Bad Tick Season in PA

[Wood Duck]

I have been out picking up wood that I cut last winter, and every time I step into the woods I am collecting ticks in addition to wood. This year seems worse than I remember any previous year having been. In addition to the large Dog Ticks, we have plenty of smaller Deer Ticks as well. I usually don't bother with repellant and just take a shower after a couple of hours in the woods. It seems to take a tick a couple of hours to latch on, and if I shower sooner than that I don't have problems. If I can find the time to spend more than an hour or two collecting wood, I'll have to find a better system for avoiding tick bites.

Anyone know what makes one year better or worse for ticks than another year? Is it weather in the spring, Winter weather? Sunspots?

 

[BrowningBAR]

Anyone know what makes one year better or worse for ticks than another year? Is it weather in the spring, Winter weather? Sunspots?

If you find out be sure to let me know. I'm beginning to think I should start using my dog's frontline...

 

[Shipper50]

I have got up the last 2 mornings with small ticks on me, one on my back and I could just reach it. This morning found a little one on the right side of my belly. Little ones, not in bedded, but attached enough you have to pull them off.

Can someone tell me the difference in dog and deer ticks? Never heard that one before as I live in the country and have dogs for now.

Shipper

I found this on line, maybe help someone out.http://www.oes.org/html/how_2_identify_different_ticks.html

 

[BucksCoBernie]

I had a little one stuck on me the other day. I hate ticks!

I was happy to see some bats flying around my property the other night.

 

[trafick]

The abundance of ticks is caused by either George Bush or Global Warming.

Around here we have three basic ticks. The brown dog tick is the biggest. The lone star tick is a little smaller than a dog tick and has a white spot on it. Finally the deer tick or seed tick is the smallest, about the size of a pin head.

 

[Shipper50]

I had a little one stuck on me the other day. I hate ticks!

I was happy to see some bats flying around my property the other night.

I had a bat flying around my property too, only thing was it got into my house. That makes 3 of them in the last 2 years in the house. Finally with some help got them out. :grrr:

Shipper

 

[Ron Lloyd]

You’re right about this being the worst year ever in PA. I’ve lived in Cumberland County PA all my life (48 years) and I don’t recall anything even close to this year. I drove the tractor to the far end of my big pasture last week and the dog followed. When we got back I could see several making their way up her legs. I got the needle nose pliers (my preferred tick removal tool) and started removing and crushing them. I didn’t count but I’m sure I killed at least 20 after just that short run through the pasture. Obviously none of them had the oportunity to get attached but it was still sobering. I’m glad I was on the tractor. I bought 7 and one half acres of mountain ground in February (also in Cumb. County) and it also is infested with ticks. Almost all of the ticks at the farm are the larger ones with the white spot just behind the head. The ones in the mountain are much smaller with no white spot. My dog has been getting increasingly antsy since I have been avoiding taking her for walks just because of the ticks.

Ron

 

[billb3]

How do you tell the difference betwen the bad ticks and the good ticks ?
Behaviour ? Language?

 

[rdust]

I was cutting last weekend and found one on my chest. I felt it moving around so I was able to get it off before it was able to start feeding off me. I was surprised to have one since I've never picked any up in that area before. I wonder if it has anything to do with how wet of a spring we've had in Michigan this year??

 

[BucksCoBernie]

maybe with all the tick activity I can convince my wife to get some chickens. The chickens eat ticks and other bugs....wonder if they eat stink bugs?

 

[Cutter]

A week ago I was out hunting mushroom for about 6 hours and came home with 8 of those tiny little buggers stuck on me. They were too small to even get ahold of. I just scraped them off with a knife blade. Went back out two days ago and didn't get a one. Go figure.
Brad

 

[Arlo]

Eat lots of garlic and curry, they don't like that. I have noticed alot of them here as well. They seem to really like my wife but have stayed off of me. I put up a bat box last year, hopefully some bats will make it their home this year.

 

[Ron Lloyd]

A couple of you have mentioned bats. Where do bats come in to play with respect to ticks? I always thought that bats fed on the fly catching moths, mosquitoes and other winged insects.

Ron

 

[Bobbin]

My area is noted for a very high incidence of Lyme Disease. I've had it twice (the first time was the sickest I've ever been) and the husband has had it twice. Virtually every single one of the residents on my road has had it at least once, too. So the dreaded Deer Tick is pretty common here. I really have no idea why some years are worse than others except that Deer Ticks prosper greatly when the rodent population does, as the nyphal stage of ticks feeds largely on them.

We use Frontline on the dog and the cats and it's just about time to begin the regimen. I've pulled a couple of the dog in the past week/two and found some "walkers" on the cats. None on us so far, but it's only a question of time. But whenever we find one having a meal we note its location on the calendar so if we begin to feel crummy we're able to see if we've been bitten recently. We don't tend to use repellants, just keep a close eye on our bodies and tuck our pants into our socks if we're going to venture way out into the woods.

