For your safety

My biggest fear is anything parisitic. Ticks, leeches, etc. That being said, I would like to share a story.

Saturday, I fished the Gravel Pit in Fairview. Lots of people on the lazy-man side, so I went to the opposite shore. Caught a few, went home to watch the pens beat the devils. Sitting on the couch, watching the game, feel something on my arm. Lo and behold, big old nasty black-legged tick (formerly known as a deer tick)! The only thing keeping me from running screaming from my house was the fact that if I didn't take care of it, it would have probably ended up on my son. So, I calmly (yeah right) flushed it down the turlet.

This is the first time I have ever had a tick on me in 33 years of living in this area. Here is a link of common ticks in our area, prevention and other info. Especially if you take your kids fishing (or plan to like me), please take a look at it and take precautions, as they are going to be bad this year because of the mild winter.

http://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/pdf/ticks.pdf

Take care out there and tight lines!

This is the first time I have ever had a tick on me in 33 years of living in this area.

You've been lucky in 33 years if you spend much time in the outdoors. I get at least one on me every time out spring gobbler hunting, several during deer season, and have already had 2 on me this year just from cleaning up stuff around my yard. It's to the point now where I thoroughly check myself every evening after being outdoors, even when just doing yard work around the house.

FYI - If you do get a tick that has attached itself, the best thing you can do is grab it as close to the head as possible and pull it straight out. If the head breaks off and stays under your skin it shouldn't cause any problems and will just be absorbed.

It's an old wives tale to put soap, a match, or anything toxic on the tick to get it to come out. That will just make it sick, and it will basically throw-up in the bite wound which is exactly what you don't want. Also, never grab one by the middle of the body and squeeze. All of the bacteria including lymes disease in deer ticks, are found in the ticks stomach.

Crap, I'll have to check myself.  I was just on that side of the Gravel Pits the other day.  I've never had a tick before either.

Holey crap that's a ton of ticks! Ya got me itching now....

I'm orginally from the great white north of Minnesota where the tick (wood and otherwise) is our state mascot. I've had more ticks on me that I know what to do with. Here are some things I've learned:

* you can't drown a tick by putting it in a toilet
* you CAN drown a tick by putting it in a pill bottle with some liquid dish soap (also makes a nice decorative piece)
* I've never once had a tick's head pop off - I don't understand why the experts always say to be careful for that
* ripping its little head off will kill a tick every time
* chopping a tick in half with your pocket knife will also do the trick
* ticks make the most wonderfull popping sound when you put them on a hot stove - also a sure fire way of taking care of them

Coincidentally my one claim to fame is that I had the first fully treatable case of Lymes disease in Minnesota. Worst case scenario anymore is that you get bit, you watch the bite, if it gets a red target around it you go to the doctor and they give you drugs. Then you're TA Da all better.

I think I posted this on a thred about ticks last year... but when I was in the Marine Corps we used to get ticks all over us when we went to the field, and I mean ALL over us!
Until one of my sargents told us to tear the heads off of the matches that came in our MRE and swallow them like a Tylenol. I gave it a try and from that point on (as long as I swallowed one book a match heads every day we were in the field) I never had a tick imbed in me again. I guess the sulfer from the matches gets into your system and the ticks can't stand it.

Now I don't know how good for you eating match heads is, but it never made me sick. And my feeling is it's better than Lymes disease.

Another one.... hmmm.....

http://www.ehow.com/how_5665976_eat-sulfur-mosquito-repellent.html


Smitty

I had a tick head dug out of my leg at the VA last month.

And by the way a bullseye rash does not always appear with Lyme disease. Get checked.

Little jar with alcholhol will kill them. I heard a dab of petroleum jelly will make them back out or suffocate them!

ORIGINAL: jon_e_si

 I heard a dab of petroleum jelly will make them back out or suffocate them!

And before it backs out it will vomit whatever toxins it may be carrying into your blood stream.  Heat and any other substance that "forces" a tick back out will have the same effect. 

As mentioned earlier in this thread, the preferred method is to use tweezers to grab as close to the head as possible and slowly pull it straight out.    

Pulled one off the lab last week. Time for frontline, expensive but worth it.

Ticks......
Asian carp......


Whats plague is next?

went to a local store and picked one of these up. http://www.ticktwister.com/ Worked pretty darn good.

I checked these out and they are strongly recommended on several continents. The original patent was issued to a French vet back in the 1990's. These recommendations included several medical studies.

I just ordered four sets of the O'Tom Tick Twister directly from the site you posted. The O'Tom's are a set of two similar devices with one being the standard size and the other, a small size capable of extracting the tick when it's freshly attached and difficult to grasp. The other model comes in only one size -- medium/large. But it is also attachable to a key chain. Both are $5.00 each plus $3.95 shipping for up to (I think) six each.

Given the wacky weather we've experienced, no doubt we can expect an explosion in the macroinvertebrate population in the months to come.

Thanks for your timely information.

early '70s was stationed in maryland and fished alot of the ponds in the area. picked up ticks every outing. on one occassion after showering and checking by bod as best i could i hit the bunk in the barracks only to wake up the next morning with one crawling out of my ear fat and happy! shudder about this to this day.