Tick City, USA

[kfxgreenie]

Originally Posted by Pull Toy

Flame Throwers work well!

Just remember, Connecticut invented Lyme Disease! As a matter of fact, it was a half hour drive from here.

Check with your vet about a monthly pill to control fleas, ticks and worms. (Especially if you plan to visit "Dog Parks"!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ6joh5l6zY

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

The best "bug spray" we've used is Avon Skin So Soft Bug Guard. Sold online and in all Avon stores, it's not the cheapest, but it works well for ticks, fleas, black flies, no-seeums, mosquitoes, gnats and red bugs. We have at least one bottle in every vehicle during the summer.

Don't know about the effectiveness vs ticks but about 25 years ago, we bought a time share in the hills east of Harrisonburg and first time out on the golf course, the pro asked me if I had any "bug juice". I said no as I didn't see any bugs but once out on the course there were SWARMS of gnats that made it hard to breathe when they found you. This was the spring. Most annoying thing I ever went through... at the turn, found he had spray containers of Skin So Soft for sale and once I used it, my skin got soft and the gnats no longer loved me! Good stuff.

[wiredgeorge]

xrated, Follow up on what your doc finds. Lyme is no bueno. BTW: We use Seresto flea collars and have for a few years now putting them on in early spring. We have 10 dogs and 3 cats but they seem to be well worth their overpriced cost. BTW: If any of you have ever tried to get a tick out by putting the sulpher tip from a match stick on the tick, it doesn't work. Try to pull it out best you can with tweezers and not bust it as that is where the bad stuff gets into you.

[xrated]

Originally Posted by Dave W

Now that doesn't sound good. Hopefully you can easily beat it - whatever bug you caught. Unfortunately Lyme Disease isn't the only nasty that ticks carry but a good couple week with doxycycline will help. Get better soon - we need you here

Well the blood test will take several days to come back, but my Dr, being proactive based on my symptoms, went ahead and wrote a RX for the Doxycycline and got me started on it this afternoon. That is exactly what I hoped she would do. My wife has had 6 ticks on her over the last several weeks with really no symptoms, but the Dr went ahead and wrote a prescription to take to the lab and get her checked too. Since she really wasn't showing any signs of symptoms, no antibiotics, just a blood test to check her.

[ctbruce]

Vern, prayers your way. Keep us posted. Lymes is wicked.

[zrxfishing]

I saw a YouTube video a couple years ago for tick removal. You use a q-tip to hold the tick flat against your skin while rotating it counterclockwise. It twists it’s head around & it releases it self. I tried it twice so far. Once on my daughter & once on my dog. Worked great! Once they release themselves they try and crawl away fast, grab them & kill them. Hopefully you guys won’t need to try it!

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by zrxfishing

I saw a YouTube video a couple years ago for tick removal. You use a q-tip to hold the tick flat against your skin while rotating it counterclockwise. It twists it’s head around & it releases it self. I tried it twice so far. Once on my daughter & once on my dog. Worked great! Once they release themselves they try and crawl away fast, grab them & kill them. Hopefully you guys won’t need to try it!

There is a little plastic tick removal tool that you can buy for a buck or so at a drug store. You slide the notch under then slowly twist the tick out. We have a couple and it works well, even on our two pups.

I've gotten to the point with those little @#$% that I can 'feel' them walking all over me even after I mow the yard on the tractor - instant shower and clean clothes. My wife is doubly cautious after having Lyme disease when she lived in Old Lyme, CT many years ago.

[xrated]

Originally Posted by ctbruce

Vern, prayers your way. Keep us posted. Lymes is wicked.

Thanks Chip. I still haven't gotten any results from the blood testing but I am already starting to feel much better. Probably 75% of the achiness in my knees and hips is gone, I'm not nearly as tired/lethargic as I was just two or three days ago and I'm hopefully on my way to being normal again.........well, as normal as I was before! I have to say that earlier this week, I can't remember feeling that bad for a very long time.....probably pneumonia back in 1989 when I spent 9 days in a hospital and was running 105 temperatures for about 3 days. Anyway, thank again for the thoughts and prayers. It's nice to know there are folks out there that care.

[ctbruce]

Originally Posted by xrated

Thanks Chip. I still haven't gotten any results from the blood testing but I am already starting to feel much better. Probably 75% of the achiness in my knees and hips is gone, I'm not nearly as tired/lethargic as I was just two or three days ago and I'm hopefully on my way to being normal again.........well, as normal as I was before! [emoji38] I have to say that earlier this week, I can't remember feeling that bad for a very long time.....probably pneumonia back in 1989 when I spent 9 days in a hospital and was running 105 temperatures for about 3 days. Anyway, thank again for the thoughts and prayers. It's nice to know there are folks out there that care. [emoji106]

Glad to hear your on the mend. That's great news.