Ticks are a pain.

 

[Cluttermagnet]

Lyme is pretty bad. Read up on it- you'll be encouraged to know that a Lyme tick has to be embedded in your skin for up to 24-36 hours before the disease can get transmitted. This means that if you are dilligent in checking yourself daily, you don't necessarily need to get the disease. Prevention and removal really make a big difference. Further, if you do get infected, and you get your doc to start you on antibiotics right away (Doxycycline is good), you can pretty much count on nipping it in the bud. Get someone to look you over every day you've been outdoors. One might hide on your back.

Another interesting 'factoid'- ticks supposedly become more infectious around June. Right now they're in the larval stage, a lot of them, and are not 'carriers' yet. Second factoid- a higher rodent population will produce more ticks carrying Lyme. Mice are said to be the 'real' carriers. Eliminate your local mice, eliminate Lyme locally.

 

[johnsopi]

Front line work great I buy the biggest and splitt it between the three dogs. Any tick I find on the dog's is dead.

 

[bambam]

Just got back from turkey hunting up in north/central Pa. and has to be the first year that I only found single digits of ticks. I am usually a tick magnet compared to my hunting buddies. Most still be true because none of them even mentioned any ticks.

 

[SmokinPiney]

if you do get infected, and you get your doc to start you on antibiotics right away (Doxycycline is good), you can pretty much count on nipping it in the bud.

I'll second that! I got tested for lyme's two yrs ago and came up negative thank God. But anyways my doc asked if i did alot of outdoor activities and of course i replied yes since i hunt, fish, 4wheel, ride enduro, work outside etc haha. So she prescribed Doxy to me and said to take it after i pull any ticks out that look to have been embedded for over 12hrs. So far so good!

 

[mbcijim]

That's strange. I'm from east-central PA and I thought we were having one of the best year's ever for LACK of ticks. Dog & I spent 8 hours outside in the woods yesterday, and not one tick to show for it.

Last year we would have had 20+ (most on the dog).

By this time last year I would have pulled off several hundred, this year more like 50.

I find the worst times for ticks though are feb-early April and late October- December. The cold shoulder seasons. May, for me is usually a good month with less ticks than the shoulder seasons.

 

[leftyscott]

I have been out picking up wood that I cut last winter, and every time I step into the woods I am collecting ticks in addition to wood. This year seems worse than I remember any previous year having been. In addition to the large Dog Ticks, we have plenty of smaller Deer Ticks as well. I usually don't bother with repellant and just take a shower after a couple of hours in the woods. It seems to take a tick a couple of hours to latch on, and if I shower sooner than that I don't have problems. If I can find the time to spend more than an hour or two collecting wood, I'll have to find a better system for avoiding tick bites.

Anyone know what makes one year better or worse for ticks than another year? Is it weather in the spring, Winter weather? Sunspots?

Growing up in PA 35 years ago, I spent most of my summers' roaming around the woods and never got a single tick. Wonder if it's global warming?????
I see a lot of PA. guys on this forum. I grew up in Bethlehem but my fondest memories are those from my time spent in Snyder County hunting/hiking etc..

I think Arkansas is the tick capital of the world. Usually keeps me out of the woods April to October. However this year they're not bad......yet. I am still chain-sawing in May....never have done that in the 12 years I've lived here. I think the Jan. icestorm (1.5" of ice on everything) killed some off this year....thank goodness.

 

[LLigetfa]

All the years I lived around Thunder Bay and points East, I never ever saw a tick. It was only after moving here that I saw mostly wood ticks. The first time I saw one was when a walking lima bean dropped off our dog on the patio. They are only bad for around a month and even at that, only in certain spots in the yard. I pick about a dozen per day off the dog.

 

[Wood Duck]

I grew up ner Johnstown, PA, spent a ton of time in the woods, and never once got a single tick in 18 years living there. My dog never had one either. Now I live near State College, PA and there are loads of ticks. I don't know if there are now ticks in Johnstown, so I can't say if this area (only about 70 miles away from Johnstown) has always had ticks, or maybe they have recently become common all over this state.

Dog ticks are the largest ticks around here, similar in size to a typical small ant. Deer ticks, the ones that carry lyme disease, are about the size of the head of a typical ant - in other words, a whole lot smaller and so small they can be hard to see. I do see plenty of ticks that are in between. I don't know if these are small or young dog ticks, or some other sort of tick.

 

[BucksCoBernie]

had another one on me yesterday. just went outside in the garden area. wtf

 

[blades]

Ticks and politicians one and the same.

 

[Ron Lloyd]

had another one on me yesterday. just went outside in the garden area. wtf

Yeah, it’s amazing how easy it is to get a tick on you these days. I never saw a tick or even heard of ticks before about 15 years ago. Prior to that, they simply didn’t exist in my area. Now they’re everywhere. I hope this is one of those things that runs in cycles and that we are soon approaching another tick free decade or two.

Ron