Ticks

[Zanovar]

So not the dillo's mates. More rabbits?

erm

 

[zinfamous]

There was another case in my city today. This is really getting bad and it's not even peak summer yet. I absolutely hate the idea of not being able to wear shorts if going in the bush, I hate being all sweaty and crap, but looks like this might be the new norm now that these are in town. Though they are literally in town, that one person in the ER got it right from their own yard. That's the really scary part.

Hopefully they can find a way to eradicate them, ideally a natural way by introducing a predator or something. I wonder if possums can survive here, could introduce those.

Wonder what this will mean for going to the beach. Who the hell wears pants and shoes/socks at a beach? Can those things swim? Maybe it's safe in the water? Still have to watch the sand though I imagine they can burrow and then get on your feet and stuff.

This is just a scary reality of global warming I guess. Things are only going to get worse as other dangerous pests start to show up here.

you need some light hiking pants at the very least. or some khakis, really. You need khakis. No sensible human ever wants to wear shorts in the bush. ...I mean, that's nuts really. (what I mean is that the chiggers will be chowing on your nuts in short order if you don't think properly)

 

[zinfamous]

I grew up in the boonies and when I got a tick on me I gently pulled it off and went on my way. What is this going to the ER all about?

boonies of where? Lyme is somewhat regional.

...but fuck Lyme. Mortal Meat allergy. Kill me if that happens. seriously.

fucking lonestar ticks...so now these asshole ticks have gained beachheads on the northeast, northcentral, and now the southeast.

 

[pcgeek11]

Does Neem oil really work on bugs?

My wife says yes.

 

[pcgeek11]

your yard sounds sterile, boring, and a threat to humanity.

Then stay out of it.

There are some bugs and worms and crickets etc. Rabbits, Squirrels, Raccoons and Possums in my yard all the time.

I can't remember the last time I saw a flea or a tick. Fire ant mounds are treated as they pop up ( rarely as they tend to enjoy the other untreated lawns better ).

 

[Jaskalas]

but first check yourself to the ER.

ER? Yes... I'll just step out back and pluck that money tree....

 

[highland145]

ER? Yes... I'll just step out back and pluck that money tree....

True that. We've been using the the prompt care as long as there's not arterial spray. Quicker and way cheaper.

 

[ctbaars]

My wife says yes.

Do you mean that or is that some esoteric sarcasm on you and programming? Reading comprehension is not my strong suit.

 

[Red Squirrel]

ER? Yes... I'll just step out back and pluck that money tree....

Thankfully it does not cost anything except for parking. Better safe than sorry. Lyme disease will pretty much ruin you for the rest of your life if you don't treat it fast enough.

you need some light hiking pants at the very least. or some khakis, really. You need khakis. No sensible human ever wants to wear shorts in the bush. ...I mean, that's nuts really. (what I mean is that the chiggers will be chowing on your nuts in short order if you don't think properly)

Yeah which sucks, before ticks were here you could wear shorts and be fine. Heck half the time I don't even have a shirt on. Sometimes I just put my swim trunks on so I can go jump in the lake any time to cool off. Guess can't do that anymore. Is the lake even safe now, can these things swim? These are really going to put a damper on anything outdoorsy in the summer. Having to wear pants when it's 20+ out is gonna suck. Guess we'll just have to find other ways to cool down, the key is to bring down core body temperature, so maybe some kind of ice pack vest or hat or something?

Wonder if some kind of mesh pants would work, guess the ticks are small enough to get into the holes though.

 

[Pohemi]

I was tailgating at a FB game in late fall one year and the yellow jackets were out in force looking looking for food. Took a swig of my beer and one of those fuckers must have been helping himself because he stung me on the back of my tongue. Good thing I'm not allergic, I would have probably been dead in seconds.

I would have been, because I'm just allergic enough...

Yellow jackets are the only bee that I have some allergy to (excessive swelling at the bite site). Hence, I hate the motherfuckers.

This ^^^^^^^^^ I got stung in the inside corner of my eye as I was biking on a trail in the woods. I felt something hit my face so I slowed to a stop on my bike and reached up to brush away whatever had landed on me...well, it didn't like that so it stung me right there. Eye swelled shut immediately and turned into a half baseball-sized lump over my left eye. Took two days for the swelling to recede. If that had been on the back of my tongue out in the woods with no Epi Pen, I'da been screwed for sure. :O

 

[kage69]

Shorts aren't appropriate bush wear. Aside from ticks, there's skeeters, stickers, sunburn behind your knees, and poison ivy. You can't operate at peak efficiency if you're trying to baby your legs.

