in a rural area of NE Georgia for 20 years, I encountered them daily during the spring. Not as bad as the OP mentioned, but they'd routinely hitch a ride on my indoor-outdoor cats and I'd often find them on the door frames, I guess from the cats brushing against that area. But the cats always managed to remove them from their fur prior to being bitten.

I'd also frequently find them in my hair, much to my dismay, but thankfully they rarely bit before I'd feel them crawling. I got in the habit of always running my hands through my hair. And I'd sometimes discover them while washing my hair. Eeewww! Never got over being creeped out by that! My dogs, however, were the ones that needed the lodged ticks removed ... needle nose pliers were great for that. When the ticks started appearing, Frontline seemed to do a good job at keeping them at bay. Not sure if ticks have since become more immune to that insecticide nowadays.

I must say, however, that the yellow jackets, scorpions and black widow spiders were more formidable opponents.

[mainebrokerman]

the first tick I found on me from over 45 years livin in , and hunting in and hiking in maine was a few yrs ago at a golf course -looking for a ball

ive never gotten one around the house here or in the woods around the house

I had dogs for 15 yrs and never saw a tick

I am much more aware of ticks if I go in the woods today because of threads like this and watch for them..



I use to cut up wild game in the fall (deer, moose, and bear) and from different places in the state id start seeing ticks on the hides when skinning them..
and where the deer populations were most dense, usally we'd see the ticks ..

this is another downside of overpopulation of deer, ticks, and I understand some forms of ticks and parasites can go into a deer's brain and they will die an agonizing death

the anti-hunting crowd doesn't seem to believe this - the mountain lion, wolves, and bears and bobcats, all natural enemies to keep the deer herd in check are absent in dense deer populated regions giving rise to to the vile little creatures called ticks..

[Maine Writer]

Deer ticks have been questing for a few weeks, working hard to find a host. I'm hoping that because of having so much snow in the woods when the moose/winter ticks were dropping that a lot of them died for lack of cover. I picked up a dog tick while turkey hunting two weeks ago, discovered it crawling on my head while I was stuck in traffic, and really wanted to get out of the Jeep, strip down and look for others. <shiver> Hate those things.

[Maine Writer]

Originally Posted by mainebrokerman

I use to cut up wild game in the fall (deer, moose, and bear) and from different places in the state id start seeing ticks on the hides when skinning them..
and where the deer populations were most dense, usally we'd see the ticks ..

I got too comfy about ticks when my bear didn't have any last fall. A few weeks later I got my first deer tick while moose hunting. My deer didn't have ticks and I'm not seeing ticks on the resident hares. The population is spreading but they aren't heavy over here yet.

[Maineac]

I found a couple on the year before last's deer. No glory last year. Cat gets them occasionally. Didn't have these things when I was a kid. Just a very few dog and wood ticks. But we didn't have bluebirds, baltimore orioles (saw one this morning), cardinals or turkey vultures. I pulled out the old (my grandmother's) Audubon books and confirmed that none of these birds showed a range into Maine back then. My understanding, and I could be wrong, is that the turkeys carry them as bad as the deer.

[Submariner]

So far our dog and cats have not shown up with any fleas or ticks this season. They all spend a good deal of time exploring in the woods. But 2 days ago I found a tick on the back of my neck.

Thankfully they have a blood test now to test for Lyme. Just one more thing to add to my annual check-up.

Last year at my check-up I asked for a PSA blood test. My PCP refused to do it, a minor disagreement followed. In the end, she decided to include PSA on the battery of tests they were doing on my blood. That PSA test led to the discovery that I had an aggressive stage-3 prostate cancer. I am fortunate that we caught it when we did. That cancer is now gone and 'undetectable'.

If you live in the woods and you get ticks, it might not be a bad idea to add the Lyme test, into the battery of tests they like to do on your blood.

Men: get your PSA tested. It saved my life. If your PCP does not want to test for it, then it may be time to shift to a different PCP.

[maineborzoi]

Years ago, while living in Virginia, one of our dogs got Lyme. Such a painful disease and thankfully our vet was on the ball to see the sign of a painful neck not from an injury- but potential Lyme for the test.
He was on doxycycline for 2 weeks, but then had a relapse a year later. That time he was put on the doxy for 4 weeks.

