# Holy F-ing TICKS!



## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Northern IL and Southern WI...

my god.

I cant remember them ever being this bad.

Everytime I go to work outside or go to the damn parks around here, I bring them home with me. Need a damn decon room...

weather must be perfect or something..


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## Karen M Wood (Jun 23, 2012)

I am hearing on a grooming blog i watch that ticks are horrid this year already. I feel sorry for you guys in mega tick country. I get a few ticks in florida but you northerns have those wolly mammoth ticks left over from the last ice age.


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## Karen M Wood (Jun 23, 2012)

http://www.qcsupply.com/seresto-flea-tick-collar-large-dog.html
Maybe one of these will help. It's new on the market and i'm thinking about ordering some for my mom. Because the ticks were she's at are aweful. and they never get a winter in the tropics.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

I was talking about ME.. LOL...

although the dogs have already had some as well..

just applied frontline plus (to the dog). has worked in past, but this year is horrible.


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## Larry Krohn (Nov 18, 2010)

Kentucky also. I never saw it this bad and I just got diagnosed with Lyme disease


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## Katie Finlay (Jan 31, 2010)

Joby Becker said:


> I was talking about ME.. LOL...


Thank you for the nightmares. YUCK.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Larry Krohn said:


> Kentucky also. I never saw it this bad and I just got diagnosed with Lyme disease


what were you're symptoms?
sorry to hear it..


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## Meng Xiong (Jan 21, 2009)

I have a set of clothes that I use for outdoors activities that I've treated with pemethrin. Works great, just exercise caution when treating clothes before the chem dries.

Permethrin treated clothes vs ticks.
http://youtu.be/n_XvX9Hyrhw

A how to treat clothes with permethrin.
http://youtu.be/W3sGvZE3rh4


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## Larry Krohn (Nov 18, 2010)

Joby Becker said:


> what were you're symptoms?
> sorry to hear it..


Flu like symptoms, body aches, tired, but I saw when I got bit so hopefully the meds work quickly


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Larry Krohn said:


> Kentucky also. I never saw it this bad and I just got diagnosed with Lyme disease


I'm sorry to hear that Larry. I know each case is a bit different in severity so I hope you get to feeling better soon.


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## Larry Krohn (Nov 18, 2010)

Nicole Stark said:


> I'm sorry to hear that Larry. I know each case is a bit different in severity so I hope you get to feeling better soon.


Thanks Nicole, me too. The medicine sucks but I just stopped taking it so that helps


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Meng Xiong said:


> I have a set of clothes that I use for outdoors activities that I've treated with pemethrin. Works great, just exercise caution when treating clothes before the chem dries.
> 
> Permethrin treated clothes vs ticks.
> http://youtu.be/n_XvX9Hyrhw
> ...


that is cool,. thanks will read up on this one,

although we do have cats and an iguana in the house, and I would need a set of clothes for pretty much at least 4 days a week, and more realistically everyday almost...


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## leslie cassian (Jun 3, 2007)

Yup, the only thing worse than finding the first tick of the season on your dog is finding it on yourself. 

Fingers crossed it wasn't attached to me long enough to give me Lyme disease.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Katie Finlay said:


> Thank you for the nightmares. YUCK.


was looking at parasites a little while ago..

came accross the Sea Louse, basically similar to regular ole lice...except up to *30 inches long!!!*





































and the giant sea scorpion just cause it looks real friendly


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

I pulled 4 ticks off of me this year back in April. The dogs had none....so far. 
I would guess that the mild winters most of the country have had probably has something to do with it.
We've also had a wet spring this year as opposed to drought last year.


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## Tim Lynam (Jun 12, 2009)

Seems like they are EVERYWHERE here in North Carolina. I even saw a couple crawling in the garage. We have the small Deer ticks you can hardly see all the way up to the Big Foot size we use to pull hay wagons...

I talked with a couple of elderly folks here and they said this is the worst they've ever seen them.

A hazmat suit might be in order!


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Tim Lynam said:


> Seems like they are EVERYWHERE here in North Carolina.


