posted
I thought I read somewhere that ticks can't climb trees thus reducing the likelihood that they could blow in the wind into your hair. I'm curious because my son recently had a tick crawling around his ear that the nurse at school had to deal with. How do they get up there? Do they crawl up someone's body after jumping on at a lower point?
Anyone know?
-------------------- dx in Dec 2003 tested 2x positive for bart Lightly Chelating 3 weeks off abx and 1 week on:
10 day course a month: Plaq/Ceftin/Rifampin/Biaxin with Tindamax on last two days Posts: 187 | From PA | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
A few years ago I found one crawling on my shoulder when I was walking in the woods. I find it highly unlikely that it crawled all the way up my body to my shoulder in that short time.
But I've heard that, too. I don't believe it.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
here's my personal experience and a few comments from others!
yes, ticks can FALL OFF TREES! ticks get on trees from birds, squirrels, DEER brushing up against the trees, white-footed mouse, etc. [b] but a recent report said BIRDS ARE THE NO. 1 LYME CARRYING ANIMAL! [\b]
also, MY personal experience was this: ***************************************
the tick that bite me was off my folk's LIVE CHRISTMAS tree 1969 !!! i never saw it, it was not embedded, and NO BULLS-EYE RASH!
i went to dr.; he dx me with mono!! bedbound 2 wks. went 34 yrs. MISDIAGNOSED by 40-50 drs!
how did i come up it's was xmas tree? well, i've had a journal since turning 13; write down my health and what's happening in my life.
it was typical IOWA weather: sub-zero weather .... NO GARDENING going on and i was not gardener then.
my roommates had NO PETS! so all the normal ways of getting them were eliminated 1 by 1 !!
other members commented they were walking under trees and felt something; and felt a tick on shoulder, etc. they just fall off the trees!
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cantgiveupyet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8165
posted
yup, sure can, that is how i was bit!
My coworker parked his truck near mine under some trees. He warned us that he found three ticks in his truck.
The next morning I woke up and went to take a shower and there was the tick on my stomach. I freaked out, my BF at the time was an EMT and removed it with surgical tweezers. I was so worried about getting lyme. Where we parked wasnt even wooded :-(
That was in 2000, i remember feeling sweaty that day and in the next few weeks had a sore throat that lasted for about 8-9 months.
-------------------- "Say it straight simple and with a smile."
"Thus the task is, not so much to see what no one has seen yet, But to think what nobody has thought yet, About what everybody sees."
-Schopenhauer
pos babs, bart, igenex WB igm/igg Posts: 3156 | From Lyme limbo | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Darn... and I was having so much fun walking on the beautiful campus here. Had to walk under some trees.
Worried about it. Thought about it. Walked on the treeless, boring track this afternoon.
Sure would like to go back to the place with the TREES!!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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disturbedme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12346
posted
This is all so depressing.
It's like you can't even leave your house without this huge chance of getting lymed.
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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lymeladyinNY
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 10235
posted
I got a call today from a man who read my article in our local paper. He said he got Lymed in 1983 after he saved a girl's life after she hit a tree after going down an embankment!
He said it was February in New York state and there was snow on the ground! He saw the tree she hit shake really hard when she hit it. He was under that tree when he was saving her.
He had jeans on with holes and one hole was near his groin area. Later, he found a tick embedded there!
He's sure the car accident shook some ticks out of the tree and one of them got him!
I thought it was an interesting story. He is ill from Lyme but not as severe as some of us. He'd never heard of Lymenet!
So, yeah, according to this man who called me today, ticks DO fall from trees!
-------------------- I want to be free Posts: 1170 | From Endicott, NY | Registered: Sep 2006
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posted
ticks do not fly....but i remember reading that
they can jump astonishing distances.....and they
jump towards heat (body heat) smart little
buggers!
-------------------- This is NOT medical advice - and should NOT be used to replace your MD's advice. Info is only the opinion of those who publish the site.
The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time.
cb Posts: 669 | From somewherebetweentherocks | Registered: Mar 2008
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disturbedme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12346
posted
njlymemom - I read that ticks cannot jump? I know that they call fall off bushes and trees, etc., but I didn't think they were physically able to JUMP?
