Pulled a tick off the golden after supper tonight. She doesn't go in the woods, because I have an electric fence, so she definitely picked it up in the yard from rolling around. Too friekin early for this. The deer must be sneaking in at night and eating the bird seed on the ground, or possibly and animal.

Pulled a tick off the golden after supper tonight. She doesn't go in the woods, because I have an electric fence, so she definitely picked it up in the yard from rolling around. Too friekin early for this. The deer must be sneaking in at night and eating the bird seed on the ground, or possibly and animal.

Early spring.My allergies are a month ahead of schedule.

After my dog was diagnosed with a tick based illness two years ago (anaplausmosis sp?) I started keeping Front Line on him all year. The vet said that thaws in winter and early spring are one of the worst times for Lyme etc as ticks get all active and most people aren't thinking about it. I really really hate ticks, and it fact in a lot of ways it keeps me from upland hunting more often.

Buying more Front Line tomorrow.

I haven't seen any ticks yet, but i know mice sometimes carry them. The last couple of days i have seen more mice than ever before. They are running all over the place outside along my dirt road.

was reading yesterday on how the ticks get these diseases in the first place (not just LYME disease)

and it was because they have already bitten white footed mice
who had the disease

they can crawl too maybe not to far but day by day they advance.

if it were my place i'd have chickens eating everything in site that crawls ....since it's Not ,,,,i will be spreading a tick preventative on the lawns because this will be a very wet season initially.

Pulled three off my dog on Thursday last year was the wost I can remember starting again thinking of trying advantix as frontline seemed to be ok at best.

Ticks are active year round. Do not be fooled that they lay dormant in cold weather,they are just sluggish until they get into a warm area such as your vehicle and you turn the heat on. So if you are cross country skiing or snow shoeing best check your clothes.

There are two test for lyme disease, if you feel that you may be suffering from the disease demand from your doctor that you want the advanced test. There are other diseases that you can get from the deer tick.

was reading yesterday on how the ticks get these diseases in the first place (not just LYME disease)

and it was because they have already bitten white footed mice
who had the disease

they can crawl too maybe not to far but day by day they advance.

if it were my place i'd have chickens eating everything in site that crawls ....since it's Not ,,,,i will be spreading a tick preventative on the lawns because this will be a very wet season initially.

One way to combat ticks is to put toilet paper tubes stuffed with cotton balls that have been doused with sevin dust along the woodline. The small rodents will take the cotton balls as bedding and the sevin will kill the ticks... Doesn't hurt he mice, but kills the disease vector..

Was watching Mystery Diagnosis the other day and one of the shows was about Lyme Disease. She had seen three different doctors, ,the first two gave her the regular test and did not find the disease. After almost a year with problems the third doctor ran a bunch of test and could not find why she was in the condition that she was in. The doctor gave her the improved lyme test and bingo, had the diease all along.

They are running all over the place along my dirt road.
Richard Gere syndrome:devil2:

Richard Gere syndrome:devil2:


That would be if i was seeing gerbils running all over the place right???

My cousin was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and treated for it for some 20 years. later with new tests , it turned out he had Lymes Disease all along. Apparently , after its been in your system that long , there is no curing it. I guess long , Like months or years , times on IV antibiotics can help improve your quality of life , you just can't get rid of it once its been in your body a certain amount of time.

The ticks are really REALLY BAD this year.....
hasn't been a day go by that i haven't had one on me

i've been meaning to mention it for awhile
then as i was sitting here typing away
i notice a tick crawling across my monitor :doh:

SIDE note... after pulling ticks or finding crawling ones
i've been experimenting with what kills them when they are dropped
into liquids and cooking oil doesn't phase them nor does liquid soap
they can survive a couple of minutes in a microwave
but they don't survive diotomaceous earth (safer brand)
they get dessicated and die in it having no traction like quicksand.

My wife has had Lyme for 8 years now... so i know what I'm talking about.

