Ticks

JMunaretto · Post by **JMunaretto** » Mon May 19, 2008 9:07 pm

I was trying to look up info on ticks and lyme disease...and it seems that allegedly the percentage of ticks with lyme disease on the west coast is pretty low, previously recorded at ~ 2% but now more reports are saying something like 10 - 20%. Does anyone have better info on this?

Thanks!

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:06 pm

I'm gettin this.

MikeSash · Post by **MikeSash** » Tue May 20, 2008 2:53 pm

I got bit this year. I broke the head off trying to pull it out. Went to the doctor just to make sure, he said there was nothing to really worry about unless it gets super swollen. He told me lyme disease wasn't a problem out here. A doctor 14 years ago pulled one out of my head and gave me antibiotics. So I don't know.

Post by **Taco** » Tue May 20, 2008 3:59 pm

I've had hundreds of the little bastards, ever since I was a wee(er) lad. I've also heard there's not much of a threat here of any sort of disease. I've had one bite swell a little, but without any effects afterwards.

That said, I have horrible memory...

JMunaretto · Post by **JMunaretto** » Tue May 20, 2008 4:13 pm

Tick Twister! Maybe I have to add it to the first aid kit!

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:57 pm

YAH. TICK TWISTER.
I ordered two sets. I have never got bit by one but they have landed on me.
Sure will be nice to have that little plastic CATS PAW to pry and twist that blood sucking MONSTER outta my body. I will be careful not to damage the little bugger when it is in my body. But once it is out I will set up the 200lb anvil that I carry in my side pouch and place that tick right on the flat part. Then I'll reach back and grab my 25lb sledge hammer which is hanging in the loop where the ice axe is and I WILL SMASH THAT TICK TO SMITHERINES!

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Tue May 20, 2008 6:32 pm

When I searched "tick remover", I was surprised to find so many different designs & inventions to remove ticks. I've just used tweezers in the past, but might look into one of these specialty items.
My worst encounter with a tick was on Christmas eve morning in 2002, when I woke up with a tick firmly dug into my belly button. The day before, we had hiked down to Idlehour and up to Inspiration Point from there. I think I got it in all the fresh leaf litter that was two feet deep over the trail. We hadn't had any rain yet, and all the fallen leaves had just acumulated in huge drifts.

Rick M · Post by **Rick M** » Wed May 21, 2008 9:23 pm

FIGHT ON

...I will set up the 200lb anvil that I carry in my side pouch and place that tick right on the flat part. Then I'll reach back and grab my 25lb sledge hammer which is hanging in the loop where the ice axe is...

NO WONDER YOU NEED THOSE TREKKING POLES

I think the ticks will climb up your poles and onto your hands and rest of your body!

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Thu May 22, 2008 7:23 pm

I GOT EM IN THE MAIL ALREADY! TICKS BE AFRAID. BE VERY VERY AFRAID! TICK TWISTER. TICKS BEWARE I WILL TWIST YOUR HEAD RIGHT OFF!

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Mon May 26, 2008 8:23 pm

After geting out of the shower tonight, I noticed a tick embedded in my side. I probably got it today when hiking a trail that was overgrown with grasses.
Here is what I used to remove the tick and it worked just fine.

http://ws-na.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/cm?l=as1&f=ifr&o=1&t=tapatalk02-20&asins=B00008434T

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Wed May 28, 2008 5:51 pm

Terry. What if you get one right between your toes? How you gonna get that big spoon in between there? And looks like the tick twister weighs about one quarter what the spoon weighs.