My new motto: the only good tick....there are no good ticks.

[Tbos]

Originally Posted by xrated

Thank you Ken for the links and info. And thank you Jim for the words of encouragement and friendship. I just took a 3 hour nap.......that is SO NOT ME in the middle of the afternoon. The house is 77 degrees and I was under an electric blanket to stay warm.

Hope you have a quick and complete recovery.

[xrated]

Originally Posted by Tbos

Hope you have a quick and complete recovery.

Thanks Tom....it's getting better every day.

[BamaRam]

If you want a natural solution to controlling insects around the camp site, try cedar oil. We have a 2 qt pump sprayer and mix 1/2 cup cedar oil with water and a couple drops of dish soap. We start at the door and mist the ground outwards until all of the solution is used. It provides a barrier for the awning area plus some.



There are some premix solutions out there but we buy a gallon of pure oil and mix our own. We try to avoid using poisons whenever it's feasible.

[xrated]

UPDATE........I got a call from my Dr. this morning and I don't have Lyme disease.....I have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever! There are usually between 500 -600 cases annually reported in the state of TN and is much more common than Lymes here. Still, not many cases here, but TN, NC, AR, MO, and I think Oklahoma, combined account for 60% of the RMSF cases reported nationwide.

Anyway, I'm feeling much better and I'm a little over half way through my 10 day dosage of antibiotics. I'm feel fairly confident that it was caught early enough to avoid any long term health issues, which can lead to very, very serious issues....even death if not treated quickly enough.

Be vigilant and check for ticks every single time you come in for outside, even just being in your yard. We have very few trees on or 2/3 acres....just your normal grass lawn...AND...I had not been out hiking or in any kind of wooded areas.

[BamaRam]

Originally Posted by xrated

UPDATE........I got a call from my Dr. this morning and I don't have Lyme disease.....I have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever! There are usually between 500 -600 cases annually reported in the state of TN and is much more common than Lymes here. Still, not many cases here, but TN, NC, AR, MO, and I think Oklahoma, combined account for 60% of the RMSF cases reported nationwide.

Anyway, I'm feeling much better and I'm a little over half way through my 10 day dosage of antibiotics. I'm feel fairly confident that it was caught early enough to avoid any long term health issues, which can lead to very, very serious issues....even death if not treated quickly enough.

Be vigilant and check for ticks every single time you come in for outside, even just being in your yard. We have very few trees on or 2/3 acres....just your normal grass lawn...AND...I had not been out hiking or in any kind of wooded areas.

That's rough treatment from a little bug. Got any idea how long the tick was embedded or what kind of tick it was?


I pulled a dog tick from my neck a couple weeks ago but he wasn't fat yet and barely was hanging on. I liked him so much I took his picture.

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by xrated

UPDATE........I got a call from my Dr. this morning and I don't have Lyme disease.....I have Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever! There are usually between 500 -600 cases annually reported in the state of TN and is much more common than Lymes here. Still, not many cases here, but TN, NC, AR, MO, and I think Oklahoma, combined account for 60% of the RMSF cases reported nationwide.

That sounds a bit better

Now that you menyioned it, a friend came down with RMSF after he and his family made a trip to Cape Cod and was bitten by a tick. IIRC, he was over and done with it in about ten days vs Lyme which isn't always as quick and easy

[xrated]

Originally Posted by BamaRam

That's rough treatment from a little bug. Got any idea how long the tick was embedded or what kind of tick it was?


I pulled a dog tick from my neck a couple weeks ago but he wasn't fat yet and barely was hanging on. I liked him so much I took his picture.

I'm not sure on the time, but it was definitely engorged. We've been at this house since 2007, doing all the usual stuff outside.....mowing, pulling weeds, landscaping, etc, and neither one of us has EVER had a tick on us. Then, all of a sudden this year, Peggy has had 6 already and I've had the one that I found.

[xrated]

Originally Posted by Dave W

That sounds a bit better

Now that you menyioned it, a friend came down with RMSF after he and his family made a trip to Cape Cod and was bitten by a tick. IIRC, he was over and done with it in about ten days vs Lyme which isn't always as quick and easy

Yea, it's not too terrible if it's caught early, but if it's not, there are some very serious issue that can come from it....up to and including heart, lung, central nervous system, amputation, even death. Good to hear that your friend made a quick recovery and all is well.

[Tbos]

Originally Posted by xrated

Yea, it's not too terrible if it's caught early, but if it's not, there are some very serious issue that can come from it....up to and including heart, lung, central nervous system, amputation, even death. Good to hear that your friend made a quick recovery and all is well.

Glad you are on the road to recovery.

[xrated]

Thanks Tom.....I'm happy to be feeling better....pretty rough week or so.

[MarcS]

I'm glad you're feeling better!