1. The ticks are likely traveling on the mice/squirrels at your feeder. They can get Lyme from deer, mice and other rodents.

2. Frontline is NOMINALLY effective. The best stuff is called Proticall(sp). It has permethine(sp) in it which kills ticks w/in 24 hours. Plus it deters them from getting on your pet.

3. DEET is a joke (although I use it as an adjunct). Get a spray with permethines(sp) in it. you spray your CLOTHES, let them dry and the stuff lasts a few weeks.

4. Lyme is GENERALLY easy to cure... However, some people (like my wife) are very difficult. She has been on antibiotics for YEARS including IV for 9 months or so. If I had her life I'd have taken a bullet by now.

I'm not afraid of much. Lyme/ticks scares the living hell out of me

It is the worst I've ever seen, my first dog I ever owned is 6 years old today and my other is 3.

Every day I'm pulling off half a dozen or more ticks off each dog.

They are everywhere this year, been trying the natural route, thanks raven, and that seems to help, my dogs love the brewers yeast.

We stopped taking them to our usual winter trails, just need to find a good area where they can run and burn off some energy.
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Any reason why they are so bad? Is it due to incresed Deer and Bird populations? Is it weather related?

We do Front Line and HeartGuard year round on both dogs. I actually saw a few mosquitoes during a brief warm spell in Feb. Yeah, it's a bit more money but it is cheaper than vet bills.

Any reason why they are so bad? Is it due to incresed Deer and Bird populations? Is it weather related?

Snow cover insulated them from severe temperatures. Wet spring.

pulled a deer tick off my son Sunday night. thing was in so tight we could barely get it out and it was a mashed mess.
Called the docs and they said to monitior for rash or flu like symptoms.

i think i read that they inject your skin FIRST with a local anesthesia
type drug so you don't even feel them burrow in...

our new rule of thumb is: when coming in from tick land
is to remove your clothes quickly preferably in a non carpeted
area whether they are dirty or not....

almost every day we find a tick or two climbing the bath room tiles.
that's where the laundry basket is........ in the closet.

i think i read that they inject your skin FIRST with a local anesthesia
type drug so you don't even feel them burrow in...

our new rule of thumb is: when coming in from tick land
is to remove your clothes quickly preferably in a non carpeted
area whether they are dirty or not....

almost every day we find a tick or two climbing the bath room tiles.
that's where the laundry basket is........ in the closet.

Yup. They numb you up before they eat you.

Haven't found any deer ticks yet but had at least five large brown dog ticks all over me after walking through tall grass mid April.

Found Advantix to be way more effective than Frontline for my boys, made the switch a few years ago and haven't looked back. Rarely find ticks on my dogs and they are in wooded/tall grass/marsh areas year round. When I do find a ticks they are never embedded.

Pulled a male deer tick out of my inner thigh - think I might have picked it up while fishing and could have been there for a couple days. Doc put me on a prophylactic dose of doxycycline - two 100mg pills and I was good to go.

Took a deer tick of my neighbor's sons arm the other night before it started burrowing. He and my son were playing out out by a little pond in the woods near our house. We have a lot of woods and a lot of deer in the area so we check my son every night at bath time. We only found 2 on him last year and one was from beach grass down the Cape and neither had broke the skin yet.

i wear frontline on my boots

Gamehide is a company that has a product called ELIMITICK that is made for hunters who hit the bush. Camo pattern pants and shirts,head gear,face masks. They are a little pricey but they work. I have been hunting turkey the last 2 weeks and not a single tick! I also use the tick spray around my setups and never sit direrctly on the ground. I use a swivel seat with a cushion. It is a little tough on the bottom but worth it.:uhuh:

Pulled a fully gorged tick off my INDOOR cat last week. We have no other pets. Got inside somehow.

