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

I certainly know lots of people who have been very severely affected by Lyme disease. Maybe it is co-incidental that I visited one in the hospital tonight in Winchester, VA. She is crippled from arthritic symptoms that they just recently diagnosed as Lyme disease. My FIL went through a lot of pain and tests, over nearly two years, before they found that he had Lyme disease (Mt. Kisco, NY).

The crazy thing about the CDC link above, is that West Virginia has very low rates compared to adjoining states. My property abuts the Virginia state line. I'm pretty close to the Maryland border, which is just a few miles from the Pennsylvania border (and Sunil's pond). West Virginia has extremely low rates, while VA, MD, and PA all have very high rates. I guess I should just be glad to be in WV.

Guys, I am a forester and plan to make a career out of it. I absolutely hate ticks, but usually every summer I will be out in a certain area and fight them all day. One day I had to strip down butt naked after getting covered in those tiny brown ticks. I don't have lyme's disease, and I don't worry about it because that would drive my nuts. I have developed a keen sense of knowing if one is on me after having so many get on me due to work. I looked at the chart and it seems that LA has a low occurance of the disease. Why is their such a problem with them in the new england area.

That's a lot of cases, particularly in my neck of the woods. But maybe to be expected given how large the deer population has grown... not many predators beyond cars. Guess I'll continue to take precautions.

Still, let's keep it in perspective - CDC on Dog Bites says "Each year, 800,000 Americans seek medical attention for dog bites; half of these are children. Of those injured, 386,000 require treatment in an emergency department and about a dozen die."

That's the worst place to get 'em!

I am not sure why the New England and the mid Atlantic states high such a high occurrence. For years I rarely saw deer ticks but had dog ticks on me all the time. Just the past couple years it seems to deer ticks have really taken off. This past February I participated in an annual controlled hunt for deer than my police department puts on in one of our county parks. They always check the deer for ticks and then do tests on them. It is scary just how common Lyme's disease is among those ticks.

Ha ha good one Al. I have never seen a deer tick up here in Saskatchewan. A guy from my town died from lymes disease years ago from a deer tick. They are here but rare.

No ddt, no chlordane, no diazanon, no dursban, no napalm.
Simple Green wont work on everything.

There is a spray called Permanone.DO NOT SPRAY ON YOUR SKIN.Put you clothes in a bag and spray you clothes.Let them dry overnight.Tick problem solved.You can also do a controlled burn and that will take care of the problem also.

I think it has to do with the types of ticks in the area. The blacklegged tick (deer tick) is the one prominately known to carry Lyme disease. Unlike the New England area, here in AL the blacklegged tick is rare thus we have a low incident rate of Lyme.

50 percent to 70 percent of local ticks infected

Quote from link above:

“Mid-October is the time of peak adult activity for blacklegged tick, the primary organism that causes Lyme disease in New Hampshire ,” Eaton said. “People can reduce their chances of getting Lyme disease by tucking pantlegs into socks before a trip into woods or fields, using insect repellant on socks and pantlegs, and checking themselves thoroughly for ticks after a day outdoors”

At least you all are checking the deer population. Wish I had a camera one day lost in a development near Sparta NJ... a dozen deer on every block... and not afraid at all. I can't believe the whole town doesn't have Lyme. That NJ "safe sex" for deer program must not be working.

the only stats i can contribute is that every single time my wife's folks found a deer tick on them they contracted lymes....this in westchester county NY.......(i.e. if you get a deer tick bite from that neck of woods, you get lymes)

keg said, (I can't believe the whole town doesn't have Lyme. That NJ "safe sex" for deer program must not be working.)