That's terrible. Many years ago a friend of mine who was living in FLA at the time told me about this god awful tick infestation she had in her home. It made me sick just to hear about it. She said that when they pulled the carpet there were hundreds, if not thousands of them beneath it and they found just as many when they flipped their mattress. How this happened is beyond me. Reminds me of those roach infested homes you see on TV. Ewwwww. :-o


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

The time a tick spends on a dog is not very long. You'll often find a smaller tick within a few inches of a bloated female. That's often the male. Once she's had her fill she'll drop off and lay her eggs in carpeting if in the house or most anywhere else that suits her. 
It doesn't take long for an infestation to happen in a house or yard.


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## Tim Lynam (Jun 12, 2009)

That's a big issue here now Bob. Keeping them out of the house just takes diligence. As they say: "An ounce of prevention." Maybe I'll get some disposable bait cats, 1 for each pant leg, for when I'm outside working.:smile:

Funny thing is, I haven't seen 1 flea yet this season!

Anyway, so far the dog's topical treatment is holding!


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## Tim Lynam (Jun 12, 2009)

Jeese O Peets Nicole!!! I can't imagine an infestation that bad! Makes me itch just thinking about it.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Tim Lynam said:


> Jeese O Peets Nicole!!! I can't imagine an infestation that bad! Makes me itch just thinking about it.


Gosh, no kidding! I kinda liken that story to this thing that Shelby Stanga from Ax Men has going on with his body after eating that leech last year. If he's really infested with them... well, that's just gross!!


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## Meg O'Donovan (Aug 20, 2012)

I put Revolution on my dog in training at the end of March and it seemed to work well. It is a bad tick year here. Lots on people and other people's dogs, but so far none on my dogs or kids or me. We did one SAR search where other people came back with ticks dropping off them, but not us. I'm taking my dog into the bush every day, but we've only found one tick (crawling but not yet fed, and not on the dog) so far. I don't know where the luck is? Maybe lots of garlic and hot peppers in our diet? 

Does diatomaceous earth work for people who have tick infestations at home? I've heard it works for fleas. Our area is so dry, fleas are not a problem here.

The photo of those sea lice looked bad. Do they go for whales or what?


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## Tim Lynam (Jun 12, 2009)

Meg O'Donovan said:


> Does diatomaceous earth work for people who have tick infestations at home? I've heard it works for fleas. Our area is so dry, fleas are not a problem here.
> 
> The photo of those sea lice looked bad. Do they go for whales or what?


Don't know about the diatomaceous earth but I'm out in the picky weeds of NC and some of the folks here dust their carpets and floors with Seven Dust and vacuum it up like Carpet Fresh!! Some folks even feed Seven to their dogs once a month for Heartworm prevention... No, I'm not recommending it! Just a "Fun" fact...

The sea lice eat dead things, FAST! DEAD whales too.


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

I used nemotodes in my yard (which is wooded and backs up to tick infested woods.) and that solved the yard issue. Our area is so wet, there is no point in using DE in the yard but I do use it around the foundation and baseboards and dog crate. Give some to him once a month for possible intestinal worms too. It is perfectly safe but I do buy the food grade, not the pool grade which is poisonous.

For the dog, we got 8 ticks on one search and I started using Springtime Garlic. Honestly, he has not picked up a tick sense. No chemical preventives on him. I do a daily tick check.

I am getting ready to try some permethrin repellant for my clothes. A bit leery of the "wash it in" which lasts longer but I am not sure I want that stuff right next to my skin so I am using the spray product.


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

Joby Becker said:


> I was talking about ME.. LOL...
> 
> although the dogs have already had some as well..
> 
> just applied frontline plus (to the dog). has worked in past, but this year is horrible.


There's only one solution, cover yourself up when you go out with the dog (a mask would be superfluous!!)

Nuns and monks seem to be immune to the f'ing creatures.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Gillian Schuler said:


> There's only one solution, cover yourself up when you go out with the dog (a mask would be superfluous!!)
> 
> Nuns and monks seem to be immune to the f'ing creatures.


yeah...am working outside most of the season..its gonna be rough. looking at treating outfits


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## Karen M Wood (Jun 23, 2012)

I bet those giant sea lice taste like shrimp. Tarter sauce any one?