This might help :)
http://i53.tinypic.com/27yrr7.jpg

when we eventually make our last and final move
to a bigger farm....
the first thing i'll do is build a chicken coop so i have
them ALWAYS on Tick patrol...

growing peppermint now ....and hopefully will buy some
strong smelling cedar mulch soon for around the house.

Pulled a male deer tick out of my inner thigh - think I might have picked it up while fishing and could have been there for a couple days. Doc put me on a prophylactic dose of doxycycline - two 100mg pills and I was good to go.

How could you tell the sex?

How could you tell the sex?

The usual way. He pulled it's pants down.

I pulled an embedded one from my stomach as early as April 16th this year. Found it while food shopping. Almost did surgery in the frozen food section, but waited until we were back at the campsite...

Talked to my folks last night up in NY (Saratoga Springs). He had a tick on him, he knows how my wifes life is, so he really starts getting nervous. Pulls most the tick, then goes to Urgent Care. The Doc there says this year is the worst he has ever seen. He PERSONALLY pulls out 8-10 a DAY.

Here's a Risk Map for Lyme Disease:
http://www.wildflorida.com/articles/images/riskmap_ld.gif

But keep in mind, ticks can carry diseases other than Lyme.

as a kid growing up in CT, I spent most of my time in the woods. We never even heard of ticks. Anyone know what has been driving the massive increase in tick populations?

as a kid growing up in CT, I spent most of my time in the woods. We never even heard of ticks. Anyone know what has been driving the massive increase in tick populations?


I wonder the same thing... I grew up in the Adirondacks. NEVER saw a tick... EVER. Spent summer days in woods/fields/etc.

Now they are EVERYWHERE up there (as well as down here). I've heard various theories, but I really can't find any of them very convincing.

So... the selfish side of me hopes that Lyme becomes epidemic. So some money goes into to finding a viable cure for those who don't respond to the current ABX's used today. Without more sick people, no serious money goes into

Whenever we have a moderate/mild winter, the ticks end up having more animals to feed from, and thus reproduce more.
Add to this the increasing range of most "native" wildlife, and you end up with ticks getting a free ride onto your property (or closer to it).

I wonder if any deer hunters have noticed an increase in ticks on the deer they harvested?

Glad I live in the city!

Whenever we have a moderate/mild winter, the ticks end up having more animals to feed from, and thus reproduce more.
Add to this the increasing range of most "native" wildlife, and you end up with ticks getting a free ride onto your property (or closer to it).

I wonder if any deer hunters have noticed an increase in ticks on the deer they harvested?

When I was a kid, you NEVER saw a tick on a deer.

I've heard of them having 10's to 100's on them now a days.

after looking at that map
that not only do we have a total infestation
but it is of more paramount importance
than the custom of aerial spraying or fogging for skeetos.

whats the solution? a massive campainge of releasing
pheasants ,quail ,partridge, and Guinea fowl
or we have to use insecticides....

i can tell you which method officials would obviously take.

I haven't harvested a deer in a few years now, but when I was hunting them the ones I shot were loaded with ticks, particularly in the head and neck areas where the deer couldn't scratch them off easily.

when we eventually make our last and final move
to a bigger farm....
the first thing i'll do is build a chicken coop so i have
them ALWAYS on Tick patrol...

growing peppermint now ....and hopefully will buy some
strong smelling cedar mulch soon for around the house.

3 years ago, my yard was infested with ticks. We would find one or two every time we walked through the yard. I got lyme that year and was really sick until the antibiotics kicked in. Two years ago June we got 8 chicks who free range and we have barely seen a tick from our yard. Last year I thought it was just an off year. This year we go into the woods and get infested, but in our yard not one yet. Chickens are outstanding pets, great sources of food (we only eat the eggs-not the chickens :)), great for compost, and good for ticks. I would recommend to anyone.

