Ticks

[Hogdaddy]

Alright guys, I've been eat up yhis year by ticks, at least for me. What do y'all use to keep them off, and does it work well? 

[beenthere]

Permethrin

[nativewolf]

Yep, beenthere has summarized it nicely.  Spray your boots, the pants you wear in the woods, and your socks.  Let them dry overnight outside (spray outside).   You don't want to absorb too much of the stuff so spray the top of your socks not the soles inside the boots.   It will last through many wash treatments.  Sawyers and others sell it, order via amazon or get at basspro type shops.

Then keep a can of spray with DEET and spray that around your ankles and boots.  We are in an area where our truck drivers get several every time they get out of the trucks to strap down.  That bad.  I have had 1 seed tick all summer.  It only takes one tick to give you Lymes, had that in April/May-from walking a forests without treated clothes, and man Lymes sucks so spray.  

Good luck

[NewYankeeSawmill]

A friend of mine takes 2 garlic pills every morning (for heart health), hasn't seen a tick on him since he started doing that.

[East ky logging]

Permethrin is the only thing I've found that will keep them or the turkey mites off. Now im wishing they could come up with a yellow jacket repellent. 

[beenthere]

And the garlic pills may not have a single thing to do with not seeing ticks. just sayin....

[DDW_OR]

Thanks for the info Permethrin

in Minnesota dad and i did a 2 hour walk in the woods.
then removed 32 ticks each.

[John Mc]

Self treating clothing with permethrin lasts through about 5 washes. I did that for a couple of years. It worked well, but keeping track of what clothing was due to be re-treated was a pain in the neck.

I switched to factory-treated clothing. It's good for about 70 washes - by that point, the clothing is starting to wear out anyway. I buy most of my stuff from Insect Shield. I've been happy with all of their clothing except for their socks, which just don't hold up. For socks, I go with Farm to Feet. Very well made, last forever. Look for their No Fly Zone socks to get the ones which are treated with the insect shield process.

It's very effective: I've got T-shirts that are probably approaching the 70 washes, and still work just fine. It's also convenient: no worrying about when it was last treated. When I'm going to be working in the woods I just throw that clothing on and I'm ready to go.

[mudfarmer]

Interesting that they are bad for you this year, it is the lowest number we have seen in at least 5 years at my place. Curious to know how those years were for you?

I do not do anything, it is stupid and you should do something. Up over 200 legitimate bites, scars all over my body from them. No neurological impacts but did work for a year dragging the woods doing counts for a research project that was showing that Lyme's is most likely to be present in places where deer ticks are first showing up or increasing in population. Be careful out there!

[Hogdaddy]

I've have gotten 24 bites so far this year that I know of, other years I might have 5 or 6 for the whole year.  3 or 4 of them have been lone star, while most of the rest have been seed ticks.  I spray with either deet or Picaridin, I don't really think its working that well. 

[nativewolf]

John Mc has the best solution but mostly  I use chainsaw pants in the woods (unless I am just cruising) and those don't come pre-treated.  Also boots- not pre-treated.  So, I just self spray.  I don't wash the chainsaw pants very often, once a month when they start talking back and going for a walk by themselves.  

I didn't worry so much about it but then one week I was just cruising and did not have treated clothes, got a small tick bite I did not notice (and I look every night) and got Lymes.  Lymes was no fun.  100+ fevers, aches, etc.  It took a while and anti-biotics to get over it but was very weak and got covid.  That was not so bad but no fun and coffee was no longer delicious.

[cutterboy]

Like mudfarmer, it hasn't been a bad tick year for me here in central Massachusetts. However I have not been in the woods as much as usual this year because of the rainy, hot and humid weather.
I spray my clothes and boots and hat with Bens 100 (98% deet) every time I head for the woods. I have never gotten bitten when I've sprayed.

[Machinebuilder]

If you go to your local farm store look at horse spray, it is premethrin and is a fraction of the cost.

[ehp]

Hogdaddy, go basspro or Cabelas and buy Sawyer premium insert repellent , its a tick spray. Wash your clothes and let them dry and hang them on a line or something outside , spray the clothes and let dry , your good for 6 washes and this stuff really works . I live in one of the worst tick places in the world , Its so bad the govt puts signs everywhere to warm people . Before using this stuff I had 31 ticks cut out of me in 1 month as I donot feel them biting and sinking into the body , That was 7 or 8 years ago . With the spray on I have never been bitten , Donot put the spray on your skin and its has permethrin at.5%. I has seen inch worms land on my shirt and they live 10 to 15 seconds  

[ehp]

Becarefull using horse spray as most here are 10% and permethrin causes cancer , if you cut it with water then I guess 

[WhitePineJunky]

John Mc has the best solution but mostly  I use chainsaw pants in the woods (unless I am just cruising) and those don't come pre-treated.  Also boots- not pre-treated.  So, I just self spray.  I don't wash the chainsaw pants very often, once a month when they start talking back and going for a walk by themselves. 

I didn't worry so much about it but then one week I was just cruising and did not have treated clothes, got a small tick bite I did not notice (and I look every night) and got Lymes.  Lymes was no fun.  100+ fevers, aches, etc.  It took a while and anti-biotics to get over it but was very weak and got covid.  That was not so bad but no fun and coffee was no longer delicious.

