We had a warm winter, and now we're paying for it. My son and I took the dog for a walk today in the local Fish and Game area, and came out of the woods covered with ticks. We went home and gave the dog a bath right away, and figured all was well.

Then my other son who didn't even go with us, but was playing out in the front yard, found a tick on himself. He got a shower.

This evening we took the dog for another walk down the road and when we got home he curled up on my wife's lap and fell asleep. I went out to the garage to clean a couple of rifles, and the next thing I know she's coming out the door freaking out because a tick crawled off the dog onto her. I told her I'd give him another bath as soon as I got done with the rifles, which only took like 5 minutes, but by the time I got inside she'd already done it. She's now inspecting the recliner with a flashlight. Wife is not a fan of ticks!

You need a passel o' possums!

They’re hell on June Bugs, too.
Possums, I mean.

Call your veterinarian.

Ticks are just nasty. The diseases they carry can absolutely devastate. These are definitely kill with fire critters.

Thanks for the heads up 92fs, I don't think I'm that far from you. I don't ever remember ticks in March !

Yeah, they've gotten bad. Real bad.

We never saw them up north at the cabin of one of my best friends. Mosquitoes and biting flies were the worst you had to worry about. Now, once the weather turns warm, the area's lousy with them

Long pants, long socks, long-sleeved shirts, wide-brimmed hats, and liberal application of bug and tick spray on you, your clothes, your hats (incl. inside them), and you may avoid them if you stay out of the brush and long grass. May.

I told my buddy that, were I him, I'd have pros out there spraying down the entire area around cabin, outdoor kitchen, pole barns, and shooting ranges out to at least a hundred feet out around them.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:


You need a passel o' possums!

I'm a big fan of possums and like having them around. Anything that eats ticks is ok by me!

I'm starting to think Agent Orange might be an appropriate response, despite the side effects. Or maybe a water-bomber full of permethyrn. We like to spend a lot of time in the woods, and I'm not looking forward to dealing with this all year.

I hate ticks, but my wife has a truly deep-seated and visceral hatred for the things. On one of our trips out west we stopped at Prairie Dog State Park in northern Kansas, just as a stopover for the night. It's a pretty open, unforested environment as one might imagine. Having been cooped up in the car driving all day we took advantage of the trails and went for a walk. By the time we got half a mile we were literally brushing the ticks off of us...I've never seen them so bad. We thought we had them all dealt with before we got in the trailer to go to bed, but I got woken up in the middle of the night by my wife eviscerating one with a pocket knife six inches from my head.

Ticks bring out a side of that otherwise peaceful and loving woman that the world has never seen, lol. Every time we go west now, I try to sneak Prairie Dog State Park onto the itinerary, just to get the reaction . We haven't been back...

Or get some chickens.

quote:

Originally posted by Skull Leader:
Or get some chickens.

Been down that road. If we had more space so they could free-range I'd probably do it again. But our situation just isn't conducive. Chickens won't help away from the house, either.

Spring and Fall are the bad time for ticks. I wish I had chickens or other ground feeding birds.

I've had good success keeping them off my dog by using a Seresto collar. In fact it's the only prevention I've tried (including pills, Hartz collar, drops on the shoulders, etc.) that works.

Years ago, my father nearly died after he got Rocky Mountain spotted fever from a tick bite. Nasty things that serve no purpose.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
https://www.fieldandstream.com...sums-dont-eat-ticks/

Well, damn. At least chickens and Guinea hens are drill gtg.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
https://www.fieldandstream.com...sums-dont-eat-ticks/

Interesting study, and I'm glad you shared it because it definitely seems like there are some issues with that rumor. That said, even if they're not hunting them down and eating them, they're still killing them when grooming themselves, and I'm sure they pick up quite a few in their coats just walking around out in the woods so, they're still a net positive and on the right side of this fight! Killing them or eating them, makes no difference to me provided they end up dead!

quote:

Squirrels and the half-dozen opossums in the study seemed to rid themselves of the most ticks, allegedly killing 83 to 96.5 percent of the ticks, with the opossums on the higher end of the scale.

I didn't know that about squirrels, either...I guess I'll have to give the furry little bastards a little more appreciation going forward!

Permethrin for your clothes and boots for sure.

If I get the “allergic to red meat” thing, I’m out. Not worth living life if burgers and ribeyes are off limits.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
Permethrin for your clothes and boots for sure.

If I get the “allergic to red meat” thing, I’m out. Not worth living life if burgers and ribeyes are off limits.

Yeah... definitely with you in spirit, and practice. With my diabetes-driven diet these days, if I couldn't eat meat there wouldn't be anything left that I could eat!

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
Permethrin for your clothes and boots for sure.

If I get the “allergic to red meat” thing, I’m out. Not worth living life if burgers and ribeyes are off limits.

I don’t need steak but I get you, I want a got damn hamburger once in a while. My rural land, borders a national forest with a fuck ton of deer and ticks are a thing there. But I know people there who have lived their entire lives dealing with ticks. Permethrin for sure. When I get my metal building built I’m just gonna pay someone to Agent Orange the surrounding areas so at least I won’t have to worry about the K-9 unit constantly getting them.

If you go into an area with ticks you need to take at a minimum the precaution of treating your clothes. And even better you clothes and yourself. And inspecting everybody when you get home. I have no idea why you think a bath for the dog does anything? Unless we are talking a tick killing shampoo in which case your choice is simply not working.
I hate ticks have been really sick from a tick infection. Possums are not winners. But birds are. We use guinea hens and they have cut the tick population in our pastures substantially. Not zero but way better.

quote:

I have no idea why you think a bath for the dog does anything?

Because we're using flea and tick shampoo.