Ticks
 

Well...there I was happily working at my home office and what should plop onto my computer screen, but a TICK!! Yep, out of nowhere a wood tick shows up. One of my dogs got one attached to his ear yesterday and he is on Advantix (tick repellant).

Word is, that the ticks are out in force because of the dry conditions. So word of warning to all...put on that repellant when you venture outside. (Permethrin not DEET)

Wet or dry conditions, ticks are out for blood every year.
One of the few good uses for a lit cigarette is that when held in close proximity to a tick, the tick will back out of wherever the tick has attacked itself.

Falling ticks.
I swear that ticks fall from trees. Others dispute this.
I have had a tick or two on me. After a walk through woods. Most state that ticks get on oneself by just walking through the grass then climb aboard.

I notice Advantix does not work on NH ticks. They are a tough bunch! :D

I'm gonna try this stuff...
 

http://www.rei.com/product/768970/sa...mp-spray-24-oz

I was recently diagnosed with Lyme. I have no idea how long I've had it or where I got it. :rolleye1:

Best product for dogs
 

Thanks Kate, what a great article. With that in mind, is there a better product to protect our dog from ticks?

We use advantix or something similar but we will change if there is something better.

thanks
HCG

I was in my doctors office this morning getting ready to do a stress test. I was dressed in shorts and sneakers when all of a sudden I could feel something crawling around my ankle... you guessed it, a tick! :eek: Picked it right off as it had not dug in, brought it to the nurses station and told them they might want to think about vacuuming the rug!!

They are everywhere this year!!

Kinda funny
 

I work outside all day long and have had none on me as of yet.
Some of you are indoors and finding them. Thats border line scarry!

Tick products
 

Ugh. I picked a tick off my husband's neck last night (4/17)- nasty little things. In addition to using the business end of a lit cigarette, you can strike a match, blow it out, and hold the hot end against the tick, and it will let go. Our dog got the Lyme vaccine (wish there was one for humans), and also we use a anti-tick product once a month (get from our vet). I posted this somewhere else on the forum, but two of the six dogs in our puppy obedience class in Wolfeboro diagnosed with Lyme and have been on antibiotics. Our dog is as black as night, and I know seeing the ticks will be a challenge. We are brushing him and looking for them every night. For humans, if Lyme isn't diagnosed very early, the long lasting effects can be quite nasty. Last year I read an article about a moose in MN that died of anemia, he had tens of thousands of ticks on his body. EEEK.

Useful Home Remedy That Works Well
 

To repel ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, horse flies, black flies, bot flies and many other creepy crawlies. Keep a bottle of the 'Original Listerine' in the house in case you should run out of what ever you would normally use.
I used it on my dogs and horses and most times it worked better than any of the other repellents, and it also was an excellent horse liniment as well. A well respected old horse Doctor taught me about this home remedy back in the early sixties and it works great.

Application: After bathing and drying, Apply Listerine on a hand towel, and rub it into their coats, under belly and legs. Be careful around the eyes.


Terry
______________________________

If you have a tick buried into your skin or an animal simply cover it over with vaseline and wait maybe 5 minutes or so they will usually begin to back themselves out. Advantix and those drops for dogs and cats will not totally keep them off your pet but they supposedly stop them from laying eggs at least that's what I've heard. I keep the stuff on our cat (outdoor cat) and she still gets them. Anyone want a cat??? :D

Dpg
 

I believe the way it works is the tick feeds off the animal, ingests the treated blood then dies and falls off. So if it feeds before laying eggs then it never happens as it dies pretty soon after feeding.

Not Quite
 

From the Frontline web site...

2. How do FRONTLINE Top Spot and FRONTLINE Plus spread over a pet's body? How long does this take?
FRONTLINE Top Spot and Plus spread over the pet's body by a process called translocation. When applied, these products are gradually dispersed by the pet's natural oils, collecting in the oil glands in the skin. It is then "wicked" onto the hair over the next 30 days. The translocation process can take up to 24 hours to complete.



