Ticks

[tjm]

Best thing to treat ticks on dogs (except collies) and horses is Ivermectin, cures mange too and most worms. I saw a couple of young horses die from treatment with Permerthin, probably because it entered bite wounds from severe tick infestation, took less than five minutes for it to hit them; the other 8-9 treated didn't seem to have any problems but had fewer open bites.

We were aware of Lyme disease in Rhode Island before most of the country even heard of Lyme, CT. It's actually only an hour's drive away and the disease was big local news in 1975-80s. (lived there from '71-85) Tick exposure wasn't common for most people though as the cities were somehow insect proofed and few city dwellers wandered into the wild areas.
I imagine your man from RI just didn't pay attention to the news or didn't spend a lot of time out doors.
The black legged ticks that carry Lyme were pretty rare over most of the mid west back then. Still are in most of Mo. but do seem to be expanding their range.
We sure have our share of dog ticks and Lone Stars though.

Now if you want to reduce your tick population, build mouse houses filled with Permethrin soaked cotton balls

[tickranch]

I've had Lyme disease twice. The first time I went to the doctor and a nurse practitioner agreed with my thoughts, and treated me with something that she said would treat Lyme disease, and the flu. They took a blood sample & the result was Lyme disease. Had to go back for a follow up, and got a doc fresh out of med school, & he said that I didn't have Lyme disease, but something else. Odd thing is whenever he talked, all I heard was quack quack! Had another issue later & had to see the doc again, and got the same quack. We moved south shortly after that & never went back to him.

[bigjohn]

That Lyme disease isn't an easy detectable disease from what I gathered. The test can throw a false positive or negative a couple of times. That's what has caused folks to suffer from it for years before getting properly treated.

Tick bites are very easy to introduce infections to a person. Nasty varmints.

[krank]

I got through morel season with just a few ticks.I sprayed first and changed clothes afterwards. Found one more on me last night. The dog followed me and I had to pull two off of him. Poison ivy is getting up there and, at this time of year, I get it just by looking at it.

[tickranch]

Apr 22, 2024 6:12:06 GMT -6 krank said:

I got through morel season with just a few ticks.I sprayed first and changed clothes afterwards. Found one more on me last night. The dog followed me and I had to pull two off of him. Poison ivy is getting up there and, at this time of year, I get it just by looking at it.

There is a lot of nasty stuff around these days.  My sister is so allergic to poison ivy, she's even caught it in the dead of winter when the stuff has died out!  When she sees a honey bee she freaks out, as she is highly allergic to them. Myself, honey bees don't bother me, and poison ivy is just a pain in the butt.

[Walleye Joe]

Those little seed ticks are hard to find. Pulled 3 of them off me yesterday. I'll admit I haven't used any spray at all. Always forget to spray down before heading out.

Thankfully, I've never had a problem with poison ivy. I can handle it bare handed or even roll around in it. I may get one or two little bumps on me, but that's it.

Bees? They don't bother me. If I leave them alone they leave me alone!

[krank]

I work my beehives and get stung multiple times and I pretty much ignore it. Poison ivy sneaks up on me every time. I know all about home cures for ivy. Lots of people are allergic to dirt because they are never around it.

[bigjohn]

Same as Joe, poison ivy never effected me nor been stings. My brother on the other hand can't even look at it without getting completely covered. My sister is extremely allergic to bee and wasp stings. Even skitters will make her puff up.

[ozarkmountainman]

Permethrin on my clothes and Avon Skin So Soft on ankles and waste. Been doing this for years. I even turned our local MDC agents on to Permethrin years ago- they were getting ate up doing stake outs on the creeks. I think the whole MDC uses it now.

Dale

[Walleye Joe]

I took the side by side through the tall pasture grass Saturday to look over the place. I forgot to spray first. Big mistake.  Removed several large ticks crawling on my clothes. Last night I found 3 little seed ticks attached. One behind my left knee, one on my right thigh and tricep muscle.    There may be more. Those spots itch today.

I need to spend some time in the woods today to take care of 5 or 6 racoons that are giving me trouble. A half dozen DP's should take care of them. I'll be sure to spray down before going out.

On a positive note, those damn Cicada's are all but gone! YAY!!!

[krank]

This weekend, I pivked a couple big fat ones off my dog and one off me and we didnt even venture out.

[bigbob]

I once drove my PU into my buddies place to check out some varmint trapping he wanted done. As I stepped out of the truck, I could actually feel the Chiggroes swarming my ankles and calf's! I happened to have a bottle of rubbing alcohol with me, and slathered it all over up to my knees and killed most of them. Would have been in agony otherwise!

[tickranch]

Apr 20, 2024 5:25:16 GMT -6 bigjohn said:

That Lyme disease isn't an easy detectable disease from what I gathered. The test can throw a false positive or negative a couple of times. That's what has caused folks to suffer from it for years before getting properly treated.

Tick bites are very easy to introduce infections to a person. Nasty varmints.

Them & mosquitos are kind of like Politicians, both are blood suckers!
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