What temperatures are you venturing out in chainsaw pants with 

I cant imagine wearing them in the summer months

[WhitePineJunky]

Becarefull using horse spray as most here are 10% and permethrin causes cancer , if you cut it with water then I guess

Also look out for deet don't want that on your skin I noticed that after  melted my sunglasses can't be good for skin haven't used it since I seen that,use to lather it through my hairline for the black flies

[Ron Scott]

Ticks have been very heavy and seem to be on a continued increase over larger areas. Hard to work in some wood's areas due to the ticks. I've experienced a couple heavy bites and have had two blood tests for Lyme's disease. Fortunately, both were negative.

[maple flats]

Over the years starting about 2010 I've had lots of tick issues. I've tried I think every normal tick spray, used Deet, Permetherin and many others with little success, however I never tried sprayin my clothes ahead and letting it dry. 
Then I tried YaYa Tic ban about 4-5 years ago. I spray it on my pant legs, shoes and socks as I get out of the truck. Since I started using YAYA tic ban I've never had even one tick on me. It works. If I'm out  more than 4 hrs I respray. 
When I first tried it I bought a little pump spray bottle, but as soon as I found how well it worked I bought it in their 16 oz pump spray bottle. Now recently I bought more as a concentrate refill for the 16 oz bottle, which is an aluminum bottle. When my 16 oz runs out I'll just pour the concentrate into the 16 oz bottle, top it off with water and screw the pump sprayer cap back on, shake it a few time and I'll be ready again. 
All of the other sprays I swore at, the YAYA I swear by, it works. The also make a Squito spray, it works fairly well on mosquitoes but not as well as the tic ban does on ticks. No I don't sell it, I just Google search and order from whoever has it at the lowest price. Unless you find a sale the 16 oz is usually $27.99, I think the refill was $19.99.

[WhitePineJunky]

Had a tiny tiny nymph tick on me this morning makes me wonder how many really latch onto me without me noticing they're so small 

[nativewolf]

it's how I got Lymes.  I now have an extra prescription of antibiotics, doxi, if I find a tick bite I am supposed to take 2 pills.  Something to talk about with your doctor?

[John Mc]

What temperatures are you venturing out in chainsaw pants with 

I cant imagine wearing them in the summer months

Actually, some styles of chainsaw pant are cooler than wearing chaps over regular pants (especially if you are comparing the pants to full-wrap chaps).

[treemuncher]

If you go to your local farm store look at horse spray, it is premethrin and is a fraction of the cost.

During tick season, I keep a pump-up sprayer with this stuff for a daily dose of my pants and boots. For what I use, it's 1.5 oz concentrate per gallon of water. This is the most economical way to use permethrin for tick control on clothing or surfaces.

I saturate a BDU jacket for any heavy bushwhacking, especially when the seed ticks hatch. I also keep a 1/2 gallon pump sprayer in my truck in case I forget at the shop or if I run into a fire ant situation. Permethrin is my friend and a foe to every insect.

I've been dealing with late stage Lyme disease since 1997 from a bite by a Lone Star tick. Don't believe the goverment propoganda that claims only deer ticks can transmit LD. I've had numerous re-infections over the past 27 years. Permethrin is the best defence that I have found yet. Like a divorce, I don't wish LD on anyone. It can be a really bad ride.

[WhitePineJunky]

If you go to your local farm store look at horse spray, it is premethrin and is a fraction of the cost.

During tick season, I keep a pump-up sprayer with this stuff for a daily dose of my pants and boots. For what I use, it's 1.5 oz concentrate per gallon of water. This is the most economical way to use permethrin for tick control on clothing or surfaces.

I saturate a BDU jacket for any heavy bushwhacking, especially when the seed ticks hatch. I also keep a 1/2 gallon pump sprayer in my truck in case I forget at the shop or if I run into a fire ant situation. Permethrin is my friend and a foe to every insect.

I've been dealing with late stage Lyme disease since 1997 from a bite by a Lone Star tick. Don't believe the goverment propoganda that claims only deer ticks can transmit LD. I've had numerous re-infections over the past 27 years. Permethrin is the best defence that I have found yet. Like a divorce, I don't wish LD on anyone. It can be a really bad ride.

What do you mean late stage? You kept getting reinfected enough or it come out of dormancy enough for it to do lots of damage on your joints etc?

I had it for 5 or 6 years and still do have it although it's "dormant" I only get pains when it flares up again it seems, I just got it treated last winter, had one flare up since took short round of antibiotics it cleared up 
I think it's important to eat healthy and keep stress to a minimum because we are compromised 

[realzed]

My 5.5 month old pup just got a tick bite on her nose on the weekend and it became engorged within a couple of hours and required her to be seen and treated by the vet here as an emergency case!
Very painful for her and she ended up with swollen lymph nodes and tonsils and had a lot of issues drooling all over the place and breathing and needed to be sedated for most of a day, to have the tick removed obviously and to be kept quiet to try and let everything settle down some..
Course of antibiotics and pain killers for the next week or so then in a couple of weeks some tests to determine if she has contracted Lyme Disease as it apparently takes a couple of weeks to manifest itself in dogs.. $700 $$ later - so far!
What can owners do for animals?
She wasn't out in the thick bush - just roaming around the yard and a couple of walking trails locally.. but it would be great to find out if there is a decent way to try help protect our pets as well as ourselves!
We have treated her once a month since we got her with a topical flea/tick solution from our vet clinic - but obviously that was a waste of money and time and I'm hopeful some of you have found a better solution we can adopt..
Thanks..