Tickageddon

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 Duncan Bourne 26 Apr 2019

Lots of reports coming in about ticks around the country over Easter. Someone found over a hundred on their tent at Ynys.

Just a heads up to keep an eye out for what you bring back from the countryside

 Mike Peacock 26 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Perhaps obvious to others, but not to me so...Ynys? Ynys what?

mick taylor 26 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Once had a tick in my eye lid.  Had it a few days - thought it was an in-growing eyelash.  Pulled it out, looked at it through my geologists magnifying glass and then when I realised what it was, pulverised it to smithereens in a fit of rage.  Still gives me the creeps thinking about it.

In reply to Mike Peacock:

Ynys Ettws is the Climbers Club Hut in the Llanberis Pass.

We had daily ticks from climbing at all crags in the Pass. Well worth carrying one of the remover tools with in in wash kit / first aid kit

 IPPurewater 26 Apr 2019
In reply to Sandstone Stickman:

It is worth using a repellant i.e. Smidge or something like the home made one described here:

https://mommypotamus.com/natural-tick-repellent-recipe/

Since I've been using the water based recipe on the link above, with Geranium oil, I've not picked up a single tick. I used to be a tick magnet.

Removed User 26 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Based on Lismore, Argyll.

Got one on my left leg whilst painting a neighbours shed on Wed. Sheep in the next field. Grr!

In reply to IPPurewater:

we give our dog Tick medication every couple of months, i dunno if it puts the ticks off biting or kills them once they start to feed but i do know its very effective, never had a tick on her since we started using it.

It'd be nice if there was a human version!

 PaulJepson 26 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

The Sawyer clothes treatment is really good.

I'd like to meet the guy who stopped counting at over 100 on his tent though. I'd have been happy just saying "lots".

 Mike Peacock 26 Apr 2019
In reply to Sandstone Stickman:

Ah, thanks for clarifying. There was nothing in the OP to suggest a CC connection. I only ever had a handful to ticks in Wales, and they were always when on the Migneint, though anecdotally they seem to be getting much worse lately.

1
 Luke90 26 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Yeah, I've never had a single tick before but picked up several down in Cornwall last week. They're definitely out in force. Horrible little buggers!

 Neil Williams 26 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

> Lots of reports coming in about ticks around the country over Easter. Someone found over a hundred on their tent at Ynys.

> Just a heads up to keep an eye out for what you bring back from the countryside


I've still never had one and only seen one once in my whole life (on a Scout's back on camp at Ferny Crofts in the New Forest).

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 PaulJepson 26 Apr 2019
In reply to Neil Williams:

I'm convinced they don't like the taste of some people. I've never had one and spent 5 months on the east coast of US where people were pulling them off themselves daily. Loads of my climbing partners have had them but I still haven't.

Have seen a couple in my time on my stuff but they've never had a chomp. 

 Neil Williams 26 Apr 2019
In reply to PaulJepson:

I think that could well be true.  Midges and mozzies, on the other hand, love a good bite!

 oldie 26 Apr 2019
In reply to PaulJepson:

Never had one either and have walked through hillsides covered in deer tracks. I can't imagine I'm doing anything unusual: always wear long trousers but not tucked into socks. I tend to move fairly fast and don't sit down where grazing animals have obviously gathered. My son however has even picked them up at a London school where he teaches.

 Dr.S at work 26 Apr 2019
In reply to PaulJepson:

I once took several hundred off a dog, I started counting them but ended up weighing them as there were too many.

 Myfyr Tomos 26 Apr 2019
In reply to PaulJepson:

I tend to agree Paul. People mention Y Rhinogydd as being bad, but I have spent most (all) of my life there and could probably count the ticks I've had on one hand.  Maybe they are attracted to/ repelled by some people. Cats, dogs and sheep in the area seem to have good and bad years and so far, 2019 seems to be in the bad category.

OP Duncan Bourne 26 Apr 2019
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

It would be great if the was something for humans. I wonder if eating certain foods puts them off/

 MG 26 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Marmite is my theory. 

1
 skog 26 Apr 2019
In reply to MG:

> Marmite is my theory. 

I love marmite, and eat lots of it.

Ticks love me regardless.

It might work when applied topically, I suppose...

 MG 26 Apr 2019
In reply to skog:

Well, it was a nice idea...! 

pasbury 26 Apr 2019
In reply to PaulJepson:

> The Sawyer clothes treatment is really good.

Is that the permethrin stuff that you wash into your clothes? I believe it’s fairly standard in America but seems to be not much used in the U.K.

It’s use ought to become de rigour. It kills the little blighters rather than just repelling them.

 skog 26 Apr 2019
In reply to MG:

To be fair, I see no disadvantage to keeping trying it.

 dilatory 26 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

Anecdotally every time I am at Caseg Fraith I see ticks, in warm weather that is .

Post edited at 20:36
 nathan79 27 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

I hate midges, I hate horseflies, I hate deer keds too but I REALLY hate ticks.

I think it's their capacity as a disease vector that puts them above the rest. I've had a few over the years and everytime I've been on full paranoid Lyme alert.

At the end of the day they're a part of outdoor life. I genuinely feel that if you've never seen or had a tick then you need to work on your awareness.

My least favourite time was being comfortably snuggled up in my sleeping bag at the Red Squirrel in Glencoe and catching one hungrily eyeing me up as it crawled across the floor of my tent. I was so cosy until then! (Fantastical exaggerations may have been taken).

Andy 1902 27 Apr 2019
In reply to paul_the_northerner:

Tick meds for dogs would work but don't try it. Do some research into how the meds work and you might be surprised. My mutt is severally to reasonably allergic to most tick meds - to the extent that vets advise not using them on her.

