Ticks!

Andre Dupas wrote:Another prime reason you all should just stay indoors. IMO kinda lame to complain about bugs. Pick em off and move on. No need for the drama.

Obviously, you've never had tick fever.

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FrankPS wrote: Kurt, You would know if you wsre bitten by a tick. They stay latched onto you and form a red welt. I've also heard that they have to be burrowed in you some minimum amount of time to transmit Lyme disease.

The above statement is not entirely true. A significant portion (actually, grater than 50%) of people with lyme disease don't remember the tick bite.

Jon Moen wrote: The above statement is not entirely true. A significant portion (actually, grater than 50%) of people with lyme disease don't remember the tick bite.

It affects your memory, too? :) Ticks don't just bite you and fall off. I'm not sure I understand how you would not remember?

Andre Dupas wrote:Another prime reason you all should just stay indoors. IMO kinda lame to complain about bugs. Pick em off and move on. No need for the drama.

Get a tick bite on your junk and you'll complain.

FrankPS wrote: It affects your memory, too? :) Ticks don't just bite you and fall off. I'm not sure I understand how you would not remember?

They aren't always in super tight. They fall out without you ever knowing about it. I've had lymes twice now, after the first time I was hyper vigilant about ticks, didn't see or pull off the one that gave me the second case.

That being said, little buggers carry some NASTY diseases. Check often.

wufpak18 wrote: Get a tick bite on your junk and you'll complain.

When I was working a wilderness-therapy course in NW Connecticut, I had a deer tick burrow into my sack one night. I found it the next morning and tried to remove it with a good set of tweezers. Of course the head seperated and stayed in. I had to go to an Urgent Care to have it removed. The doc on duty was a woman. It wasn't a fun experience. But I didn't develop Lyme Disease. (Lyme Disease is named after the town of Lyme, CT, where the first confirmed case occurred.)

Marc H wrote: The doc on duty was a woman. It wasn't a fun experience.

Out in the wilderness for weeks at a time teaching wilderness therapy, I'd think that coming back and having a woman handle your junk would be the highlight of the month at least. Hope you offered to take her out to dinner afterwards.

Josh Olson wrote: They aren't always in super tight. They fall out without you ever knowing about it. I've had lymes twice now, after the first time I was hyper vigilant about ticks, didn't see or pull off the one that gave me the second case. That being said, little buggers carry some NASTY diseases. Check often.

Interesting. I read up on Wikipedia, and apparently the very small "nymphs" can bite and go undetected.

is there a bug spray or lotion that repels ticks and doesn't damage ropes/cordage?

sevrdhed wrote: Out in the wilderness for weeks at a time teaching wilderness therapy, I'd think that coming back and having a woman handle your junk would be the highlight of the month at least. Hope you offered to take her out to dinner afterwards.

In a not-so-clinical setting, after a shower, and without sharp objects near my "junk," I would agree with you.

No dinner was offered.

rogerbenton wrote:is there a bug spray or lotion that repels ticks and doesn't damage ropes/cordage?

I think by far the best out there is permethrin which folks most commonly find as "Permanone" at REI, etc.

You treat your clothing (pack, etc) and not skin. Toxic stuff. Very effective. Kill mosquitos, too.

Not sure how it behaves around nylon (literature suggests its ok on nylon clothing), but, DEET isn't good for contact with some nylons for sure.

Might also add that those of you with dogs that use Frontline: Sometimes the Frontline with prevent the ticks from attaching, and they will crawl off the pets and wander around your house. I've found quite a few just crawling on the couch after my dog gets up. So check them as well even if you use Frontline or Advantix.

rogerbenton wrote:is there a bug spray or lotion that repels ticks and doesn't damage ropes/cordage?

Good old off! seems to work some for deer ticks. I use it and they kinda stay away. Maybe I just smell bad, but it says it repels ticks and squitos.

Ticks are already out in NC and the predictions are it will be a bad year.

I had Lyme disease in the 1990s and never saw the tick. Thankfully I developed the classic bullseye rash and was quickly diagnosed. Still, even with treatment it felt like a bad case of the flu that lasted over a month.

Not everyone gets the classic reaction which is really bad because untreated Lyme disease is very bad news.

Bottom line--ticks suck.

Is Rocky Mountain spotted fever less common than Lyme's? I thought that Lyme disease was only East coast but apparently not?

The ticks are worse this year because of our mild winter. It didn't get cold enough, for long enough, to do a deep freeze. This isn't specific to ticks either, insects and bugs of all sorts will be more prevalent this year