Ticks

My2butterflies · #1 04/28/15, 02:59 PM

Anyone else notice a big incline in ticks this year?
Last year I only saw one tick all summer. Possibly two. Not sure since I brushed it off my leg to fast to see if it was a spider or tick.

I've lost count of how many ticks I've seen just in the past month! A few on the dog(just crawling since he has been treated), a couple on the kids, a few on myself

Ugh. I hate ticks.

Thankfully they are just wood ticks so far.

2old2playftball · #2 04/28/15, 03:16 PM

deer ticks are the ones that can carry lyme disease and are really small. maybe you meant wood ticks?

My2butterflies · #3 04/28/15, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2old2playftball

deer ticks are the ones that can carry lyme disease and are really small. maybe you meant wood ticks?

Oh gosh! Yes! My mistake. I changed it, haha. Wood ticks. Deer ticks are so nasty. Them suckers just dig their heads down into your skin

Jlynnp · #4 04/28/15, 07:57 PM

Get guineas!!

Nimrod · #5 04/29/15, 12:32 AM

There were not very many ticks last spring and summer. I think this was because there were several spells the previous winter where it hit -60. Last winter it only got down to about -25 but I am in an area that got almost no snow. So far the ticks have been minimal. It could just be that it hasn't been warm enough yet. The free range chickens help.

fishhead · #6 04/29/15, 06:31 AM

My dogs have run miles in the woods this spring. We get out 3-4 times a week. I found some live deer ticks on them this morning so they got another dose of Vectra 3-D. Previously I'd only found 3 deer ticks on them and every one of those were dead.

farmerDale · #7 04/29/15, 09:17 AM

My daughter had four yesterday. I picked off six or eight while sitting out in the woods hunting beavers. They are thick this year, no doubt about it.

2old2playftball · #8 04/29/15, 01:16 PM

i heard one theory about the observed increase in deer ticks. the theory goes that because of the increase in coyotes there is a decrease in foxes. with the decrease in foxes there is an increase in small animals like rodents that possibly harbor deer ticks. so with more hosts, you see more ticks.

i don't recall where i read this, sorry. i wonder is there is anything to this theory

motherhenshow · #9 04/29/15, 02:53 PM

I just found 2 ticks on one of my children's head last night. I have never seen ticks this early, it is usually July or so before they get thick here. I will be making some homemade sprays and ointments this weekend, b/c husband says no DEET. That is fine with me. DEET gives me headaches. Eucalyptus oil is supposed to be good for deterring ticks. I wonder if Vick's would work until I can make my own?

collegeboundgal · #10 04/30/15, 10:37 AM

we do controlled burns in most of the fields every yr/every other yr. While we do still have some ticks, they are manageable. Unfortunately, the fires don't go into the under woods of the mature forest. (not enough dead undergrowth) so I think they come from there riding on the deer, coyotes, ect.

My2butterflies · #11 05/02/15, 07:42 AM

I might have to look into making a homemade ointment too. We don't let the kids wear anything with DEET in it.
And I'm guessing it has to do with out really easy going winter we had too. We still hit around -30 but not anything like the winter before that.

Sumatra · #12 05/02/15, 09:09 AM

Yes, I have noticed an odd amount of deer ticks this year too. I'm not sure what exactly causes the spikes in tick population some years, but it just happens. It really is a pain due to the heightened risks of lyme.

2 years ago it was the seed tick population that boomed. Now those are far smaller, and rarely will you see only one at a time. But at least they're apparently too small to carry the organism that causes lymes. It's been a much harder winter here than the previous, so that was one of the last thing's I would have expected. Not planning on doing anything out of the ordinary though. Just constant vigilance, and keeping tweezers handy.

Patchouli · #13 05/02/15, 10:34 AM

I haven't seen a single one so far thankfully! Usually we have a ton by now. We did get Guineas last summer.

JoePa · #14 05/02/15, 08:34 PM

I'm very concerned with deer ticks and Lyme disease because my daughter had it and ended up in a wheel chair for awhile - she's ok now - she was on antibiotics for 2 months after they determined that she had Lyme - whenever I go into the woods I wear clothing that I had sprayed with Permethrin - you spray your clothes and let it dry and then you can wear the clothing after it is dry - any tick or bug that climbs on your clothing gets killed - you can wash your clothes a number of times and it is still effective - I won't go into the woods unless I have clothing that I have sprayed - the one thing about this stuff is that it is toxic to cats when it is wet so don't let your cat - if you have one - get in touch with it while wet - once it dries it is ok - you can get a spray bottle of this stuff from Amazon - you don't spray your clothes while you are wearing it - just lay it on the ground and spray it - there are directions that come with it -

My2butterflies · #15 05/03/15, 07:38 AM

@JoePa thank you for the tip! And I'm glad your daughter is ok! That had to be so scary.

fishhead · #16 05/03/15, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2old2playftball

i heard one theory about the observed increase in deer ticks. the theory goes that because of the increase in coyotes there is a decrease in foxes. with the decrease in foxes there is an increase in small animals like rodents that possibly harbor deer ticks. so with more hosts, you see more ticks.

i don't recall where i read this, sorry. i wonder is there is anything to this theory

I'd read that same theory. It's a nice theory that makes sense on the surface but is so far unproven. We used to have nothing but coyotes for a long time and still had lots of ticks. Now the wolves have driven out or eaten most of the coyotes and the numbers of foxes has increased but we still have ticks. There's probably more than one variable.

reubenT · #17 05/03/15, 10:15 PM

They are getting worse here in TN, used to have just a few but they're getting thick. I just pick em off, but when I get into a mass of seed ticks I have to use some horse fly spray on myself, the permethrin kills them. Less toxic to me than deet.

grumpy1 · #18 05/14/15, 11:37 AM

I agree on the guineas. I have 4. Turn them out and they go bananas eating ticks

NEfarmgirl · #19 05/14/15, 01:41 PM

The ticks are horrible here again this year and it isn't just out in the country. The city dwellers around us are complaining. I think the weather conditions play a roll in their population as much as their hosts do. I was wondering if body chemistry has something to do with if they will climb on a person or not. My son was in tall grass for about 10 minutes and found 5 crawling on him, while I was in there for the same time and not one was on me. We were in the same area too. One of our dogs tends to have them crawling on him when he comes out of the pasture while the other dog has nothing on her.

mpulse · #20 05/14/15, 02:29 PM

What is the best product to use to keep my dogs clear of ticks