It's that time of year again! With folks hitting the ranges and putting out trail cams etc... we are eventually going to come in contact with tics.
This morning i went to my favorite piece of public land to set out some trail cams. I always wait until all seasons are closed and it gets hot to lessen the chance of someone finding my cameras. Before entering the woods I spayed down heavily and made sure to get all the cuff areas, neck and waistline!
And wouldn't you know it, I got a dang tick on my neck!
I didn't realize it till I got home. Well the other day I saw a video where a guy used TEA TREE OIL to remove a tick. Having tried just about every other method of removing tics in the past with less than satisfactory results I thought I'd give it a try.
This is absolutely the best thing I've ever seen!!! That little sucker ( pun intended) came off in less than 5 seconds!!
I will be carrying some cotton swabs and tea tree oil in my pack from now on!
Everyone be safe out there!!
You using permethrin on your clothes? I haven't had issues when using that stuff.
I am sorry to say that is the most dangerous way of removing a tick that there is, use a simple tom o tick tool, that method you describe is a sure way of getting lyme or any other nasty disease that ticks carry because the moment you apply the oil it regurgitates its saliva directly into your blood stream along with anything nasty it carries, please do not do this, I have friends with lyme and it is really nasty,regards wayne
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb4svr
Good info Wayne, and absolutely correct. Should any part of the tick remain after using the tool simply rub on some OTC antibiotic. Your body will treat the part like a small splinter, don't try to dig it out as it will eject in a day or two with a light squeeze.
Dang it Wayne, I had no idea! Thank you for the info!!
And yes, I treat my clothes with permethrin. I've only had 2 tics since doing this and both have been on my neck area. I think mainly because of brushing up against tall brush when trimming trails like today
Quote from: Crittergetter on June 16, 2018, 01:52:15 PM
And yes, I treat my clothes with permethrin. I've only had 2 tics since doing this and both have been on my neck area. I think mainly because of brushing up against tall brush when trimming trails like today
Yep! The neck is the weak spot. I am paranoid, so I wear a Buff that I've treated, even in mid summer. The one time I dropped it around my neck, I took a wasp sting right there. :banghead:
Have any of you tried freezing them... I was watching a show and they said the best way to remove a tick was to use one of those over the counter wart freezing tools (the kind with the cup and you push down and it releases freezing agent) and freeze the little buggers instantly then just remove. They also said if you can catch them within 48 hours of contact you chances of catching anything are very slim...
For anyone not wanting to use chemicals chrysanthemum oil is really good as a deterrent but permetherin on clothing is really good, we use tick clothing in the uk which is great, i also use a spray for skin contact i will post a pic tomorrow and have not had a single tick since taking these precautions. on the west coast of Scotland where i hunt is the most concentrated area for ticks and the red deer are crawling with them it is unreal how many are on a single animal and each year gets worse, take care guys its a terrible thing to be hit with any disease the ticks carry it never leaves you, if you get a ring or red rash get to the doctors and get a large dose of antibiotics as testing is a waste of time and you don't have time to waste, regards, wayne
Never heard of that before. I'll have to try it. Just walking in and out to my camera today I found 3 on me when I got back to the truck. Seems to be a bad year around here.
Permithrin (sp?) works great as a preliminary defense. I have clothes heavily sprayed with this stuff that I reserve for walking in heavily tick infested areas.
Use the tick pulling tool as mentioned above....
after spraying my clothing with permitherin these are the two products i use the first spray on the left was from Germany although i have found it on the net i spray my wrists and ankles, the next is calendula oil which is from the marigold flower a natural tick repellent, like the chrysanthemum oil, regards wayne[attachment=1]
Last tick bite I had, the wife pulled it off. But part of it stayed in my skin. After a month, I had to have a surgeon remove it.
First tick bite I had, the doctor said it was fine and nothing in my skin.
8 months later I squeezed the head out. It was a woods tick.
Agree 100%, DO NOT apply anything irritant to the tick or use heat etc. Like previously stated you do not want the tick to regurgitate its meal into your bloodstream. The Tick Tom depicted is great OR just find the right kind of tweezers that have angled jaws so you can really grab the tick by the head not the body.
Permethrin is all that jazz, DEET works great but do not get it on your bow.
Myself I've had great luck with a product called Herbal Armor by All Terrain. It uses 6 essential oils and when combined with a Thermacell I rarely have issues with bugs in Florida except for some occasional battles with yellow flies (those sumbitches are tenacious).
