I had 2 dogs with me when I first arrived in AZ in 2002. I asked the vet about ticks. He told me they are very spotty, appearing in numbers in some places and not at all in others. Fortunately, our house is in a "not at all" location. I have not seen a tick in 18 years here in AZ.
 
Before AZ, we lived for 30 years in MD, and ticks were a constant problem.

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Originally posted by trapper189:

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Originally posted by David Lee:
Holy hell! I wondered if they ever appear in groups. I've read some kind of bug repellant is good insurence.

DEET, Picaridin, Permethrin. Look up their proper usage. One is bad for cats. One is bad for some plastics. One can be effective on clothes and footwear for months when applied properly.

You want DEET of the highest percentage possible to find in the store. Spray it on your shoes,socks,pants and outer clothing.

Permethrin Is also very good, you can get a quart of it at Tractor Supply, it’s used on cattle. Dilute it per the bottle. This is the stuff that will kill cats-so be sure not to use it on or near them. I use it in my yard. It has a very chemical smell. Literally three drops on my dog keeps him safe for a month. If you get this, just like the DEET, spray on outer clothing and let it dry, them put on the clothes.

Warning with both, if you put too much concentrate on you you can get sick from it, but in using the directions you will be fine.

Here you go: https://rovince.com/collectie/adventure-wear/

I seem to differ with most here on this, but I have reason.
Ticks likely carry LYME, it is not as of this time fully curable. It will come and go for your lifetime, and once the bacteria is in your system, you seem to be done.

That said, my wife just finished a month long treatment with a PICC line, and the DR guarantees the lyme bacteria will be killed off permanently. We will see.

In the mean time, what is known, early treatment is effective.

When I have a tick bite, I go on 21 day min Doxycycline. Bullseye or not.

I highly encourage anyone bitten by a tick to go on Doxy ASAP.

I live in Northern Virginia area BTW, not NOVA. :-)

Anecdotally, I recently spent just over 3 c-notes at the vet with a dog that became paralyzed in the span of less than 18 hours due to a tick. That paid for some xrays and meds (not used) and visit to the vet.

I found the tick on the way home from the vet. I called the vet back, and was told that in a few hours the dog should be fine. It took another 12 hours, but like the flip of a switch the recovery was complete.

Brutus, the teacup yorkie, rides again!

On a more personal note, it appears there is a tick that can cause allergic reactions to meat. In the event that I am ever impacted by one of these, chances are I will punch out. I quit smoking, not sure I can quit meat.

Info about tick causing meet allergy.

I've been diagnosed with Lyme Disease twice. Once from a tick bite in my armpit I received while turkey hunting in May. And once again a couple of years ago after messing around in a local park in June. The second bite itched intensely and produced the classic bullseye rash pattern. I'm very careful about looking for ticks now after getting out of the woods or grass. And I'm starting to see more just from working around my own yard. We've had a big deer increase over the last few years and I think that is contributing to the increased ticks.

Ticks are on my shit list as one of the worst bugs out there. Number of diseases they carry that are detrimental to humans and other creatures is amazing. Monitor yourself carefully, they are nothing to mess around with.

Then there's the Brad Paisley song - "Ticks." Per Wikipedia "The song's main character is at a bar, attempting to pick up a date. In doing so, he uses several humorous pickup lines, such as "I'd like to check you for ticks."

Paisley was inspired to write the song from experience working on a farm. “Working out here on the farm, I literally have to check for ticks every time I come in from the woods or the fields,” he notes. “Now, if a young guy who lives in the country were to take a girl into the woods for any reason, it would totally cross his mind that she’s going to have to check for ticks when they come back out. So it seems that an enterprising guy would at least consider that he could offer to check for her.”[1]

Seed ticks are by the dozens. Regular ticks are few.
Seed ticks I scrape them off with a finger nail. Regular ticks I pull off.
Never had any reaction.
But now as I age I've noticed mosquitoes, chiggers wasp really swell and hurry, itch longer.
I've found that heating the point of my little knife and sticking it to the bite mark stops the itching and it goes away quicker.