> we give our dog Tick medication every couple of months, i dunno if it puts the ticks off biting or kills them once they start to feed but i do know its very effective, never had a tick on her since we started using it.

> It'd be nice if there was a human version!

 PaulJepson 27 Apr 2019
In reply to pasbury:

Yeah you can get one you wash into your clothes or a spray as well.

Lasts a few washes and basically kills any ticks that come into contact with you straight away.

You can put it on tents and stuff as well.

 Rob Parsons 27 Apr 2019
In reply to Andy 1902:

> Tick meds for dogs would work but don't try it. Do some research into how the meds work and you might be surprised.

How do they work?

Andy 1902 27 Apr 2019
In reply to Rob Parsons:

> How do they work?

Hopefully a better explanation will be forthcoming from an expert/vet, but roughly speaking they affect the dogs blood to a level that the ticks die off after 'drinking' the blood.

 Mike Peacock 27 Apr 2019
In reply to nathan79:

> I hate midges, I hate horseflies, I hate deer keds too but I REALLY hate ticks.

> I think it's their capacity as a disease vector that puts them above the rest. I've had a few over the years and everytime I've been on full paranoid Lyme alert.

Wiki suggests deer keds can also carry lyme. I find them equally as loathsome as ticks - I think it's the fact that they cling on and are really difficult to knock off.

OP Duncan Bourne 27 Apr 2019
In reply to nathan79:

I tell you it puts the dampners on outdoor sex

 marsbar 27 Apr 2019
In reply to IPPurewater:

This stuff is supposed to work on ticks and mosquitos. 

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/291587568

pasbury 27 Apr 2019
In reply to PaulJepson:

> Yeah you can get one you wash into your clothes or a spray as well.

> Lasts a few washes and basically kills any ticks that come into contact with you straight away.

> You can put it on tents and stuff as well.

I’ve had a look and it seems not to be available in the U.K. could be a regulatory problem? You can get it on eBay.

the only stuff that is widely available here is Lifesystems EX4 spray on stuff, it won’t provide long lasting protection like a wash-in treatment though. I will give it a try anyway.

Business opportunity anyone?

 Red Rover 27 Apr 2019
In reply to pasbury:

I use EX4 and it does claim to last in the fabric for 4 washes. I've soaked all my outdoor clothes in it, been through some areas which are supposedly full of ticks and never had one on me.

pasbury 27 Apr 2019
In reply to Red Rover:

Good to know it works. Having never been much troubled by ticks before, I picked up about fifteen on a trip to the Cambrian mountains last summer.

 Red Rover 27 Apr 2019
In reply to pasbury:

Well all I know is that I haven't been bitten. I only learned about tick-bourne diseases a couple of years ago so until then I waded through bracken in Cumbria in shorts etc and thought nothing of it. I must have been bitten a couple of times at least but I've never shown symptoms that I've noticed.

I think the tick situation has got a lot worse over the last few years so I'm lucky I've wised up now. This year will probably be grim because the winter was so mild.

 Wingnut 29 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

>>I tell you it puts the dampners on outdoor sex

Maybe try shampooing the sheep first?

 Phil79 29 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

We found 14 attached to our cat yesterday, although the other cat had none!

I've had loads on me over the years, remove with tick twister and always keep an eye on the bite. This is in the west Devon area, edge of Dartmoor, so lots of sheep/horses/deer around.

I've been to the GP once when I was concerned about a particular bite looking pretty red. He had previously worked at local hospital and seemed to think Limes from ticks in the local area was very rare (he'd seen one case from a Tick after years working in the hospital).

Still, horrible things. I'm inclined to try some kind of repellent as numbers seem to be growing.  

 Timmd 29 Apr 2019
In reply to Wingnut:

> >>I tell you it puts the dampners on outdoor sex

> Maybe try shampooing the sheep first?

 SouthernSteve 29 Apr 2019
In reply to Phil79:

Look at using a flea product which contains an isoxazoline. There are spot-on and tablet versions for cats from your vet that are highly effective at killing ticks. Edit: I do mean for the cat not you!

This group of chemicals are being trialled in people in the topics and have the potential to kill ticks in people before disease transmission has occurred for a number of diseases where it is not just manual transmission such as in Babesiosis. 

Post edited at 20:45
 Timmd 29 Apr 2019
In reply to pasbury:

> I’ve had a look and it seems not to be available in the U.K. could be a regulatory problem? You can get it on eBay.

> the only stuff that is widely available here is Lifesystems EX4 spray on stuff, it won’t provide long lasting protection like a wash-in treatment though. I will give it a try anyway.

> Business opportunity anyone?

I wonder if another use could be found for it, and it sold under that guise in the same way that il/legal highs have been? 

 Tobes 29 Apr 2019
In reply to mick taylor:

Had one on the bawbag for the first time last year. Surprisingly easy to remove however. 

 Wiley Coyote2 29 Apr 2019
In reply to Duncan Bourne:

> I tell you it puts the dampners on outdoor sex


But surely the dampness is quite vital....or am I doing it wrong?

2
Le Sapeur 29 Apr 2019
In reply to mick taylor:

> Once had a tick in my eye lid. 

I also had that, inside the lid. Wasn't sure what it was so went to the docs. He rolled my eyelid back with a pen and plucked the thing out. Instant relief.

 Michael Hood 30 Apr 2019
In reply to nathan79:

> At the end of the day they're a part of outdoor life. I genuinely feel that if you've never seen or had a tick then you need to work on your awareness.

As a member of the never had one crew, that is the fear. Have I had them but just not noticed/realised?

Admittedly I'm only a day tripper nowadays, not camped in the wild for yonks. And I do tend to wear long trousers in bracken areas and check exposed skin (arms) after brushing through tall areas.

But I do wonder if they just don't love me, can't believe I've just been lucky. If only midges felt the same way


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