Ticks..

A guy I know that hangs out at my wife's business got deliriously sick a few days ago and she took him to the hospital. He had a 104 temp and was seriously out of it.

Of course were all worried about the "Swine Flu", but it turns out he was tick bit.

He's not an outdoorsy type, and probably still wouldn't know a tick if another bit him, so he was a prime target to get sick here in the Ozarks. I have little doubt that he might have died from this. So far, all I really know is that the doctors told him it was "Tick Fever".

The poor guy is still a bit out of sorts after four days and no one knows how to contact any of his family, and the "Patriot Act" prevents anyone at the hospital from telling anyone of his friends what's wrong with him (it did not however prevent the hospital from asking his friends if he had insurance or other means to pay for his stay and treatment).

Anyway, it reminded me of Earthling and all the suffering he's had to endure and I still have not heard from him.

This year, for the first time, I treated a pair of bib overalls and a T-shirt with "Repel Permanone" (permethrin) and I've been wearing them when working out in the pasture and forest.

It works. I don't like using it, but I'm tired of getting bit everyday.

So, remember to do your tick checks after being outdoors cuz it's the season now.

Bill

Yah, deers ticks tend to be pretty ruthless around here. I've heard about a good many dogs who suddenly got sick and died after they and their owner had gotten done hiking in the foothills and afew folks who got sick without realizing it was from a tick.

Ticks are no joke and people should always check themselves after they're done doing anything outside like working or hiking.

I just got back from a short overnight trip to Davy Crockett National Forest and ticks are starting to come out in the Piney Woods of east Texas. We did checks when we got home and fortunately no blood suckers. We have to check our little dachsund when we bring her back into the house to make sure she hasn't picked anything up.

Yea, tis the season. I found one crawling up my leg a few days ago.

I've no comment on ticks being that I'm from Alaska, but I do work in a hospital. It's actually HIPAA that prevents them from sharing info with non-relatives, created by the Clinton administration I think. It standardizes the way healthcare protects private information.

Ticks suck.



Seriously, I hate 'em. I get rashes from permethrin but I still use it. Might try the Permaone, been using Sawyer and there's a chance it's something other than the permethrin itself making me rash....

My dad got tick fever last August-September. He was in the hospital for about two weeks. One of my cousins had it earlier last year and was in the hospital for about a week.
The doctors told my dad it'll be around a year before he is completely recovered.
I work in the woods usually about five days a week and I usually try to spry myself with bug spray. When I was in the Army, we'd always get the flea and tick collars for dogs and wear them around our ankles when we went to the field.
So far this year, I've had five or maybe six ticks that have latched onto me...and so far, I've been lucky and got them soon enough, I guess, that I haven't gotten sick.

I have been personally bit by these medical "privacy" laws, and that was long before the Patriot Act, so you must be right.

Sometimes, a persons health can have a direct impact on both family and non-family members and they should have a right to know, or tell, what that history involves.

Either way, there were several days when everyone that had been around the guy that got bit were left wondering if they'd been exposed to an infectious disease.

As it stands, these laws are poorly thought out and implemented. The example above, especially in light of the current times, proves this without a doubt. Had this fellow actually exposed those near him they would have been exposing the public for several days without knowing, or even having the right to know.

Crazy.

Bill

Yikes. Man, I hate ticks. Luckily I don't often hike where they're prevalent (coast ranges and Sierra foothills), but I still come across them, both on myself and the dog. I understand RMSF is not uncommon, with several hundred cases yearly in the US.

On a related matter I worked with somebody who got plague from a flea bite. She'd been in Colorado and evidently was bitten while fishing, but didn't come down with symptoms until she was back in California, which delayed the diagnosis somewhat. Sierra campgrounds are occasionally closed due to plague outbreaks, which just seems weird.

Cheers,

I wear low gaiters when hiking in the spring, especially on the east side of the Cascades. That at least keeps the ticks from crawling up my legs. I also spray my outer clothing with permethrin, which does kill the little arachnids. Deet does repel them but if your clothing is sprayed and everything's tucked in, just a line of it at wrists, collar and hairline will do the job. I always shower and check thoroughly (using a mirror) as soon as I get home.

For my dog, I apply Frontline monthly during tick season (which last year, a year of no summer out here, lasted until late fall). However, Frontline doesn't kill the ticks until they've actually bitten, although it does work before the ticks have had a chance to release the organisms they carry (several hours after the bite). It's therefore a good idea to comb the dog before putting him in the car after a hike, and check for ticks that have actually adhered. One time I found close 30 ticks crawling on his fur looking for a home.

I hate the critters, too--I'm itching all over just writing this!

I hope that if somebody hears from Earthling they will post here. I'm worried, and I know all of you who know him are, too!

Ticks are the #1 reason I do not hike in the summer. I don't mind picking the occasional tick off my own body, but I take my dog hiking and she is a tick magnet. A 1.5 hour walk earlier this year in a conservation area resulted in one tick for me, almost 50 for Sadie. We stayed on the trail the entire time.

I sometimes wonder how wild animals deal with it.

You might try spraying her with the BioUD product (Wal-Mart has it). It actually repels ticks, as opposed to deet, which just keeps them from biting, or Frontline, which kills them after they bite.

I'm on my second bottle and I've found it to be pretty good. A little smelly, but not awful.

Bill

I'm a tick magnet. Doesn't help that I'm in Missouri too! Can go on a trip with few friends and I am often the only one that comes back with several bites. Same with chiggers.

Luckily in MO I can hike in fall/winter/spring and float in the summer

Me too. But this year I saw fewer ticks than any of the past 15 years. Not sure why. We've had a lot of rain the past two years. Maybe that's it.

I went hiking today with some friends and they said that they thought that you build up an immunity to chigger bites. I think they might be right. After 15 years here in the Ozarks I don't have as many bites appear and those that do aren't as severe.

It might be a stronger immune system though. I really noticed a difference with I started taking two packets of that "Emergen C" stuff every morning. The chigger bites didn't itch as bad and healed much quicker.



Yeah, I tell people that visit that there is a rhythm to life here. You got it down pat

My brother got bit last year. Not cool. He was out of commission for quite a while.

For some reason the largest amount of ticks I've ever seen was just this past weekend when my buddy and I did a quick overnight with our dogs. we must have brushed 100 of them off of us and the dogs, and I found 5 embedded in my legs when we got to camp! Aren't they supposed to go away when it gets cold?!

They aren't as bad here after mid-October, but you'll still see a few.

I've walked into nests of them before, usually in the mid-late Spring but rarely this late in the year. Probably a fresh hatch you got into though. That's the worst and that's why I still carry bug spray if I'm staying overnight.

I've had them find me in mid-January. I have no mercy on ticks that get on me. I kill them all.

I have never been bothered too much with ticks. When I was in scouts we used to put sulfur powder around our socks and it semed to help those who were tick prone. Chiggers are more of a pest to me. Since I started wearing gaithers I do not have that problem too much. I also carry 100% deet with me and use it if I start noticing any biting little critters. I do know people who got lyme desease from ticks, so it is something to be aware of. At camp or rest areas I do look myself over real good, the worst one I had was on my nad!!! It was a real bugger to get off, real sensitive area.

Jeff