Tick Season

[Hosh]

We are planning a 5 day hike in mid to late April 2016. I have read some on tick life cycles, but couldn't find anything on exposure times.

I have a set of tweezers in my FAK, do I need a special tick extraction tool and should we treat our clothes with Permethrin?

I usually bring a mild deet solution in case of skeeters, etc.

[egilbe]

I think you should treat your clothes with permethrin. I never saw a tick this year and my kids say from the number of ticks they picked off their dog, it was a bad tick year.

[Traveler]

You can treat clothing with Permethrin and/or wear DEET to keep the ticks at bay (I use 100% DEET). Tweezers aren't the best tool to remove ticks, there is a better tool called a Tick Key. These are specifically designed to remove the tick with all its pieces parts intact and most sporting goods and outfitting retailers have them.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Any time of year can be tick season. They seem to come back out whenever the weather is mild and not too dry. I didn't see a tick all summer in CT but then found two attached to me picked close to 30 off of my clothes in the last few weeks, albeit I was bushwhacking through thickets and Japanese Barberry, which is a prime habitat.

[MuddyWaters]

I have had no tick problems on AT south of VA. My clothes, shoes, socks, are treated with permethrin, and I check my legs frequently. Tight fitting compression shorts keep them out of the nether regions. Lyme is rare south of VA too

[Migrating Bird]

Any time of year can be tick season. They seem to come back out whenever the weather is mild and not too dry. I didn't see a tick all summer in CT but then found two attached to me picked close to 30 off of my clothes in the last few weeks, albeit I was bushwhacking through thickets and Japanese Barberry, which is a prime habitat.

+1 any time is tick season, even in the dead of winter on sunny day. As for a tick removal tool. This is the only one I use and I have tried them all on me, family and pets. http://www.otom.com/how-to-remove-a-tick

[nsherry61]

1) Permethrin ROCKS for keeping ticks at bay. Treat all your outer cloths, especially your socks and pants.
2) Deet, any more concentrated than 30%, has not been shown to be significantly more effective at keeping bugs away, but, higher concentrations of it are significantly more damaging to plastics and some synthetic clothing.
3) Picaridin is an effective alternative to Deet worth considering as it smells better, does not damage plastics and synthetic fabrics, and is more effective than deet keeping black flies at bay.
4) The small deer ticks that carry lyme disease are often too small to effectively remove with a tick key or any other non-tweezer type tick removal tools that I have seen on the market. Very fine tip tweezers in firm gentle hands are generally considered the best tools for removing ticks. Some people prefer tweezers with a slightly curved and fine tip. Here is a pretty good article from the Wall Street Journal.

[Sarcasm the elf]

1)
4) The small deer ticks that carry lyme disease are often too small to effectively remove with a tick key or any other non-tweezer type tick removal tools that I have seen on the market. Very fine tip tweezers in firm gentle hands are generally considered the best tools for removing ticks. Some people prefer tweezers with a slightly curved and fine tip. Here is a pretty good article from the Wall Street Journal.

The Otom tick twister that Migrating Bird linked above comes in several sizes, the smallest size is very effective at removing smaller deer ticks (honestly I'm not sure why they bother selling the larger size, the smaller size is just better all around.) In my experience they are the only product besides fine tipped tweezers that can reliably do the job. For what it's worth I prefer the twister over tweezers when removing ticks from my dogs as I find it the easiest to quickly use one handed while dealing with an animal that doesn't want to keep still..

[Sarcasm the elf]

Here is another very good link, the Tick Resource center from the University of Rhode Island:

http://www.tickencounter.org

[TexasBob]

Here is another very good link, the Tick Resource center from the University of Rhode Island:

http://www.tickencounter.org

Thanks very much!! This site has the best tick identification pictures I have seen on the web.

[HooKooDooKu]

I've hike GSMNP from March to November... and ticks just are not a problem there.

They do exist, and I have seen ticks... but I've seen more ticks on the ground or on a tree than I've ever seen on my or my kids.

