Nasty Ticks

[mso489]

Just brought the garbage cart up from the curb -- we live in town -- and as

I was sitting here posting on Forums, I pulled an unattached tick off my wrist,

brushed from my hair where it probably landed off an overhanging branch

as I was putting the cart away. The best remedy for an attached tick I have found

is a good heavy drop of dish washing liquid that makes them unscrew their little

mouth parts and let go. Then they can be wiped away and dropped in alcohol or

flushed down the toilet, etc. In this area, they can carry Rocky Mountain Spotted

Fever, Lyme's Disease, and other more exotic diseases. What's your tick remedy?

 

[petes03]

The dish washing liquid is a good one. I have used petroleum jelly and alcohol in the past. I went fishing with my Dad for Father's Day this year and pulled around 15+ of the little demons off me!

 

[crk69]

My Grandmother used to put mayonnaise on them when they attached to me when I was little.. supposedly also works well for head lice on kids instead of the shampoo...

 

[rayje589]

I think I've only ever had one or two in my life, and no time recently. A friend of mine however, seems to get lyme disease a lot.

 

[mso489]

Wow, rayje589, you must stay out of the woods and out of the yard. For those of us who

meet more ticks than we'd like, another prevention is/are guinea hens. A friend hatched

a bunch and re-introduced them to the wild in the Pine Barrens on Long Island. Those

fine birds eat their weight in ticks (or it seems like it). We observed a mated pair, then one

disappeared and we figured she'd been hit by a car, but she reappeared with a whole string

of chicks, hungry little tick eaters one and all. Beats chemicals all to pieces.

 

[werdna]

I usually get bit when I'm doing yard work at the house on LI. My son pulled four of them off me last month, and had one on him too. At home in Vermont I see more of them now than a few years ago, but they're not as bad as south of here. For what purpose they exist is beyond my comprehension. Filthy critters.

 

[4dotsasieni]

They taste much better with the mayonnaise! :laughat:

 

[igloo]

They do not like Sulfur. You can get the salt tabs with it this time of year .When you sweat it out it acts as barrier and they don't bite as much .

 

[jbbaldwin]

Guinea fowl are great at keeping the tick population down.
If I end up with a tick on me, turpentine works moderately well in convincing it to let go. A better option is heating up a needle with a lighter until it's glowing and touching the body of the tick -- works every time. Of course, it takes a steady hand not to singe some hair or skin (and sometimes we have ticks in places we'd rather not risk burning).

 

[pipebow88]

If you strike a match and blow it out then quickly stick it to the tick they'll release as well. Or just pinch the head good and pull them off. Of course if mot done right the head can detach an then you're in a pickle.

B

 

[cavendish]

I've noticed that tick and skeeters are BAD this year! Down at the river walking through the tall grass I have to stop and check before wading into the water to make sure there's none on me. I pick off about a dozen on saturday morning and the skeeters were voracious little shits that wouldn't give up. I lit my pipe and it helped, but one thing I really like it the fact that once your about 30' from shore there's no bugs When I still fish for cats or carp I always have a small, smokey fire going to keep the bugs off. I don't really like bug repelants that much I find they don't work half the time like they claim to do. Smokey fires always keep them away 8)

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Never thought about it. I've never had a tick problem. If I did my first thought would be to probably burn it off with a match, but the dish washing soap sounds good too.

 

[plateauguy]

We're lucky in western Washington - I don't think I've ever seen a tick. In eastern Washington you have to be careful. My grandmother used lighter fluid on a tissue to "gas" them.

 

[terrygoldman123]

Here in central Virginia we have NO SHORTAGE of Ticks. The soap detergent and the vaseline are God-sends for removal of these critters.

 

[numbersix]

My son pulled four of them off me last month, and had one on him too. At home in Vermont I see more of them now than a few years ago, but they're not as bad as south of here.

@werdna four of them! Yikes. I am orig from LI and when I was growing up ticks seemed a rarity. Here in VT we don't see them as much either (thank goodness!!)

They taste much better with the mayonnaise!

:rofl:

 

[werdna]

I am orig from LI and when I was growing up ticks seemed a rarity. Here in VT we don't see them as much either (thank goodness!!)

Where in Vermont are you? I'm in Shaftsbury, originally from Queens NY. My family has had the house in Amagansett for over 40 years, and I visit a few times a year. The fishing in Montauk is terrific.

 

[pipeinhand]

Guys this is a no bull disease. I got RMSF 2 years ago by clearing brush on my driveway and spent 3 days in the hospital. Once you get it, it never goes away. You can shows signs again sometime later and at any time. Do not fool around, keep these little bastards off you at all costs.

 

[thuber88]

I don't get them directly, but the cats can bring them in, I get them off the cats and the dead bunnys they bring home,had one stuck between my toes, that was a pita to get off.

I use the spin and remove method sofar, works well, and the cats dont mind as much as other methods

Seems to be less this year than last.

I will juice them when it gets bad, but that juice is darn pricey so I only use it when necessary, since I cant buy any of it for a while

 

[eaglerico]

When I was in the Boy Scouts this was always an issue at summer camp. So much so every night you had to inspect your tent partner and vise versa. We removed them with tweezers and place into a test tube with the kids name and contact info. At the end of the week the tubes were sent to the CDC or some other testing facility to test for RMSF or Lime disease. One year, in a 4 day span I had 10 ticks removed. The last year I went one camp in East Texas, on the last day when all the parents come. They removed over 100 ticks off of parents and relatives.

 

[salewis]

I personally have never been bothered by ticks, however, in the Boy Scouts we learned to light a match blow it out and immediately place the hot match on the tick and that they will unscrew the self from the skin.