nice

Gotta add to this. I've hunted, camped, and fished in MN all my life. Never saw a deer tick until 10 years ago. Now they are all over in some areas. I seriously debated living in the country with kids just because of the ticks. In my yard I control them with chickens just like others have mentioned. That really works around the house. I do a lot of walking and working outside. Some years I find 2 or 3 deer ticks on me all year. Other years every time I walk in the grass along a wooded area I find 2 or 3 deer ticks. I did get lymes about 5 years ago. I found a tick on me the day after being in the woods. I neglected checking myself just one time and sure enough I got bit. I had the bullseye rash so I got treatment, 2 weeks on antibiotics. If you get treatment ASAP it's usually very successful. We've all got pretty good at finding the little buggars by checking our pant legs every 5 minutes. They always latch onto you from ankle to knee height. If you check you pant legs regularly you can keep them all off. They are most common in early spring and October. Don't see too many in the heat of summer. Around here they give you treatment every time you get bit because the rash only occurs in 25% of cases. I've done extensive reading on the subject so I know how to protect my family. There is no test that can positively diagnose lymes unless you know exactly when you got infected. You need to know the duration of the infection to know what antibodies to look for I think. During warm weather everyone in my family does a tick check before bed time. No one else in my family has ever been bitten.

I never realized that the rash only shows up 25% of the time. Now you got me all worried! Been bit twice by deer ticks this spring already. No rash, so I was feeling safe! Guess I need to rethink that. I haven't had any flu like symptoms which I have heard is part of the original onset. Not sure what to do now...

cj, a good dose of antibiotics may not be a bad thing. i guess i'm glad i got the confirming rash, but i probably would have taken the pills anyway.

Guess it may be time for a trip to the doctor...

While it's not good to take antibiotics all of the time or for no reason my doctor didn't even hestitate to prescribe them when I found a deer tick on me. Better safe than sorry. Are you sure it was a deer tick?

We have a variety of ticks and chiggers at our pond. Mostly, we see them when we walk back and forth to it - about 75 yards from the road. (Our road is in such disrepair that we only occasionally drive down it.)

I'd love to have chickens but we have lots of coyotes so, I expect that any chickens we tried to put on the property would just become coyote snacks.

I use "regular strength" insect repellent sprayed liberally around my shoes and socks and on my hat. I've always heard that ticks like to fall out of the trees onto their intended victims - that might be a myth. I have some Permanone that my wife bought for her trip to Africa but didn't use. In the peak of the season, I may give it a try.

The main thing is that we check ourselves thoroughly and get those things off as fast as we can and watch for any rashes or other signs.

Years ago (before Lyme was even identified) I went on a hunt in AL. Came home and woke up sick the next morning. I had all the symptoms of lyme. Because of the unreliable tests and treatment, to this day we still don't know for sure whether it's lyme. Be careful, it's a horrible disease. Treat it like rabies: If in doubt, take the treatment. Once you get full blown lyme, you may never shake all the effects.

Yes, I am sure. Only two type of ticks around here, dog and deer and they're easy to tell apart. Guess I need to read up a little more on the early signs of Lyme's Disease.

cj, for me it felt like on-set of flu. achy, headache, fever, then the rash showed up. after i found the tick, it took a full week before ANY symptoms showed up, and i've heard this varies alot depending on exposure time (i.e. the amount of time the tick was on you) and how different folks react to this kind of thing.

Might be time to see a doctor... Oh joy!

My first at bat with Lyme showed the classic bullseye signature with soreness in my left hip. Second time out, only had a red rash. Never did see the tick. Third occurence produced a nasty stiff neck. One minute my head felt like a popsicle the next a tiki torch.

I've lived in the woods most of my life. I couldn't even begin to count how many ticks, leeches, and other critters I've pulled off my body in the last 60-some years. I've encountered a lot of supposedly dangerous critters in my life -- the most dangerous being drug dealing neighbors.

If we all seriously worried about things like Lyme Disease, Dengue Fever, West Nile Virus, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, etc., we'd be buying Zoloft in 55-gallon barrels.

We should all be careful, but we need not be xenophobic.

Just go fishing. If you find a critter on your body, try it for bait!

Don't want to get too paranoid, I agree but, I have a friend who was a very talented and promising sculptor until she got Lyme's disease. It left her with arthritis so bad in her hands that she now sells cosmetics to make a living so, it can be a life-changing experience.