SawMill Associate Aflictions

[macpower]

Spent the day dropping some wilt wood and getting out a few nice looking but smallish, (10"x8'), red oak logs for the mill.
Spent this evening digging, (for lack of a better term), ticks off of me!
I Must have picked 4 wood ticks off me and pulled out 1 that had found a home, then found 2 of the little buggers, deer ticks, well burrowed in,like little black heads, but reddish brown. How fast can those little buggers dig in?? I wonder if they found me today, or did I get them off the horses this past week? I haven't been in the woods for near a week.
Had the "bulls eye"  2 years ago, and did the antibiotics, (read that as a week in the outhouse and 3 weeks of feeling like crap, no it was worse than crap... I can't really describe it here), treatment. Had it last year, ditto.... Sort of waiting to for this pleasure again now. Horses test positive for Lymes, I test positive for Lymes. The dog and the horses get the shots. I'm about ready to try the vaccine the vet uses on the ponies, except that needle looks awful long!
I've tried soaking myself with deet and it doesn't seem to make a difference.
Anyone else having this problem? Do I just attract these little buggers, or is this the year from H.... for them? Anyone found anything that will keep them off you????

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

DanG Mac.....you got some back luck. I've never had Lyme disease before. It can get bad if not treated right.

I have found NOTHING that will keep a tic off of me. I do shave my head in the summer and that has helped a lot since this is where I find most of the tics on me....in my hair.

Best of luck Mac and keep us informed on how you are doing.

[beenthere]

macpower
Do some googling on DEET and Permethrin. There apparently is a preference to ward off ticks, and Permethrin is better.

http://www.lymeneteurope.org/info/deet-versus-permethrin-as-a-tick-repellent

DEET for spraying to repel mosquitoes and Permethrin for treating clothing. But fair amount of reading available for each.

[Tripp]

Spent two weeks in the hospital at age 13 with rocky mountain spotted fever. Quite a near death experience! A month at home recovering after the hospital stay. Nasty little buggers.

Tripp

[Jerry]

Try some sulfur powder on socks and pant legs worked for me growing up will also keep off chiggers.

[macpower]

Got to try the Permethrin, seen it for critters  in the feed store, it may work, or maybe try a flower in my hair, that would be cute wouldn't it! Isn't Permethrin made form chrysanthemums? After all, I've tried Bute, in a non equine dose, and it helped my arthritis.
Tripp, Rocky will kill you quick, I've heard, but comes from a different tick than we get here, I hope. Lymes can be a slow killer. Never heard of the sulfer powder, have to look into it.

[macpower]

Oh, Postonlt..
I only have to shave half my head, mother nature has done the rest!

[Cutting Edge]

mac,

Ticks have been especially bad here this year.  But since we have chickens on patrol....we haven't found a single one around the house and surrounding yard.  But one step away from our yard....never fails...at least one or several in minutes.

Here is a good thread, but you may have already been through it...I found it quite helpful.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,57984.0/topicseen.html

I can't offer assistance on medical advice as you already are informed about livestock treatment.  A fella w/ Lymes back home used 'em along with some stuff from the 'ol days and modern homeopathic "herbs".  He did well considering.  I wish you the best of luck! 

[thecfarm]

You are a little more South of me and that makes a big difference on those ticks. My FIL and step son are ftom Hallowell and they have them BAD. We live right out in the woods and found very few. My FIL use to have fits about his dogs up here getting ticks. He finds more on them at his house than up here.We are very lucky not to have many. Good luck to you.

[Woodsrover]

For some reason they don't seem to get on me too much...and I live in, and spend a great deal of time in the woods.  Perhaps it's the yeast from all the beer I drink that keeps them away.  I remember canoeing in Maine as a boy and we all ate a half-package of dry yeast every morning to keep the black flies and skeeters off.  Seemed to work.  That would be my suggestion...More beer!

[opticsguy]

Ever since I increased from monthly baths to every other week, have had no problems with those little critters. 

    :-)

[bandmiller2]

Mac, outher than staying out of the woods in the summer theirs no surefire way to avoid the blighters.They are not killed by cold just go on hold until it warms a little.I've been out bird hunting after a hard white frost that morning, and picked 23 off my pants.If you can walk trails and stay out of the brush they are managable,shower and check every nite,takes them a wile to bore a hole.They get on clothes,I get around that by puting the closes in a drier a little wile kinda roasts them.When I was a young fella around here deer were rare and never heard of a deer tick,only the big dog ticks. Frank C.

[LeeB]

Be careful with the bute. It will wreck your kidneys. It sure does work well though for inflamation.

[Misfit]

Please be careful around ticks guys. My wife was infected with Lyme disease about 4 years ago and she has endured hell and still is enduring it. She is also allergic to most antibiotics so the cure would have been worse than the disease. We've had to take a "natural" approach to treating it - very strict diet, deep tissue massages and acupuncture.
So far it's been controllable but as soon as she overcomes one affliction, it strikes another part of her body - frozen shoulders, first the right then the left, heart murmurs, major joint pains, cognitive and speech impedements and feminine cycle related issues - all at different times.
For a petite person who wouldn't hurt a fly, she has shown a resiliance and determination to fight her way through this that is truly admirable.

[Indiana Robinson]

DANG IT !! Now that I have read this thread every two minutes I feel something crawling on me...

I never see any of the tiny ones but we have a fair number of the common ones. They say that  keeping a flock of guineas in a woods will clean out ticks. We used to keep some here on the farm and our grown son would say that he would rather have the ticks. 
Here I would have to clear out all those coyotes first or ship in a truck load of new guineas daily...


.

[beenthere]

Ever since I increased from monthly baths to every other week, have had no problems with those little critters. 

    :-)

Cleaner ticks present no problems?? eh?    ;)

[beenthere]

Be careful with the bute. It will wreck your kidneys. It sure does work well though for inflamation.

Is "bute" french for something?   ??? :P :P

[macpower]

Bute=Phenylbutazon
It is an  anti inflammatory pain killer, mostly used for horses. It was used for humans, in much smaller doses up until about 50 years ago. Tramadol hcl is what I prefer but don't always have it with me.

[Tom L]

macpower
Do some googling on DEET and Permethrin. There apparently is a preference to ward off ticks, and Permethrin is better.

http://www.lymeneteurope.org/info/deet-versus-permethrin-as-a-tick-repellent

DEET for spraying to repel mosquitoes and Permethrin for treating clothing. But fair amount of reading available for each.

the permethrin is good for ticks. use it on my hunting clothes, spray down with a couple of coats and it repels ticks, we have a lot of them here and you have to be protected.

[VT_Forestry]

Permethrin is incredibly toxic to cats, so if you have any running around the house be careful using the stuff...

[beenthere]

 :D  That is good to know, and hear !! 

Will using it on ones clothes cause a problem with the cats? Or do they just like getting into it?
Or do you have to spray them down with it?

Upon checking, apparently the "spot-on" sprays for dogs are mistakenly sprayed on cats, that then lick their fur and take the permethrin into their system. Sounds like avoiding spraying the cat (or even using some shampoo's) takes care of the problem.