Tick bites and Lyme disease

[CatfishHunter]

My brother-in-law got Lyme Disease not long after they diagnosed him with testicular cancer. He beat the cancer for a while but then it traveled to his brain. Mayo Clinic did four brain surgeries before it finally took him down. The doctors were extremely interested in his case as they had never seen it travel the way that it did from crotch to brain. I'm convinced that Lyme Disease was the catalyst, but it's kind of moot at this point.

I roast every tick that I find until it pops, or cut them in half with a knife. Those suckers deserve a terrible death for latching onto me.

 

[NickW]

Yep. Roast them buggers! My wife got Lyme's disease this past summer. Never realized it was a deer tick instead of a wood tick. Had never seen one before. Luckily our doctor recognized the symptoms even though it wasn't the traditional bullseye rash.

 

[CatfishHunter]

The disease can manifest in so many ways, and it can really perplex a lot of doctors. It's good to hear that the doc recognized it.

 

[johnhi77]

I once got 3 ticks at the back of my head. It was summer that time so I totally get it.

 

[MrCool1]

the ticks got crazy bad here in 2018 - I just turned the chickens loose for about a month, spotting them (the ticks) became tough, as the numbers went down fast. and now the girls have a HUGE pen. they basically have the barrier between us and the woods - double benefit, they are also my firebreak crew, and they make my breakfast. Triple benefit!
I should go give them a treat. I haven't seen a tick in a couple years
I had always heard that guinea hens are the best at clearing out ticks, but they are such a noisy bird if you have neighbors - they alert on predators and things they don't recognize - and the chickens exceeded expectations.

 

[ispinwool]

....since this group is all about asking questions: we have 30 acres
we hunt on and it's thick with ticks. Do any of you have any suggestions for killing ticks in such a
big area?

 

[peakbagger]

Guinea Fowl will eat ticks but they will drive you crazy while they are doing it.

 

[MrCool1]

....since this group is all about asking questions: we have 30 acres
we hunt on and it's thick with ticks. Do any of you have any suggestions for killing ticks in such a
big area?

Peakbagger is so right on both counts, but maybe then hunt guineas later? a crazy hard freeze for a few months might slow them down. the ticks. I don't know if there is a "safe" for us spray for them like we used for the filbert moth. BT is what helped there and stay tilth, if memory serves. we paid a helicopter service to spray a little over 100 acres.
i have no idea but I doubt the same stuff would get the nasty ticks.
guineas are crazy prehistoric looking birds. crazy loud.
just saw in your signature - 1st grandbaby in september - congrats! I tell everyone that if I had known how much fun the grandkids would be, I would have skipped all the bother in the middle!

 

[ispinwool]

Peakbagger is so right on both counts, but maybe then hunt guineas later? a crazy hard freeze for a few months might slow them down. the ticks. I don't know if there is a "safe" for us spray for them like we used for the filbert moth. BT is what helped there and stay tilth, if memory serves. we paid a helicopter service to spray a little over 100 acres.
i have no idea but I doubt the same stuff would get the nasty ticks.
guineas are crazy prehistoric looking birds. crazy loud.
just saw in your signature - 1st grandbaby in september - congrats! I tell everyone that if I had known how much fun the grandkids would be, I would have skipped all the bother in the middle!

THANKS!! She's sooooo precious
My hubby's dad said the same thing! "if I'd known how much fun grandkids were, I'd have had them first!" LOL

And I haven't ever heard of anything that's safe for groundwater sources/us/domesticated critters to spray such a big area
to kill ticks... I've also heard that Guineas aren't very smart; If we turned some loose, I'm betting they wouldn't live long. But
I don't know much about them...might be worth it...

 

[clancey]

Gosh I am glad that I do not have that problems and my birdies would be worthless..(pigeons)..clancey

 

[ispinwool]

THANKS!! She's sooooo precious
My hubby's dad said the same thing! "if I'd known how much fun grandkids were, I'd have had them first!" LOL

And I haven't ever heard of anything that's safe for groundwater sources/us/domesticated critters to spray such a big area
to kill ticks... I've also heard that Guineas aren't very smart; If we turned some loose, I'm betting they wouldn't live long. But
I don't know much about them...might be worth it...

