Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Do you guys worry about ticks?

A little off the topic, but do you guys worry about ticks? When late spring comes around my land is covered with wood ticks. They are so bad I tend not to visit my property when ticks come out at their peak. Even though I have yet to build a pond, this certainly would stop me from fishing at certain times of the year when I do dig one. Alabama is fortunate not have deer ticks but there have been a few cases of Lyme disease here and there. I am curious if this has worried anyone else, especially those who live in states with high cases of Lyme disease. Do you guys do anything to keep the ticks down around your pond?

I use spray repellent on me. I don't think there is anything you can do to keep them away from an area, and it would affect a lot more than the ticks.

I usually use a repellant but not always. I do not even attempt to keep the ticks down around the pond or on my property. I'm not even sure that would be practical or effective

Last fall I found a deer tick that latched on near my armpit. Man those things are tiny. I went to the doctor in a panic fearing Lyme disease. He said he sees loads of cases and just prescribed an antibiotic. He said testing for Lyme is not even worth it since treating for it is so easy an immediate - no waiting for test results.

RobA, I found a tick latched on to me, my wife, and both of my sons last year. None of us took antibiotics as they were only the big wood ticks and the fact that Lyme disease is not so prevalent here. We do occassionally get cases of Rocky Mountain Spotted fever here.

If you don't mind me asking, how long was your antibiotic treatment?

No. Usually only have to take 3-4 off myself per day in season. The ones that really bother me are the ones that wake me up at night crawling across an ear.

We usually have free-range poultry. I didn't have a single tick last season, and I attribute it to our 10 chickens. Sometimes the chickens can be pests, as they follow me around whenever I'm outside -- including when I'm fishing. But, if I make a trip around the pond with a fishing rod, they make the trip around the pond too, scratching and snacking the entire time. Ducks do a pretty good job too, I just don't have any right now.

Ken

We have both types of ticks and see both RMSF and Lyme each year. I usually just use a spray repellent when I am fishing. If I am going to be doing a lot of work in the brush I treat a old pair of cammies laying around with Permanone. You treat the cloths (do NOT use on your body) and let them dry. It will last through several washes. We used it in the military religously and now you can buy it over the counter. When I bought my place it had been empty for over a year. I couldn't even sit on my porch without picking off ticks. Keeping the grass cut down and treating around my pond wit Diazonon pellets the first year really helped knock down the population. I no longer treat around the ground anymore (can get expensive) as its not really needed any longer as long as I keep the brush pushed back and trimmed. As mentioned above, Chickens, ducks, and guinea hens will all gobble up ticks like crazy.

I HATE HATE HATE TICKS. Nothing makes me squirm more than a dang tick. The best repellent I have found is sulphur. You can take an old sock and put some in it and dust your pant legs and around your waste. The local pharamcy even sells soap made out of sulphur. Doesn't smell that bad but sure does work. Chickens and Guinea's are great for tick control. Around the house I spray my yard and pasture with a tick/flea spray with my four wheeler sprayer. I don't see any reason you could spray around your ponds.

I'm itching and scratching here.

I'm an avid hiker in NY and NJ. There are Lyme warning signs everywhere, which are largely ignored. State parks around here tend to get a lot of use and many are lousy with deer, too.

If the warnings were accurate, shouldn't there be many thousands of cases every year? Not to say Lyme isn't serious - I know of one debilitated person who attributes it to Lyme - but the risk seems to be exaggerated, IMHO.

I use bug repellent and try to shower and check for ticks after spending time in the woods. Knock wood.

One approach to tick control

CDC report by state

WOW. Those in the NE need to be careful.

I think it was 10 days. I believe if you start antibiotics early it's easy to cure Lyme disease. Our neighbor's daughter had it a few years ago and didn't know it for a while. She wound up on intravenous antibiotics.

We have loads of wood ticks too. The dog always gets them but they are huge compared to deer ticks.

Boomer2 -

Ticks are certainly a problem in our area. Within the past 5 years, I've managed to get Lyme disease three times. Ticks are equally present in the wooded areas as well as the clearings....yards, etc. Unlike Catmandoo, my roaming chickens do not appear to be a deterrent. Full body searches are routine after a day in the woods.
The other day my sister pulled 9 off of her yellow lab after a romp in the woods. Ticks bite...and suck.

Russ

we have a problem with ticks here in southwestern Wisconsin. Naturally we wear very light colored clothing. The sprays I use don't seem to deter the wood ticks and normally have several on me each time i go out. One time after leaving the cabin drove two hours stopped at a McDonalds and the guy in line behind me taps my shoulder and says "hey you got a tick crawling around on your neck"
Must have picked it up while walking to the car and it was crawling around on me while I drove. Worst is picking them off your buttocks while showering...not as limber anymore.
Thankfully have not had an experience with a deer tick. Cedar chips might help around the house.

Ticks and lyme's disease are very bad in northern VA. So many deer... Knock the deer herd down and you certainly help keep the tick numbers down as well. Ticks, particularly deer ticks seem really bad this year! I usually use a spray and tuck my pants into my socks. Seems to help some but I have still picked a lot of ticks off of me. My dog gets a ton of ticks on here if she isn't treated with a anti tick and flea treatment. I think catmandoo's chicken method is a winner... My friend lives out in the country and has chickens and guinea fowl. The guinea fowl in particular are bug eating machines. Never found a tick on me when walking around the area the guinea fowl roam. Plus I think guinea fowl are really neat birds. The guard dog of the bird family!

i is a lyme disease survivor.

on a back east visit about 8 or 9 yrs ago, i was pruning a shrub for my FIL in westchester county NY (not too far from Lyme Connecticut). the next morning i felt the little bugger on the back of my right arm up by my armpit. i scratched him off in the shower, he was only the size of a pinhead.

well since both my wife's parents had lyme disease multiple times, they told me exactly what to do. we were going back to CA in a day or two, they said wait about a week, unless the rash showed up sooner.......and go get on a 2 week antibiotic treatment.

back in CA on a normal work schedule, after about a week, a near perfect bullseye rash shows up on the right side of my chest and i start to feel like crap (flu-like). i go into the local clinic and tell em i have lyme's disease. the doc says "yeah right, everybody gets on the internet and diagnoses themselves....whatever, o.k., what you got?" so i lift up my shirt, his jaw drops, he says "holy crap, i need to get my camera"....... my pic still probably adorns the front entry of his clinic.

i took the pills for 2 weeks, and i hope it got it all....i think i seem to maybe appear o.k. to this day......

I don't think hearing "holy crap lemme get my camera" from a doctor is ever a good thing

you've never seen DIED

I would have gotten a very sick feeling to my stomach! I know several people here in Virginia and in Pennsylvania who have or have had Lyme's Disease.

DIED, glad to hear all seems to be good now...

I agree with Sulpher and Guinea's. Our neighbors also claim Guinea's keep the rattlesnakes away as they live a few hundred yards from multiple dens.

I don't know about anyone else, but after getting lyme disease 3 times at one location, I would pack up and move.

Lyme Disease Misdiagnosed

Getting tick(ed)off hint!

If a tick is attached to you, put dishwater soap on a paper towel and hold it on the tick. The tick will release within a minute and normally attaches itself to the paper towel.

I found heating tweezers with a lighter will immediately cause the tick to back out of the skin. The CDC also recommends that one places the tick in a ziplock bag and freeze it incase one needs to test it for lyme disease at a later date.