Guineas are actually pretty bad ass, and they don't stop at insects. I've seen the polka dot squad gang up on snakes and mice. Only problem, they are noisy as hell. One of my old neighbors had them. They suffered a slow and drawn out attrition rate from foxes and coyotes, decided not to re up on account of the noise alone. On the plus side, wild turkey have kept spreading north despite our winters, and I'm seeing them almost every couple days.


The bolded really can't be stated enough too btw. Spent a summer day in an aluminum canoe long time ago, got the back of my calves and knees absolutely crisped. One of things you never let happen twice.

 

[BudAshes]

These are why I'm heading to higher elevation. No ticks or poison oak or even fleas when I lived in South Lake Tahoe and Flagstaff.

 

[pcgeek11]

Do you mean that or is that some esoteric sarcasm on you and programming? Reading comprehension is not my strong suit.

My wife uses it ( Neem Oil ) on her flower garden against bugs... She says it works for her flower garden.

 

[Ichinisan]

Some asshole insect stung the my arm while I was getting out of the car with breakfast. Didn't even see what kind of asshole it was.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Someone posted on our local FB recently that they found a bunch of rabbits filled with ticks. This is really bad. Don't think most wildlife can be affected by lyme disease nor spread it but they can still spread the ticks everywhere as they fall out. Also means no more letting squirrels and other animals all over you, that is half the fun of camping, being one with the wild life. I used to let squirrels find peanuts in my hair as a kid lol. Definitely not going to do stuff like that anymore. I read up and they can get ticks too.

There was also another recent case of someone being bit. They didn't realize it was a tick, so went about their daily lives but started to feel sick etc and got themselves to the doctor to be told it was a tick bite and they have lyme disease. Got prescribed antibiotics. The bite actually looks a lot like a nipple. So something to remember to watch out for.

This whole thing just blows though. Never felt unsafe about being in the bush until these things showed up. Think it will only get worse as more exotic/dangerous things start to make their way here so just have to learn to live with them I guess.

 

[Starbuck1975]

So I learned a cool trick with permethrin. Tick tubes. I spray my clothes, as directed but to protect my yard and outlying property I make tick tubes. Essentially, you just treat the mice to kill the ticks. Stuffing treated cotton bedding (cotton balls) into cardboard toilet paper rolls and hiding them in between rocks, cord wood or obvious rodent raceways. The mice collect it as bedding for their nests and treat themselves and their young, killing the ticks. The best part of this is that it doesn't harm the frogs and dragonfly larvae/nymphs in my pond (because I don't spray the yard and there's no rainwater runoff). It doesn't appear to hurt the hawks or other predators, either.

You can buy them ,too. http://www.ticktubes.com/works.html

Tick tubes are supposedly very effective, but the cotton eventually gets loose and can blow into water sources. I prefer to just kill the mice with traditional non poison traps. There was a guy on YouTube who used to post very effective mouse trapping strategies.

Beneficial nematodes are emerging as an alternative for landscaping and gardens, its like unleashing a Nurgle army on the ticks.

 

[CZroe]

Someone posted on our local FB recently that they found a bunch of rabbits filled with ticks. This is really bad. Don't think most wildlife can be affected by lyme disease nor spread it but they can still spread the ticks everywhere as they fall out. Also means no more letting squirrels and other animals all over you, that is half the fun of camping, being one with the wild life. I used to let squirrels find peanuts in my hair as a kid lol. Definitely not going to do stuff like that anymore. I read up and they can get ticks too.

There was also another recent case of someone being bit. They didn't realize it was a tick, so went about their daily lives but started to feel sick etc and got themselves to the doctor to be told it was a tick bite and they have lyme disease. Got prescribed antibiotics. The bite actually looks a lot like a nipple. So something to remember to watch out for.

This whole thing just blows though. Never felt unsafe about being in the bush until these things showed up. Think it will only get worse as more exotic/dangerous things start to make their way here so just have to learn to live with them I guess.

Ticks with hosts aren’t the ticks you have to immediately worry about... it’s the hungry ones standing at the tips of grass blades and twigs to grab on to a new host. They will remain attached to the animal until they are engorged then return to the brush and survive on their engorged meal for a long time before they try to find a new host.

It’s safe to handle an animal with ticks. If a tick hasn’t started feeding yet and is still crawling on the animal looking to bed in but it transfers to you then, well, it was just as likely to happen without the animal since you are obviously in the same environment the animal was in when it acquired it.

