Topic: Ticks apparently laughing at snow and cold.
Michelle M
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7200
posted
I thought I had another month or so to go before investing in new heavy duty tick collars for our dogs.
I live in thick old growth forest at 3000 feet. It's very cold right now with a blanket of snow and hard freezes at night.
Our dogs roam the woods by day (remote location!) but sleep indoors so as not to bark their heads off at racoons, deer, the occasional mountain lion, and so on, so we are normally very vigilant with anti-tick measures.
Tonight I spotted this bad boy and removed it from our black lab's forehead. Much earlier than the usual tick onslaught. Possibly due to a week or so of unseasonably nice weather a while back kind of outta the blue?
Anyway, my nerd-like ways would not permit me the Final Flush before a few photos of Ixodes Pacificus. Nasty creature. Just try and budge him from that paper towel - next to impossible. Like VELCRO!
Don't look for cold weather to give you any breathing room from these little monsters, 'cause it isn't impressing them much in my neck of the woods.
Apologies to all for the wide text but you can't see the tick very well in a tiny picture.
Michelle
Posts: 3193 | From Northern California | Registered: Apr 2005
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BostonLyme2005
Unregistered
posted
Hi,
Thanks for the pic...
Each state really needs to spray every year, and often..People need to bathe their pets in special soaps for ticks, etc...
People need to wear sprays and good clothing..
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posted
There was a study published about surveying ticks in the winter--in Maryland, I think it was. They could still pick up ticks by flagging even when the ground was 50% covered by snow.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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...shamelessly plunging their hypostomes wherever they please - without so much as dinner and a movie first.
When I find a live one, it is a good time to test repellants on a countertop..
just draw a thin film circle around them and see if they cross it. You'd be amazed how many don't deter them at all.
( I was testing natural repellants...I have found and herbal blend that works remarkably well called Bugrepel...it even passes the second phase of testing, where I covered my longhair cat's fur in it and allowed him to go on one of his full day hunting jaunts - for testing purposes only - in the Northeastern woodlands where we live at the height of tick season... and he came back with not a one on him, two week trial)
I do not agree with the use of pesticides. I believe that is one of the main reasons we are in the mess we are in, because those chemicals disrupt the natural ecosystem and kill natural tick predators, or at least repel them.
I believe we should be focusing on working with the Earth and the natural tick eaters (aside from just guinee hens) in balancing tick-populations, and that would vary based on where you live.
There is allot you can do, tho.
Mo
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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5dana8
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7935
posted
hey Mo
Thanks for the post. Where do you find the natural brugepel?
Thanks dana
-------------------- 5dana8 Posts: 4432 | From some where over the rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
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Michelle M
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7200
posted
Shelly, that tick is definitely engorged.
My dogs swim -- even in frigid weather -- in the creek that runs through my property. Can't think the olive oil would stay put long. But thanks for the idea; I had not heard that.
Mo, that's interesting. Even ticks, as loathesome as they are, must have their place in the delicate balance of things. I do not use pesticides either but then I have 5.5 acres of woods so it would be pretty futile. I wonder, are they a food source for small birds?
I saw an interesting article by RS Lane the entomologist documenting the attachment of multiple ticks IN SPITE of taking every possible precaution, presumably to include spraying repellant, tucking pants in socks, etc.
Mass eradication of ticks would have to have a huge ripple effect on some species higher up on the food chain. It always does.
Michelle
Posts: 3193 | From Northern California | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
I got a tick on me as late as December, and it was under 40 degrees, and had been colder. I had been piling wood, and there had probably been deer back there. DaveS
Posts: 4567 | From ithaca, NY, usa | Registered: Nov 2000
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Michelle M
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7200
posted
Getting the collars wet is definitely said to lessen their effectiveness.
However, they still seem to work really well.
I know that's so because I find ticks walking on the dogs' fur, but they won't attach. (When collars are kept current, that is.)
Because where there's water, there's Sally.
Here is my little slice of California. Tick-infested but beautiful!
Michelle
Posts: 3193 | From Northern California | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
Our lyme vet told us to use frontline plus every 3 weeks that the stuff is totally gone by the 4th week. I hate putting this stuff on our dogs but we are totally infested here is Southern Maryland.
I actually found great prices on frontline and prescription wormers in Australia. Have been ordering frontline and Interceptor from this company for over a year with much savings.
We used to pay 65.00 for a three pack of frontline (extra large as we have Komondors) and now I pay 44.00 for a six pack. This is the same stuff sold here just has KG instead of LB for weight but they tell you the conversion on the site.