3 years ago, my yard was infested with ticks. We would find one or two every time we walked through the yard. I got lyme that year and was really sick until the antibiotics kicked in. Two years ago June we got 8 chicks who free range and we have barely seen a tick from our yard. Last year I thought it was just an off year. This year we go into the woods and get infested, but in our yard not one yet. Chickens are outstanding pets, great sources of food (we only eat the eggs-not the chickens :)), great for compost, and good for ticks. I would recommend to anyone.

you got fertilized eggs? or no roosters...?
i don't like roosters much ,,,, hens i pet like a cat
and they sit in my lap....had 50 free range once
plus peacocks.... because i love MIMICRY,
i could call all the neighbor's peacocks over
to my place... heh heh heh....

used to have a blast at the San Diego Zoo riding
the tram in the sky doing peacock calls real loud
then just watchin
everyone down below look for them

i have been struggling with the idea
but these ticks are BAD
just walkin right next to the house just now
for 10 minutes watering the sugar snap peas
and i came in with one....

sat next to the wife on the couch
and felt it crawling on my elbo

this is happening every single day!
and my wife had one crawling on her face
when she looked in the mirror this mornin @ 6am :huh:
so it's outta fukkin control :doh: :doh: :doh:

I was thinking of getting some chickens or guinea hens for tick control, but I read elsewhere that they aren't very effective.

I was thinking of getting some chickens or guinea hens for tick control, but I read elsewhere that they aren't very effective.

I've always heard guinea hens were the BEST tick control out there... Could be a myth I suppose.

i can spot a tick now from 6 feet away

so i am absolutely sure a chicken can spot one
that is 12 inches away

yep found my first one a couple weeks ago and have not stopped scratching my scalp raw since........

oh and yes mice are probably the more likely culprit. The area in the yard that has the field mouse problem is also the same area that we have the tick problem

I've always heard guinea hens were the BEST tick control out there... Could be a myth I suppose.

They are definitely good at it. My wife's uncle bought a dozen to take care of the problem at his horse farm. They were all eaten by predators within a month, but the ticks were gone. If you let them run, don't name them. They are not the least bit afraid of cars.:err:

am on my second round of doxycyclene~~

twice a day, for twenty days! the rotten BASTAGE burrowed
in on my belt line and i never knew it was there until it had

fully engorged itself and dropped off, i thought i was bitten by a skeeter,
since it only left a a bump in its wake. then came the bull's-eye rash and some minor joint pain, got into the antibiotics right away and will have the doc test for it in acoupla weeks. i am also taking florastor(probiotic) echinaccea, golden seal, wheat grass juice sporadically, and adding loads of garlic to the diet.

it is important to remember that while antibiotics are GREAT for taking out the disease from your body they ALSO remove all of your good flora. very important to take probiotics WITH antibiotics.

i feel good and hope that my tests results will tell me we got it. and i ahven't been in the deep woods per say, but i do live in the buckle of the tick belt,,,,,,,,Middleton, MA. hope this helps.

my biggest concern on it is for my daughter ... she burrows through bushes like crazy, I always try to search for ticks when she comes in, but I fear her mother doesn't check regularly.

if you want to make that wheat grass taste
a little better mix it with carrot juice

that's a good health regimen
but don't forget the C and E

aloe vera water the centrifuged gel
will also double the power of your immune system
as will spicy food ...so if you enjoy Thai cuisine
go for it....

you got fertilized eggs? or no roosters...?


Sorry, lost sight of this thread. No roosters. we order sexed chicks. If we didn't have neighbors nearby, we would probably get a rooster. The chickens are both of my boys favorite pets. My neighbors growing up had peacocks. I still think of the raaattt raattt raaattt sound on a warm summer night.

i had this one friggan rooster who used ta PISS Me OFF

every damn day that S.O.B. would start crowing his cockadoodle doo
15 minutes earlier than the day before

when the coyotes finally ate him ..... i was a much happier camper :uhuh:

I'm into my 3rd bout of Lyme's no visible rash but after two times you know what you have, get the doxycycline and put it to you...