 

[ImpulsE69]

the likelihood to actually get a disease from a tick is pretty low, it's just a damn scary thing to think about getting because it's one of those things that can happen w/o your knowledge.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Ticks with hosts aren’t the ticks you have to immediately worry about... it’s the hungry ones standing at the tips of grass blades and twigs to grab on to a new host. They will remain attached to the animal until they are engorged then return to the brush and survive on their engorged meal for a long time before they try to find a new host.

It’s safe to handle an animal with ticks. If a tick hasn’t started feeding yet and is still crawling on the animal looking to bed in but it transfers to you then, well, it was just as likely to happen without the animal since you are obviously in the same environment the animal was in when it acquired it.

That's good to know, I guess it makes sense, they end up being kinda stuck in there anyway and won't easily fall out right?

Probably good idea to paint my deck and other hang out surfaces white too, easier to see them if they do end up on there.

 

[kage69]

Some asshole insect stung the my arm while I was getting out of the car with breakfast. Didn't even see what kind of asshole it was.

I think I understand that particular flavor of wtf. Couple summers ago I was driving with both front windows down, doing at least 40-45, and some kind of wasp or hornet smacked me right in the face, stung me, then exited the other window before I could even react. Never saw it, just heard a split second of buzz before and after getting stung, in stereo. Wife thought I was breaking up fights again, had a cheekbone sticking way out haha. Gave me a solid half day of great Sloth reference material, I remember wishing I had a Superman T shirt.

But whatever kind of bug that was, that guy was a prick. I hope a dragonfly ate him ass first. I mean really, you don't just sting a guy in the face. That != cricket.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Another case in my city.

https://www.timminstoday.com/local-...e-for-lyme-disease-1538999?utm_source=dlvr.it

Guess if I do buy remote property I definitely need to do the initial clearing in winter to be safe. Even if ticks could survive winter at least it will be cold enough to be fully covered anyway.

I think the idea of going out in the bush to explore is going to be a thing of the past here. As a kid we used to love just making our own trails and stuff and go pretty deep in the bush.

 

[CZroe]

Someone posted on our local FB recently that they found a bunch of rabbits filled with ticks. This is really bad. Don't think most wildlife can be affected by lyme disease nor spread it but they can still spread the ticks everywhere as they fall out. Also means no more letting squirrels and other animals all over you, that is half the fun of camping, being one with the wild life. I used to let squirrels find peanuts in my hair as a kid lol. Definitely not going to do stuff like that anymore. I read up and they can get ticks too.

There was also another recent case of someone being bit. They didn't realize it was a tick, so went about their daily lives but started to feel sick etc and got themselves to the doctor to be told it was a tick bite and they have lyme disease. Got prescribed antibiotics. The bite actually looks a lot like a nipple. So something to remember to watch out for.

This whole thing just blows though. Never felt unsafe about being in the bush until these things showed up. Think it will only get worse as more exotic/dangerous things start to make their way here so just have to learn to live with them I guess.

Again, you’ve always had ticks all over Canada. It’s really bizarre to see you reacting to individual ticks like you couldn’t find them on any stray dog in the summer. The population ebbs and flows and the risk of disease changes too so I’m not saying there’s no reason to be concerned. I’m just saying that they’ve been under your nose the whole time and you should factor that into your reactions to every little tick you hear about.

 

[Red Squirrel]

No they are new here in the north. Deer ticks too. Some parts of Canada had them but not here. There's all sorts of advisories and such from the government too. It's a pretty serious issue, hopefully they can figure something out, maybe this is going to be one of those things where every couple years they are strong but rest they are dormant. Kinda like tent caterpillars. Though I have a bad feeling they are here to stay, this is more of a climate change thing.

As a kid I used to go play in the bush all the time, ticks were never an issue. If yes I'd probably be dead or severely ill now.

 

[lxskllr]

Kinda melodramatic Squirrel. I've spent most of my life outside, had numerous ticks, and Lyme disease, and I'm still going. Something's gonna get you eventually. I'd worry more about the stuff you don't see. Keep the bad old sun off you, get out, and enjoy the outdoors. That'll help protect you against some of the stuff you can't see ;^)

 

[Red Squirrel]

Ticks are something you don't see or at least very well, they're too small to really see without scanning every inch of your body with a magnifying glass. The idea of having to cover up like it's -10 out sucks too. No way I want to do that if it's summer time. Way too hot and sweaty and miserable.

The idea that you can get bit by something you probably won't see or even know before it's too late and end up with a deadly disease is very scary. I rather deal with bears. At least I can see them from a safe distance.

For the sun I just know to stay in the shade.