[attachment=1]
I noticed you can buy a set of 4 of the tick removers mentioned above for 99 cents delivered free off fleabay.
Sorry, I don't know about Tea Tree Oil??? Where do you get the stuff? I usually get a few ticks when fly fishing this time of the year, but have not had any dig in to the skin so far.
I gave up deet years ago and started using a product made from Cedar oil. It's all natural and makes you smell like a walking cedar tree. Ticks don't tend to be terrible in the areas I hunt, but haven't had any issues since I started using it. Also great for repelling chiggers, which can be a huge problem in this area as well as mosquitoes, biting flys, etc. The one I use is made specifically for hunters and I will be more than happy to share info by PM. There are other products available that are less and may be just as good, I just haven't used them and therefore can't vouch for them.
I have watched ticks crawl right up my permethrin treated pants???
yeah but usually if you leave them long enough they will drop off.
Quote from: kadbow on June 19, 2018, 05:30:07 PM
I have watched ticks crawl right up my permethrin treated pants???
I have been using Permethrin regularly for many years and swear by it. Deet seems good against mosquitos, but, in my experience, its more like a dipping sauce as far as ticks are concerned. I no longer use Deet. I have an all herbal product for mosquitos that doesn't smell as bad or ruin finishes on equipment. Whatever you find that works, USE it. I have Alpha Gal meat allergy and have had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, so I know the seriousness of ticks. They ain't no joke!
I watched a tick crawling up my Permethrin treated pant leg and it only made it about 4" before it curled up and fell off. I swear by Permethrin. For skin I use Picaridin instead of Deet. Picaridin is just as effective as Deet but it odorless, non-greasy and doesn't dissolve plastics or synthetics like Deet.
I was given an small angled surgical tweezers for ticks. I was told to gently grab them close, lay them on their cute little backs and slide them out flat. It is said that by laying them on their back that it automatically backs the jaws out the way they went in. Seems to work. As far as I can tell the only good a tick ever does is to feed a bird every now and then, like an African tick bird, even then they wait until the tick is full of the host's blood.
I bought some of the cedar oil that Bowhuntingrn mentioned above, got it off Amazon.
It really works, I went fishing at out pond and tried it for the first time the other night, not a single mosquito bite.
Most times it's 3 or 4 bites.
Matter of fact, only one small fly type bug landed on me and I sat there and watched it die in about 30 seconds.
The insects just stayed away from me all night.
It does have a strong cedar odor, but heck most anti bug sprays has some sort of odor.
It appears to have an oil consistency.
I saw the above tick removal tools today at WalMart. Wasn't looking for them but they were right next to the After-Bite sticks in the first aid aisle.
my trad gang friends ....
having been injected with the borrelia spirochete from a wood tick, and being in lyme disease remission for over 9 years, my recommendation for tick removal is to just pull the sucker off as close to your skin as possible. use yer fingernails (or lacking thereof, a fine point tweezer, or one of those "tick puller" thingies). with fingernails, this is fast 'n' easy, and ya don't hafta remember to pack special tools in yer kit.
now, my list of "don't do's" for tick removal, based on my personal experience, and the experience of my local friends ...
DO NOT EVER GRAB AN EMBEDDED TICK BY ITS BODY IN AN ATTEMPT TO PULL IT OUT OF YOUR BODY - that turns it into a syringe and it will quickly empty its stomach contents into your bloodstream. you do not want this to happen, trust me on this friends, been there and done that, and 9 years later i still have lyme disease (yeah, once bitten, it's systemic - you get to have it for life).
DO NOT EVER COAT AN EMBEDDED TICK WITH ANY SUBSTANCE - that will create a high chance of making the bug regurgitate its stomach contents into your bloodstream, and it might not back outta yer body anyway.
DO NOT EVER ATTEMPT TO "BACK OUT" AN EMBEDDED TICK BY PLACING A HEAT SOURCE NEAR ITS BODY - that will also create a high chance of making the bug regurgitate its stomach contents into your bloodstream, and it might not back out of yer body anyway, and in fact it might just die from getting cooked while it's head is into yer body and still pumping in its deadly contents.
depending on how long the tick has been embedded past yer skin and into yer flesh, there's a slight chance you'll remove it's head, but typically the head stays in you - no big deal, it will cause you no harm. it's the tick's body fluids that are poison to humans.
good luck afield (or maybe even in yer back yard!).
