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It's ticked-off season again
By adamg on Sat, 03/26/2016 - 5:46pm
A roving UHub correspondent reports that after a nice walk in Allandale Woods on the West Roxbury/Jamaica Plain line today, he discovered he'd brought home what appear to be a couple of deer ticks.
So time to be careful again in your traipsing around area woods.
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Comments
Deer Ticks
Just so you know, when it comes to deer ticks, there is no 'safe season.' Those teensy little buggers [and they are really really small] hardly ever disappear. Cross those same fields in January, when there is no snow cover, and they'll hop right on.
Not to diminish the warning,
Not to diminish the warning, but I have been seeing them since the second week in February. So far only the adults. If you have symptoms but think it's too early I urge you to seek care anyway. Nevertheless, thanks for helping to publicize this. More attention to it can only benefit.
Yes!
Lyme is far more serious than most people realize and prompt treatment means fewer complications down the road.
me and my dog got covered in
me and my dog got covered in ticks last year at strawberry hill dedham. maybe 20 between us. found one on my leg still the next morning. i tried.to twease it out and ripped off a bunch of skin. didnt get it. and my girl put rubbing alcohol on a tissue and pulled it off. rubbing alcohol works
Well this is scary...
I have been having thoughts of suggesting of doing some kind of hiking. Specifically around the Quabbin as it I realize it maybe cool to visit. My understanding that's a wooded area...
Okay, what measures do I need to take - and also make sure my friends take - to prevent having 20 little black things from getting on. And in a way that it would not scare everyone away from the idea while also make sure I don't give everyone Lyme disease.
DEET
Get a Deet based bug spray and cover yourself with it. Wear a hat. spray the hat. Tuck your pants into your socks. And still check every inch of yourself when you get home.
If you find any on you. Follow these instructions.
http://www.webmd.com/first-aid/tc/how-to-remove-a-tick-overview
Or better yet, STAY OUT OF
Or better yet, STAY OUT OF THE WOODS! It's just not worth it.
And wear light colored
And wear light colored clothes, so you can see them easier before they get inside. Long sleeves and pants.
DEET has its downsides
If you spend a lot of time in the woods, it might be better to limit DEET to your pant legs and wear appropriate clothing. DEET also dissolves or makes a sticky mess of some fabrics.
DEET has its charms, but it is very nasty stuff and some people shouldn't use it at all. Be sure to read the manufacturer's precautions, and consider treating clothing in a well ventilated space while it is not on your body, then putting it on.
And don't forget to check your nooks and crannies
That's what ticks like the most.
I reccommend another state
Nevada, Red Rocks specifically, is nice - no mosquitoes or ticks. Sure you can fall in a hole and die, or get bit by a rattlesnake, and dehydrate to death, or get ravaged by a coyote or mountain lion, or poisoned by a scorpion or gila monster. But all of those things are far less scary than one tick, even a non-diseased one. If you do go into the woods here I recommend bringing several sacrificial dogs or deer to herd before you in order to use up all the ticks.
C'mon man, Lyme disease is
C'mon man, Lyme disease is scary- at least the way news describe it - while I can see an argument that it is being sensationalized - it does make me hesitate and ask who measures to take. I don't have a ton of experience exploring in a non-urban setting. Funny of your suggestion, the few experiences I did have is trips out of state in non-tick country. The one memory that actually involve this region is we decided to not go into the high grass field because of ticks - we kept driving and ended up at the beach.
But after seeing an Imgur album of the Quabbin and having a thought of doing something different. I now have this idea that we could go do this. So far, I'm already not getting a ton of enthusiasm from the group of said idea. If I manage to pull off the support, I really do not want to be that guy who convince a group to go then lead the group to the great of tick bites and Lyme Disease.
Consider that I am likely the most "informed" of the bunch - which can see from my questions that I'm not the most informed guy on this subject - this does not bode well for my friends that I would go with.
Oh No I Was Serious
I would rather get bit by a rattlesnake than a tick, even an uninfected tick. Because at least it doesn't hang onto you afterwards. Parasites scare me so much.
Permethrin
Get some permethrin spray and spray it on your clothing, particularly on socks and pant cuffs (that's how ticks get onto you). It's also good sprayed on a hat to confound mosquitos. It's good for a couple of washings.
Know when you're going into tick habitat. "Wooded areas" are not prime tick habitat; edgelands -- fields, meadows, even lawns near wooded areas -- are, because that's the preferred habitat of deer. If you go hiking in areas of uninterrupted woods, you'll have many fewer problems, but you won't run into those near Boston.
Do a tick check whenever you come home.
Be careful at the Quabbin! I
Be careful at the Quabbin! I've picked up more ticks during two hikes there than in all my other hiking in the Northeast. It doesn't help that a lot of the trails and roads are overgrown with tall grasses.
My 2 cents
I spend a fair amount of time in the outdoors. Tuck the pants into your boot
cuff, then duct tape where the pants enter the boots. You will more than likely
walk your pants free of the boots if they ain't taped!
Never safe
I got one on my leg the day after Christmas in northern VT- with a winter this warm, there's no safe season.
I didn't find it until the next day, and removed it successfully. Two days later, there's a rash... cue the doxycycline. Nasty little f***ers.
I grew up with Labs and my parents said they're going to stick to yellow Labs from here on out because the ticks are so much easier to find on their current (yellow) dog. By the way, for the UHub dog owners, they've started using the Seresto collar on her and it seems to be working much better than the K9 Advantix that we used to use (plus there's no mess). Doesn't help the people though...
A novel idea
Let's send all the ticks to that island with the snakes!