3. Do fleas and ticks have to bite my pet for FRONTLINE Brand Products to work?
Fleas and ticks do not have to bite your pet for FRONTLINE Brand Products to work. FRONTLINE Brand Products kill fleas and ticks if they simply come into contact with your pet's hair coat. The fleas will die within 18 hours of contact with your treated pet, and ticks will die within 48 hours.

I think the ticks come in the house on the dog and then fall off him (we use frontline plus which has always worked great). The best way to pick up a tick that is crawling (on the floor, wall or yourself) is put a piece of scotch tape over it and then just fold it in half. Those big wood ticks don't carry Lyme, it is the miniscule Deer tick that do. Over the years I have had Lyme Disease twice. Both times I was diagnosed early and a short period of antibiotics took care of it. Yuck, I'm getting the creepy crawlers just thinking about them........:eek:

Good info
 

I was told it a little different from a vet, but either way it works.

Ticks in the house
 

Found two (dead) ticks in the dog crate this morning. We use Advantix on the dog, but our cats never go outside. Now I am worried about ticks in the house. God, the crate is next to our bed. Hey, Shoreline, sound familiar?? When do they lay eggs? Are they going to do it in my house? AARRGGGH

Cats
 

If they are coming in with the dogs then you should used the product on your cats as well. I know the vets all say they can still pick up ticks even if they are indoor pets. Better safe then sorry!
I wouldn't panic ticks have always been out there, this year is suppose to be worse then normal. I for one have been working outdoors in the yard the last several weekends as well as working outside for my job daily and have not found any on myself. And except for the one on our Beagle that is it, we have 3 Jack Russels that have so far been clean, I hope.

Lyme Disease and ticks
 

I was on the UNH Agricultural Extension page yesterday, reading more about ticks. Seems NH has the second highest count of Lyme disease in the US, second only to Delaware. I would have thought Connecticut. Anyway, the black-legged tick that carries Lyme disease also can infect humans with two other pathogens: babesiosis and anaplasmosis. Babesiosis is a malaria like parasitic disease that gives you diarrea, fever, chills, etc. Anaplasmosis gives you fever, chills, muscle aches. I don't think these two infections give the long-term problems that Lyme disease can give if untreated. My particular issue is that all these nasty things are treated with antibiotics. Any I am allergic to most all antibiotics and sulpha drugs.... so the thought of tick bite is fairly scary!! Be careful out there!!

Isn't there a country song... "I'd like to check you for ticks?"

One way to reduce attachment when walking through grass and brush is to pull your socks over the bottom of your pants. Ticks are easier to brush off cloth than removing from skin.

Good luck!

more ticks
 

Its not just the dry weather. I read somewhere (and I can't remember where) last week that the increase also has something to do with the white footed mouse and something to do with acorns also. Hey, I can't make this stuff up. I wish I had copied the article for all to see.

More mast crop (acorns, beech nuts, etc.) = more critters surviving Winter = more critters for ticks to feast on this Spring = more healthy ticks.

I read somewhere recently that ticks have a two to three year cycle...so the ones out there now, are from late summer and last fall's hatching or birth or whatever you call it when those little nasty critters come to life...

Get out there with the shotguns this summer and shoot those little buggers to smitherines...then next year won't be so bad...plus, for those trying to prune the branches...if your not that good a shot with at shotgun and hit the little tickies...then you might just prune some branches with each shot..

5 ticks today
 

I'm working a job in Long Bay and pulled 5 ticks off myself today. :eek:
That is more then I usually find on myself in 2 years. :cool:

Are you using Deet?You never want to spray in right on to your skin but all your clothing should be sprayed down to prevent them from getting on you. 5 ticks it a lot.

ticks
 

It only takes one tick to kill a human

:eek:

holly crap
 

I could be dead 5 times over:eek:
Fortunately none had gotten settled in.

I found a deer tick on my dogs private parts Sunday night after a run around Ahern. Now it looks like a bullseye. I guess I'm taking him to the vet tonight. Luckily I didn't get any on me.