I continue to forget that double exclamation points show up as "shocked"... I am NOT shocked that
my Granddaughter is precious... **face palm**

 

[weatherguy]

....since this group is all about asking questions: we have 30 acres
we hunt on and it's thick with ticks. Do any of you have any suggestions for killing ticks in such a
big area?

Best thing to do in your case is preventive measures with deet or some other spray when you walk into the woods. You can spray around the house but 30 acres it way too much to keep spraying. Or you can get guinea hens to roam.

 

[CatfishHunter]

Napalm. Agent Orange. Nothing is going to "knock out" the ticks where you hunt and anything that does, is likely going to have other unintended effects that aren't good for the environment.

When the ticks are bad and I'm spending time in the woods, I wear a pair of thin white jeans that are my "tick" jeans. I tuck the bottoms into my socks, where a white long sleeve that hugs my wrists, and tuck that long sleeve into my pants. I can catch 99% of the wood ticks that way. Deer ticks are obviously harder. If you are hunting, go blaze orange everything and again keep on the lookout for ticks crawling on you.

This summer, I came home from the woods and found a deer tick on the underside of my forearm a few days later. I plucked it and it stayed red for a week or two. I mentioned it to my doctor who put me on the tick medicine just in case. I never got the bullseye or anything else thank goodness.

 

[rottiman]

TICK"S SUCK.................................... Had to put my dog thru TWO
rounds of heavy duty treatment to beat a severe case of Lyme.
3 months of treatment and 2300 bucks later she is Lyme free

 

[clancey]

That's terrible and my all these vet's are so so expensive but your doggy is still alive and we all love our dogs...Sometimes I have to take pigeons to FT Collins Vet Hospital for surgery and the price is just as bad...when they have to have surgery but it is so good to see them flying and walking when they would have not be able to and your vet bills will become a thing of the past when you dog gives you a good tail wag...Ticks are really terrible and be careful and save all the medicine for it might come in handy some day....But yes lots of money spent..and suck ticks--terrible..clancey

 

[Warfox]

I hate ticks with a passion. In my area it is my opinion they are the most dangerous creature in the woods. Lyme disease has become a major issue for people that love the outdoors. Black bears, copperheads and coyotes don't scare me. Ticks freak me out.

Ticks are such insidious creatures, and often even more so are the diseases that they can transmit to both man and pet.

It has relatively recently been discovered that the bacteria that causes Lyme disease is capable of morphing its physical structure so as to be able to evade treatment by the common medicines used to eradicate it. Fortunately, we have also now identified several pharmaceutical drugs that are capable of eradicating the bacteria entirely in any of the various forms that it can take.

And that’s just Lyme disease: ticks can often carry even more diseases such as Borrelia Miyamotoi disease, Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Erlichiosis, and Powassan virus.

Prevention is key for me, especially with two young children and a dog, so I try to burn as much of my leaf litter(important for tick reproduction cycle, etc) as possible during burn season, and I do broadcast insecticide granules over the high-risk areas of my yard twice a year. These two steps have made an incredible difference in the visible tick population on my property.

 

[shorthanded]

I got lyme disease about four years ago. My wife had a doctors appointment, There was a guy hacking away, next I felt rotten, I guess I got what he had, I had a cough, i had a fever, the the chills,I got a rash ,Looked like shingles but did not follow a nerve line. One minute I had the chills, the next i was sweating, After about a week of this the wife took me to the emergency room,I had over$12,000 worth of tests. Went to see my Doctor the next week to see the results, She said I can tell you what's not wrong with you. we went home, and my wife was talking with a friend, She said did they give him a Lyme disease test? No. So I called my doctor and she sent to the labs for the blood test,5 days later she called and said I had Lyme disease, I have never been so sick for so long in my life. Good news I got the antibiotics and I am ok now. Now 4 years later Lyme disease is common around here.