If anyone is interested PM me and I will forward info. You do not need a prescription for the heartworm meds.
Our dogs are not allowed to go into the woods and we keep them confined with livestock electric fence which is very cheap to install and keeps unwanted pets out of your yard too. We live in a residential area and have 5 acres but you cannot see the fence unless you are next to it.
We use the type that is twine with tin woven through it so it is easy to work with unlike the all metal electric fence you see for most livestock. When myhusband mows he just unhooks and rolls the twine up. We ran two strands one low and one nose height and it works great for us.
Posts: 240 | From Southern Maryland | Registered: Jun 2003
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hardynaka
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Member # 8099
posted
I bought neem oil to use against ticks/ fleas.
My cat doesn't leave me apply it on his skin though (nothing that comes in spray, he's so scared!).
Has anyone had experience with neem oil as tick/ flea repellent?
If it works well against ticks, I would give it a try, as it's 'natural'. I wonder how often should we apply it...
He's half wild, born in the woods, totally lyme proof! But it's rather difficult to use sprays or any product on his fur.
He comes back home with an average of 3 ticks a day in high-tick season, even with Frontline.
Posts: 1086 | From Switzerland | Registered: Oct 2005
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Carol in PA
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Member # 5338
posted
Mo, You said, "I believe that is one of the main reasons we are in the mess we are in, because those chemicals disrupt the natural ecosystem and kill natural tick predators..."
I recently read Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" for the first time. I came across some information that after DDT had been used to kill insects, the tick population increased greatly.
Michelle, That is a beautiful picture. There are many parts of Pennsylvania that still resemble that glade.
Carol
Posts: 6956 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004
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I have 5-6 acres here in the Northeast woods.. so I am trying to work on things in many ways.
Definately birds help.. I have lots of different plain cedar boxes around for nesting - different specs for different birds that eat ground bugs, around the perimeter of the open yard areas.. not near the house..
I have bat houses up for mosqitoes (research placement) ..
I get praying mantis pods in spring (also research placement or they will get eaten by the birds when they are babies!) ..
We have wild turkey - it helps to get wasted when you have to worry about ticks.. no, no.. kidding ---
they just come on through when they feel like it, so nothing much I can do accept male sure they like the place enough to stay a while and eat ticks. If anyone knows how to attract turkey, I'd be interested.
Chimney swifts are incredible for flying biting bugs, and they hunt during the day when bats do not..eat thousands of bugs a day! There are specs for their house to build at a Texas conservation website for chimney swifts, I believe.
My problem with pesticides is that they stop the cycle, probably in many more ways than one.
My main concern is the frogs. Frogs eat tons and tons of ground bugs. I am sure they used to control many of the larvae and nymphal ticks. They are the first to die from chemicals, also polution and global warming issues. Their skin is so thin they cannot tolerate any pollution.
I think their demise is the biggest problem.
I try and be very frog friendly and use no chemicals or chemical fertilizers, nothing. -- tho I worry if the rest of town or the neighbors spray.. that will effect them anyway. I did not hear the spring peepers last year - that was alarming, Hope they are back this year.
My concerns about Frontline is that the tick has to bite through the dogs skin (if they are not repelled) in order to die..
and I wonder if they get half way there, or take a nibble or a sniff at some point later - and then drop off the dog or cat IN THE HOUSE if they detect the frontline..if there is some delay in their being deterred.
This is just my own personal fear, I have not confirmed that in any way..tho I did find a bunch of nymphs on my sofa one year when my cat had frontline on - and said 'no more'!
So I use the Bugrepel in an oil base that goes on fur and skin..one application lasts all day (unless they swim, but it is oil so lasts longer than spray - you can buy the concentrate and make your own) - works all day (the oil base) on kids and pets.. btw. (No, I don't sell the stuff!)
and that way I hope to repel them entirely, rather than have them travel in the house and jump off the animals in here at some point.
With anything, or course, I still check them and me upon coming home, use white sheets, ect, ect, ect..
Oh, if you want to check out a yard spray for spot work of whatever..
that works if you repeat every few weeks it seems, and also keep deer away, they do not like the smell..but at the same time it really doesn't stink up the yard for but a day or so.
Mo
[ 06. March 2006, 12:16 AM: Message edited by: Mo ]
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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Michelle M
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7200
posted
We have so many deer that tying our dogs would result in the deer moving into the house.
Even the neighbors down the dirt road rely on our dogs to keep the deer out of their orchard.
We also have jackrabbits the approximate size of small german shepherds. Everywhere. The dogs are constantly taking off after them, though they've never caught one. (They have brought a baby or two home, sheepishly, ever so gently.) Wild turkeys are heard frequently.