From what I've been told, the Smokyes are too damp for ticks to proliferate. They prefer a climate that is much drier.



. Smokeys are too damp for ticks, that they enjoy drier climates than what generally exists in the Smokeys.

[nsherry61]

The Otom tick twister. . .

Twisting ticks significantly increases the likelihood of breaking off their mouth-parts under your skin, leading to infection and thus twisting is strongly discouraged.
Here is some information pasted from the CDC.
======
How to remove a tick

1. Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.
2. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
3. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.
4. Dispose of a live tick by submersing it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet. Never crush a tick with your fingers.

=======
Also, regarding the use of tweezers . . . removing ticks from pets that are moving around and covered in hair can be very hard to do with straight, fine-tipped tweezers. I have not found had the same problem using straight, fine-tipped tweezers on humans.

[Ashepabst]

I've hike GSMNP from March to November... and ticks just are not a problem there.

They do exist, and I have seen ticks... but I've seen more ticks on the ground or on a tree than I've ever seen on my or my kids.

From what I've been told, the Smokyes are too damp for ticks to proliferate. They prefer a climate that is much drier.

. Smokeys are too damp for ticks, that they enjoy drier climates than what generally exists in the Smokeys.

ditto. before i started treating with permethrin, i'd never seen a tick in the Smokies, but found them all the time when hiking on the Cumberland Plateau. since i started treating my socks and pants that has dropped to zero.

[Migrating Bird]

Twisting ticks significantly increases the likelihood of breaking off their mouth-parts under your skin, leading to infection and thus twisting is strongly discouraged.
Here is some information pasted from the CDC.
======
How to remove a tick

1. Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.
2. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
3. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.
4. Dispose of a live tick by submersing it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape, or flushing it down the toilet. Never crush a tick with your fingers.

=======
Also, regarding the use of tweezers . . . removing ticks from pets that are moving around and covered in hair can be very hard to do with straight, fine-tipped tweezers. I have not found had the same problem using straight, fine-tipped tweezers on humans.

To each his own. The CDC is stating Don't twist or jerk the tick with fine-tipped tweezers. This is significantly different than using the Odom Tick Twister as no pressure is applied to the tick whatsoever. Of course twisting or jerking with tweezers will break the tick apart. I have never broken the mouth parts off (many many) imbedded ticks on me, family or pets with the Odom tick twister. The proof is that the tick can be seen trapped in the vee shaped slot wiggling. When I remove the tick by sliding the tick off the OTT, the tick is crawling around normally, mouth parts intact. I do not subscribe to the tweezer theory as common sense tells me that if I apply (enough?) pressure with tweezers to get an imbedded tick out, then I will cause damage to the tick by squeezing the ticks body or would pull the tick apart. Squeeze the tick too hard and force the ticks body fluids into the wound. "leave it alone and let the skin heal" Does this makes sense? Leaving the head in the wound is a remedy for infection. I'm not trying to start an argument, just stating what works for me and why, your results may vary.

[Sarcasm the elf]

To each his own. The CDC is stating Don't twist or jerk the tick with fine-tipped tweezers. This is significantly different than using the Odom Tick Twister as no pressure is applied to the tick whatsoever. Of course twisting or jerking with tweezers will break the tick apart. I have never broken the mouth parts off (many many) imbedded ticks on me, family or pets with the Odom tick twister. The proof is that the tick can be seen trapped in the vee shaped slot wiggling. When I remove the tick by sliding the tick off the OTT, the tick is crawling around normally, mouth parts intact. I do not subscribe to the tweezer theory as common sense tells me that if I apply (enough?) pressure with tweezers to get an imbedded tick out, then I will cause damage to the tick by squeezing the ticks body or would pull the tick apart. Squeeze the tick too hard and force the ticks body fluids into the wound. "leave it alone and let the skin heal" Does this makes sense? Leaving the head in the wound is a remedy for infection. I'm not trying to start an argument, just stating what works for me and why, your results may vary.

Agree 100%