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## Dominic Rozzi (Aug 2, 2009)

Joby Becker said:


> Northern IL and Southern WI...
> 
> my god.
> 
> ...


 for the dogs i've had great luck with the advantix 11---for the person there is a product out there called sawyers---use it for hunting been out turkey hunting and have not had one problem----it is not for the skin it is to be put on the clothes have not been bothered in years by them----the stuff stays in your clothes for 4-6 washings000have been using it for about four years now


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Dominic Rozzi said:


> for the dogs i've had great luck with the advantix 11---for the person there is a product out there called sawyers---use it for hunting been out turkey hunting and have not had one problem----it is not for the skin it is to be put on the clothes have not been bothered in years by them----the stuff stays in your clothes for 4-6 washings000have been using it for about four years now


thanks I will also look into Sawyers.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Gillian Schuler said:


> There's only one solution, cover yourself up when you go out with the dog (a mask would be superfluous!!)
> 
> Nuns and monks seem to be immune to the f'ing creatures.




It's not the outfits that keep the ticks off. I still have nightmares from my grade school and high school days. 8-[8-[:-$ [-o<


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## Meng Xiong (Jan 21, 2009)

Joby Becker said:


> thanks I will also look into Sawyers.


Permethrin is the active ingredient in Sawyers and its varients. Based off my research, it seems to be relatively safe. Not that it means a whole lot, but the US military has been using permethrin in its BDU's for years. One article that I read stated that it was directly applied to livestock to control flys. 

I buy it in concentrate and dilute to soak my camping gear and outdoor clothes. So far no adverse reactions. I actually started using it to spray around the house to control fire ants and scorpions, works great!


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## Robley Smith (Apr 20, 2012)

Chickens for ticks in the yard. I haven't had the problem but have heard it several times. They are pretty ruthless predators.


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## Tim Lynam (Jun 12, 2009)

We have a couple Guinea fowl running around here. They are death on ticks. The initial yard outbreak is quickly being quelled and now they seem to be giving the woods a work over. They are a bit noisy (sounds like Africa sometimes!) but seem to be doing a good job on the ticks and such.


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## Dominic Rozzi (Aug 2, 2009)

Tim Lynam said:


> We have a couple Guinea fowl running around here. They are death on ticks. The initial yard outbreak is quickly being quelled and now they seem to be giving the woods a work over. They are a bit noisy (sounds like Africa sometimes!) but seem to be doing a good job on the ticks and such.


 chickens will do the trick but like the other post said the guinea fowl are the best---

joby the sawyers i buy is at a cabelas store ---don't know what you have around you but even if you have to order it ---its the stuff to use---rei also sells it along with amazon and ebay---just type it in


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

The Guinea Fowl are harder for wild critters to catch. In addition to their speed they like to roos UP in trees where a chicken will climb on the first rung of a ladder and think it's safe. 
As a kid I worked at my uncle's poultry market. When a chicken got out of the cages we just ran them down. If a guinea got loose we just waived goodby to them. African roadrunners!:-o Zooooooooooooooom!


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## Amber Scott Dyer (Oct 30, 2006)

I had erlichia two years ago. we had a problem bc we would pull our kayaks up on the riverbank to get out to use the bathroom and they would fall out of the trees on us - and of course spray deterrent doesn't really work when you're getting wet all the time. Now we jump in the river and swim for a minute before getting back in the boats. Those Lone Star ticks have become ridiculous around here. Never saw one ten years ago - now they're everywhere. 

I put a preventic collar on the dogs with no problem. if only it was so easy for me.


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## Joby Becker (Dec 13, 2009)

Amber Scott said:


> if only it was so easy for me.


probably almost as easy to put the collar on yourself ..


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## Amber Scott Dyer (Oct 30, 2006)

Don't think I haven't considered it. 

It'd leave a weird tan line, though.


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

I sprayed the clothes with permethrin for yesterday's walk in the woods and it went well. You are not supposed to get it on your skin and I avoided areas where I would sweat. Deet is not so effective for ticks.

I did make a spray of 50% vinegar and water with peppermint oil that was very effective for everything but the duration was not too good.

The dog is still doing great with the garlic supplement and I am going to order a different one for me. It has other benefits.


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## Gerald Dunn (Sep 24, 2011)

what garlic supplement are you using for the dogs and yourself?


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

For the dog- Springtime Bug Off granules

For me, still looking.....right now looking into Kyolic...not a big "supplement" person so not sure...but even web md says it is good for cholesterol and BP so why not..BP is good but cholesterol can be a tad high......I am just now starting to think that if HE does so good on it maybe I would.


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