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.

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.

I got this in an email today and thought it was interesting:

"Spring will be here soon and the ticks will soon be showing their heads. Here is a good way to get them off you, your children, or your pets. Give it a try.

Please forward to anyone with children... or hunters or dogs, or anyone who even steps outside in summer!!

A School Nurse has written the info below -- good enough to share -- And it really works!!

I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove a tick. This is great, because it works in those places where it's some times difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc.

Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. This technique has worked every time I've used it (and that was frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me.
Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can't see that this would be damaging in any way. I even had my doctor's wife call me for advice because she had one stuck to her back and she couldn't reach it with tweezers. She used this method and immediately called me back to say, "It worked!"

Please pass on. Everyone needs this helpful hint."

I went to the doctor's today to talk with him about the possibility of Lymes Disease. We'll see what the blood tests have to say...

Great idea. Ticks, like a lot of insects breath through spiracles (valve like openings in their thorax). A ticks just happens to be between his legs. That's why he can breath with his head buried. Anyway, Use anything that will cut off the air (dish soap, vaseline, even lard) and they will back out everytime. Never tried the cottonball trick though. Should be able to try it out this weekend.

My doctor told me the risk of Lyme infection comes when the tick is done sucking your blood and dislodges himself. When he does that he regurgitates a little and his fluids can mix with yours. I presume that is why the risk of infection does not occur as soon as the tick bites.