While a suburban environment could conceivably be "controlled," I do not presume to imagine I can do much to control the place I live in. Perhaps be more conscious of the risky behaviours we engage in, such as that pictured below, prepare accordingly, and inspect for ticks later. Even just THAT will be much more than we did before having Lyme!
Michelle
Posts: 3193 | From Northern California | Registered: Apr 2005
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bpeck
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Member # 3235
posted
We have temps that reach 30 below zero F in the winter. Deer ticks survive that.
The only thing that the ticks can't take from what I understand is when it's really hot and dry -
We always have enough humidity to sustain life for the little bast*rds.
Barb
-------------------- Barb Peck (Elder LymeNet user). Lyme since 1975 Transfusion Posts: 1882 | From VT | Registered: Oct 2002
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Just Julie
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posted
We have wild turkey - it helps to get wasted when you have to worry about ticks.. no, no.. kidding ---
Here here! Cheerio and all that . . .no kidding about getting wasted when you have to worry about living with ticks around! I personally prefer a mandarin cosmo myself, shaken in a lovely martini glass with decorative pine leaves etched along the rim. Or, a mojito with fresh picked mint leaves from my yard. . . anything to dull and dim the sharp anxiety that crops up when Spring peeps it's head around the corner.
Frankly, living where we live, I could not fathom having an inside/outside anything-cat, dog, turkey, etc. (j/k on the turkey
I knew Frontline would not prevent ticks from jumping off the animal before dying. I found proof of that last winter when I removed a tick from my Frontlined outside-only cat, and put the #$%^& tick in a jar w/ alcohol. I watched the tick swim around for 2 days in it's alcohol cocktail before it finally died. THAT, after having lived on the cat for about a day, attached.
So, I concluded that Frontline's job is to kill the tick, only after the tick had been on the Frontlined cat for at least 2 days. Anything less than 2 days attached, and you take your chance that the tick could detach, or get scratched off by the cat, and wherever that tick landed, it could just crawl on to it's next meal, and in my case, that meal was not gonna be ME!
The Frontline only kills the tick if the tick is on the cat/dog for 2+ days. No one told me that in the beginning of my using it. And I have outside only cats. But the garage they eat their food in, and hang out in during the day could also become a tick haven, if I did not use Frontline on them.
We still only pet the cats with our hands, do not let the cats up in our laps (not that they want to anyway) and look at our hands after we pet the cats (to see if we picked up any wandering ticks).
Too bad that the Frontline does not kill the tick on contact, but then I guess you wouldn't want to touch the cat with your skin if that were the case-if the pesticide in the Frontline were that potent.
I dont' make a habit of removing engorged ticks when they're on my cats, because if I did remove them, and they weren't dead yet from the Frontline, then whats to say that that tick is not a pregnant female, with 5 thousand babies ready to hatch? EEWWWWWW. That'd take me at least 2 cosmos to wrap my brain around. As it is, I'm ready to move to some hot dry climate area to get myself as far away as possible from my aversion to just walking out into my backyard.
Northern CA is not the place you wanna be if you can't stand the thought of ticks being right outside your backdoor.
-------------------- Julie Posts: 1027 | From Northern CA | Registered: May 2001
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Milbrook Institute of Ecological studies found that plots with acerage and forest, a fuller ecosystem..
are actually lower incidence for ticks and Lyme. Whereas, a more suburban area has much more dicfficulty with tick populations, and the field mice, other small mammals, and deer have no natural predators there, and I suspect the spraying done to try and control them is not helping in the long term. (killing frogs and such)
I am trying to focus on helping to boost the ecosystem components around here that will help maintain a better balance and keep ticks at bay that way.
This seems to be working, but is a process with results coming over time.
We did get infected on this property, my son at least one time by a mosquito that probably just came off of a Bb infected animal (?)
But I have to say when I was infected (got a big EM rash) I was taking no precautions whatsoever.. and not only that..
I was frequenting old farm stone walls that run thro the property (collecting rocks for a walkway) .. I was literally sitting on logs and rocks with shorts on (no repellant, not much tick-checking).. I was playing with fawns, and doing allot of plantings along the woods edge that meets the clearing. (Tick expressway)
So...............that splains it.
On the other hand, I have a friend who picked up a tick walking up a manicured lawn in the suburbs.
I hear southern CT and NY suburbs have very high infestation and infection rates.
It's crazy, I guess we just have to know they are out there no matter what. Something I never thought about before I got sick.
Mo
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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