Quote from: Trumpkin the Dwarf on June 16, 2018, 01:08:31 PM
You using permethrin on your clothes? I haven't had issues when using that stuff.
yes Sir it is the only thing that stops them. They go through deet like its not there. Permrthrin also stops skeeters and gnats. Shoot I bet a copper head would think twice before hitting you.
properly treated Permethrin garments - never ever yer skin! - is about as effective as one can get for tick protection. it just flat out works.
last year i began testing out a deet-free body spray called "nantucket spider extra strength tick repellent", but so far the results are inconclusive. it doesn't kill ticks, but does seem to make them wander around without embedding in yer skin. more testing required. the good part is that it, like the other nantucket spider products, are made of natural ingredients and no harmful chemicals like deet.
Permethrin treated clothing plus nantucket spider is the ticket for me and my family.
deet-free "nantucket spider insect repellent" works extremely well on skeeters, chiggers, black flies, and other nasties. that stuff is amazing.
Quote from: Rob DiStefano on July 02, 2018, 05:59:58 AM
properly treated Permethrin garments - never ever yer skin! - is about as effective as one can get for tick protection. it just flat out works.
last year i began testing out a deet-free body spray called "nantucket spider extra strength tick repellent", but so far the results are inconclusive. it doesn't kill ticks, but does seem to make them wander around without embedding in yer skin. more testing required. the good part is that it, like the other nantucket spider products, are made of natural ingredients and no harmful chemicals like deet.
Permethrin treated clothing plus nantucket spider is the ticket for me and my family.
I googled that Nantucket stuff...I'd likely want to eat myself with all those lovely oils in there.
As for the Permethrin, I've used it for decades and watched ticks crawl the allotted 6" and drop off stone dead! I spray everything, let it air dry on the line outside then pack in tubs... I even used a pair of coveralls once and walked side by side with a guy who was covered with tiny ticks when we came out from turkey hunting and I had Zilch! Those coveralls hadn't been sprayed or used in like a year or so! Was it the permithrin? I can't say, but I liked the results. I spray gloves, socks, pants shirts, jackets, everything ahead of time, let it dry on a line outdoors and it smells like line dried sheets! I've even seen misquitors come zeroing in on my head net and gag and fly off... Surely I shower before I hunt so it wasn't that... Be nice to not always have to cover every square inch of skin with clothing so treated so maybe this Nantucket stuff would help on hot days when I might have less clothing covering skin?
This is some good info. I haven't had a tick in my for some time, but was going to try rubbing with Vaseline. Glad I read this.
Maybe I'm just lucky or dumb. I've never had a tick disease (I think). Yet, I've literally pulled thousands off in my short 28 years in Oklahoma. I also don't recall ever having a problem popping a tick head off or ever having a bite get infected. And I just use my fingers.
Sawyers permonone spray seems to be effective. It definitely knocks the tar out of chiggers.
I sometimes pre-spray my clothes, but usually forget.
As soon as I get in from being in a ticky area, ALL of my clothes come off immediately and are set outside in the sun until I wash them, or straight in the washer. I've had ticks survive and cold wash, so use hot water.
Then do a full body tick inspection. I'm single, but I hear this could work in your favor if you took a lady with you.
if you do all of this quickly, a lot of the times the ticks are still roaming and you can nab them. If one has embedded I immediately grab it and pull it out. Usually flick their body up perpendicular to your skin and pull and the come right out.
it seems to me that if you get it before it's been in there very long then it's easier to pull out. It also stands to reason that you have less exposure time to body fluid exchange and diseases. You also want to get it on the first attempt. They tend to grab on tighter if they know they are being harassed.
It's also worth mentioning that you should keep a watch out while youre in the woods. I probably flick most of the parasites off while I'm still in the field before they've latched on.
All of this stuff is just based on my anecdotal experience. Take it for what it's worth. I just feel that fidgeting around with ticks, or waiting until you get back to the house and find the "right" tool to pull ticks is the wrong way to go since it increases your exposure time.
the eventual effects of lyme disease (borreliosis) and its associated coinfections (babesia, bartonella, ehrlichia, mycoplasma, rocky mountain spotted fever, anaplasma, and tularemia) can take weeks, months, or even years to show up. these are very nasty diseases that need to be taken very seriously.
in addition, recent studies suggest that lyme disease can be sexually transmitted because - "The Lyme spirochete resembles the agent of syphilis, long recognized as the epitome of sexually transmitted diseases. Jan 25, 2014"