-------------------- One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar. ~ Helen Keller
My Lyme Story Posts: 2965 | From Land of Confusion (bitten in KS, moved to PA, now living in MD) | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
Hi, I don't remember where I read this....and did a google search.
everything I found said that they don't jump, fly or fall off trees
we have 2 dogs, and even though the dogs and yard are treated (we have woods surrounding us)the dogs still come in with ticks
In my own personal experience, I have had ticks "jump" when trying to grab them off the dog before they were imbedded. Yes, I am certain that they are ticks jumping and not fleas. I can identify the difference.....long time pet owner...and then I flush it...
These little beasts are hardy. After a camping trip I did the laundry (we treat people and clothing) I opened the washer after the machine was finished and to my surprise and dismay.... a tick was crawling along the rim of the washer. Yuck
-------------------- This is NOT medical advice - and should NOT be used to replace your MD's advice. Info is only the opinion of those who publish the site.
The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time.
cb Posts: 669 | From somewherebetweentherocks | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
Do not flush them!!! I think they can actually survive. At any rate, I've read several times that we should not flush them.
I've flushed hundreds back in the days before Lyme was a known problem.
Also...They will NOT die in a washing machine. Only the heat of a dryer will kill them. Even then, it probably has to run awhile to kill them.
I've seen video of ticks "jumping" from grasses onto a person or animal. I think it's sort of like a flying squirrel would "fly" .. if that makes any sense!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
I heard of a man who was driving in his convertible and passed under some trees. A tick dropped out of a tree and landed on him. I also heard of some Girl Scouts who were sitting under some trees eating spaghetti. Ticks kept dropping out of the trees and landing in their spaghetti, making it difficult to eat around the ticks.
There could be a difference between deer ticks and other ticks. Deer ticks don't have eyes and may be reluctant to fall a great distance when they can't see where they are going. Perhaps that is why we keep hearing that ticks don't fall from trees. Maybe deer ticks don't. Lone star ticks may be more likely to drop from trees.
As for crawling up trees, I don't see any reason why ticks couldn't do that if they wanted to. They can crawl up a blade of grass and bushes. Ticks crawl against gravity. If a tick grabs onto your jeans, it will crawl up your clothes until it finds a cozy spot to attach to your skin. If you find a tick on your sock, it grabbed onto you at the shoe or sock level. If a tick lands on your shoulder, it will not crawl down to your legs. It may crawl up and bite on your neck or head.
As for jumping, I think spiders can jump, and ticks are arachnids like spiders. I don't think a blind deer tick would want to jump, but perhaps other ticks might jump. Would you jump if you couldn't see where you were landing?
Lone star ticks are considered more aggressive than deer ticks, because they crawl toward a host. It is said that deer ticks will wait on a blade of grass or a bush until a host passes by and then grab on, but that lone star ticks actually crawl toward the host. Since they have eyes, they would be more likely than deer ticks to crawl a distance.
Posts: 18 | From Kansas | Registered: Jun 2005
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Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338
quote:Removal of abandoned birds' nests in and around the property will reduce tick numbers...
-
quote:Since ticks cannot hop or fly to get to their host, they must climb onto an object (such as tall vegetation, fences, etc.) and wait for a potential host to travel close by.
Detecting shadows, vibrations, exhaled carbon dioxide or other host odors, the tick then drops from their tall perch to attach themselves to their host.
-
Posts: 6947 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004
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Just Julie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1119
posted
Yes. Yes, ticks can fall from trees. My neighbor and her daughter decided to "test" this out themselves. They took a light colored umbrella, and went to one of our open space regional parks nearby. It is your typical Northern California park with a dirt trail, and oak (mostly) trees towering over the dirt trail path.
They began their walk up the trail, deliberately staying in the very center of the trail, not coming close to brushing along the side of the trail where the vegetation/tall grass was.
They noted that shortly after they began their ascent up the trail, they were able to see ticks fall onto the top of their umbrella from the trees that were towering over them. I don't know the exact height of the trees (oaks) that were shadowing the trail, but high enough to not be able to reach up your arm and touch the branches.
In any case, that alone was enough to make me a believer. If I have a choice, I do not walk under trees, especially if I am in an area where there are ticks anyway. It only takes one! (to ruin your life).
-------------------- Julie Posts: 1027 | From Northern CA | Registered: May 2001
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
carol, thanks for posting the link verifying they can drop from trees, etc.
julie, great experiment; thanks for sharing that as well!!
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