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Wed May 28, 2008 7:29 pm

If the tick was between my toes, the spoon wouldn't work. I bought the spoon about 5 years ago and this was the first time I've used it. (I just had a weird thought....what if the tick crawled into your ear and made a home? or someplace equally dark, but more personal.)
I weighed the plastic spoon, but I don't have a good scale, and it weighed about 1/2 ounce. I don't know why the shipping weight is given as 4.8 ounces.......probably the cardboard & plastic wrapping.
In the past, I had a pair of tweezers with a small magnifying glass attached to it, but I read that tweezers are no good because they can leave the head in or cause the tick to puke back into you.
What really freaks me out about ticks is that they are spiders, not insects. The idea of a spider sucking my blood is the stuff of horror movies.
Well, back to push-ups!

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:55 pm

Well, I had two more tick encounters today. After my hike, I found one embedded in my arm and the other crawling inside my shirt. I used the spoon again to remove the one in my arm. I put it in the toilet and flushed three times to make sure it was down the drain.

You've heard the phrase, "Chick Magnet"? My new nickname is the "Tick Magnet".

AlanK · Post by **AlanK** » Thu May 29, 2008 4:19 pm

Please tell me that a Tick Magnet saves a lot of money on drinks.

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Thu May 29, 2008 6:21 pm

doggie.

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Fri May 30, 2008 6:09 pm

AlanK wrote:Please tell me that a Tick Magnet saves a lot of money on drinks.

Well, they're supposed to, but I'm still waiting hopefully.

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Fri May 30, 2008 7:33 pm

I just thought about something. If the tick could talk, could it then tell time?

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Sat May 31, 2008 4:41 am

FIGHT ON wrote:I just thought about something. If the tick could talk, could it then tell time?

Congratulations, you have just won the "Cheezy-Ness" award for this week!

Now........push-ups for you.

duelmen3 · Post by **duelmen3** » Wed Jun 04, 2008 2:49 pm

I got the Tick Twister two weeks ago and put it to the test on my dog yesterday. Works just as easy as they advertise.

Gary

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 3:58 pm

MikeSash wrote:I got bit this year. I broke the head off trying to pull it out. Went to the doctor just to make sure, he said there was nothing to really worry about unless it gets super swollen. He told me lyme disease wasn't a problem out here. A doctor 14 years ago pulled one out of my head and gave me antibiotics. So I don't know.

A lot of MD's are not outdoors types. Many aren't aware that Lyme Disease is now present in S. Calif.

Basic anti-tick measures from http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d000901-d0 ... 00960.html:
-Wear light-colored clothing (ticks are easier to see).
-Wear long pants tucked into socks.
-Avoid tall grass and shrubby areas.
-Widen trails through woods (to 6 feet).
-Remove brushpiles.
-Keep turfgrass mowed.
-Thin out low shrub vegetation in woods.
-Wear a tick repellent

Widen trails to 6'? Ha, ha. Good luck with that one. Given the FS budget cuts over the last 30 years, we're lucky we still have trails, let alone ones that are 6' wide.

Post by **Taco** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 4:24 pm

Basically, stay indoors.

That's another Taco Grylls tip of the day: How to avoid snoikes!

Eef yew don' wohnna git bit boy snoikes, stoiy at hawm!

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 7:45 pm

WHAT?
DUDE ARE YOU NIRVANA?

kgw · Post by **kgw** » Tue Sep 23, 2008 8:24 pm

Here's my story: wasn't me fortunately. . . A friend and two others were packing into Big Sur back in the '70's, set up camp on the first night and kicked back. My friend wakes up in the middle of the night to excruciating pain in his head, so bad he is hitting his head on the ground to make it stop

The other two thought he had lost his mind. As soon as it was light enough to hike, they made it back to the car and took my friend to a doctor. The doctor inspected him and discovered a tick inside his ear! The tick had been biting him repeatedly looking for a juicy spot, but no luck, only a boney place with lots of nerves!

The doc said to take something like campho-phenique (aromatic oil) and an eyedropper next time. Load the ear up with the oil to suffocate the tick, and then go to the doctor to extract the dead tick.

I found a tick on my shorts many a moon ago, right before going to bed: chucked it into the toilet and flushed. My only encounter with one so far.