We learned several things about ticks that carry Lyme. The biggest factor is that the neonate ticks feed off of mice spoors as first meals. This is the source of the disease. The tick is infected with the disease until it has had a full bit ie to fill up on blood. The key is to note especially if the tick is very small, this is the potential for the disease.
While Lyme does not run as rampant as it does in Virginia, there are several things you can do to lessen the potential encounter.

One is to trim around the base of all bushes- boxwoods especially for example.

Second is to spray the bushes with a deluted bleach solution. This kills the mold spores that the young ticks, as well as mice/other rodents/and the tics find appealing to eat.
It is important to note that until the bleach solution dries to avoid the area with pets and young children.

Lastly- another all natural repellant is a mixture of:
4 drops of peppermint oil, 4 drops of Rosemary oil in a 27 oz spray bottle. ( we use old Fabreze bottles)
Not only does it repel ticks, but also misquitos, stink bugs ( not here in Maine), and spiders !
We spray that on screens, corners of the house and can be used inside and outdoors. Safe for people and pets.

[Maineac]

Originally Posted by maineborzoi

Years ago, while living in Virginia, one of our dogs got Lyme. Such a painful disease and thankfully our vet was on the ball to see the sign of a painful neck not from an injury- but potential Lyme for the test.
He was on doxycycline for 2 weeks, but then had a relapse a year later. That time he was put on the doxy for 4 weeks.

We learned several things about ticks that carry Lyme. The biggest factor is that the neonate ticks feed off of mice spoors as first meals. This is the source of the disease. The tick is infected with the disease until it has had a full bit ie to fill up on blood. The key is to note especially if the tick is very small, this is the potential for the disease.
While Lyme does not run as rampant as it does in Virginia, there are several things you can do to lessen the potential encounter.

One is to trim around the base of all bushes- boxwoods especially for example.

Second is to spray the bushes with a deluted bleach solution. This kills the mold spores that the young ticks, as well as mice/other rodents/and the tics find appealing to eat.
It is important to note that until the bleach solution dries to avoid the area with pets and young children.

Lastly- another all natural repellant is a mixture of:
4 drops of peppermint oil, 4 drops of Rosemary oil in a 27 oz spray bottle. ( we use old Fabreze bottles)
Not only does it repel ticks, but also misquitos, stink bugs ( not here in Maine), and spiders !
We spray that on screens, corners of the house and can be used inside and outdoors. Safe for people and pets.

I've spent several days stream fishing down by you of late, out in the middle of nowhere, and never saw a tick or was concerned in the least. Did come across a fresh 4" cedar that had been whittled 7' up by a bear, though. When you're alone 20 miles back in, that can make the hair stand up on your arms. Found a moose carcass on a little island. (No, I don't think the two are related).

Limited out on fiddleheads and 12" brookies, too.

[maineborzoi]

Originally Posted by Maineac

I've spent several days stream fishing down by you of late, out in the middle of nowhere, and never saw a tick or was concerned in the least. Did come across a fresh 4" cedar that had been whittled 7' up by a bear, though. When you're alone 20 miles back in, that can make the hair stand up on your arms. Found a moose carcass on a little island. (No, I don't think the two are related).

Limited out on fiddleheads and 12" brookies, too.

Fishing here is Great! We go literally almost every day/night.

Haven't seen a tic yet either this year, though we did see a few last August.
We use K9 Advantex for the dogs, and that does a great job as far as protection for them.

I am not surprised at all you saw evidence of bears. We see scat around our place once in awhile, but hopefully- they are moving off now with the evidence of our large dogs. Everyone here is very careful about trash etc but still- it is best to be mindful that they could be around.

[Nor'Eastah]

Having lived in Rhode Island all my life until a year ago, I was always very wary of ticks. Much more Lyme disease down there, than up here. I was bitten a few times, but never got Lyme. They say that very few ticks actually have it...you just can't tell which ones are which!

I found a system that worked for me, since getting them off me was most effective, before they got into me. I bought a pair of knee-high gaiters, hung 'em up, and spray-painted them white. Whenever I'd go into an area where there could be ticks, I'd put on the gaiters. That made it easy for me to spot even the tiniest ones. I looked pretty funny, but most people seemed to know why I was wearing them. I might have started a fashion trend!