Ticks explode
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If you have dogs and cats, I highly recommend the Seresto collar for them. They last 8 months and are very good at preventing tick attachment. They also seem to prevent midge and mosquito bites, although they are not labeled for that.
Since they are so good with ticks, they should also work for chiggers. At about 50 bucks, they are a bargain considering how long they last. This is not paid shilling, I don't work for the company. I work for a competitor, in fact. I just love the product.
Since they are so good with ticks, they should also work for chiggers. At about 50 bucks, they are a bargain considering how long they last. This is not paid shilling, I don't work for the company. I work for a competitor, in fact. I just love the product.
All those products have gotten so expensive, I suspect a conspiracy. What is the real reason for the jump in prices? You can't touch any of it that is any good for under $60 now (the liquids like frontline and advantic).
just picked 15 off of me and thats not counting my clothes which are outside trill tomorrows wash
Best price I've found is at Foster & Smith for 6 month 55lb plus. It's $15 less than the big pet stores. Might be able to find it for even less. I don't use the collars, had a bad experience with the cat and our vet won't recommend them either.
The spot on products have always been about the same price since the inception of the first one, Frontline. If you break it down month to month, they are about $10-$12 a month depending on which size you buy.
There are cheaper over the counter products that contain pyrethroids as their main ingredient, which I would not use on my dog, I do not find them to be safe or effective enough against ticks. Look carefully at the ingredients in these spot ons. Generic fipronil products (Fiprogard, Fortress, Barricade, Clear Spot--there are many) are about half the price of Frontline, about $5 a dose.
The ticks are definitely out in force, but don't seem any worse than usual down here. My daughter's family was visiting and we spent a lot of time outside, cooking out at a campsite in my woods. My granddaughter played in a tent I setup there. She's a city kid and just goes nuts here, running all over the woods, makes me cringe a bit. But nobody got any tick bites and the only precaution we took was light spraying with DEET (plus regular "tick checks").
I have been using permethrin treated clothes for the past month and haven't had any tick problems whatsoever. They don't really have to be a problem if you take minimal precautions and use common sense. Now chiggers are another matter, but I haven't seen any of those yet this year.
I have been using permethrin treated clothes for the past month and haven't had any tick problems whatsoever. They don't really have to be a problem if you take minimal precautions and use common sense. Now chiggers are another matter, but I haven't seen any of those yet this year.
Permethrin is all I use for myself anymore, and skin-so-soft expedition for the flying blood-suckers. Permethrin is the active ingredient in Advantix K9; it is fatal to cats though, so care has to be used after applying it to the pooch.
Guess I have just gotten old. But there isn't anywhere in the pines that interests me enough to put up with that….
Same here, they haven't seemed as bad for me so far, however, I have noticed more in the last week. An uptick, if you will. 
When I'm out exploring I wear permethrin treated clothes and Outdoor Reasearch "tick gaiters" (great pickup, by the way, really like them)
When I'm out exploring I wear permethrin treated clothes and Outdoor Reasearch "tick gaiters" (great pickup, by the way, really like them)
I have peremethrin but had stupidly taken it out of the truck and put it in the house.When I got to the woods I intended to spray (I always forget to spray in advance like I"m supposed to) and then I realized I left it home.
I have picked as much as 80 ticks off of me at one time.I do believe the ticks and chiggers are both worse down here then up there.The closer you get to the bay the more kinds of nasties you get and the greater the armies. I get ticks and chiggers in Wharton but nothing like down here.I think are deer population is much more dense down here and probably results in a denser tick population as well.
I have picked as much as 80 ticks off of me at one time.I do believe the ticks and chiggers are both worse down here then up there.The closer you get to the bay the more kinds of nasties you get and the greater the armies. I get ticks and chiggers in Wharton but nothing like down here.I think are deer population is much more dense down here and probably results in a denser tick population as well.
The greenheads will be out soon. Only thing I have found that works for them is the sss expedition.
I've seen a staggering number of dog ticks up here, and lots of lone star ticks in the Pine Barrens, but very few deer ticks so far (knock on wood).
Also, and this is rather bizarre, I must have gotten a bad batch of permethrin, because it's not working anywhere near as well as last year. I sprayed my clothes, let them dry for 24 hours, and am still picking dog and lone star ticks off me left and right. I even watch to see if it will affect them, and they keep crawling. Has anyone else had this experience?
Also, and this is rather bizarre, I must have gotten a bad batch of permethrin, because it's not working anywhere near as well as last year. I sprayed my clothes, let them dry for 24 hours, and am still picking dog and lone star ticks off me left and right. I even watch to see if it will affect them, and they keep crawling. Has anyone else had this experience?
I've had that experience with every repellent known to man. Forget about it. The only thing is vigilance, straight up.
Never have gotten ticks or chiggers after spraying with that stuff.Perhaps they've evolved resistance to it or maybe the resisitance was there all along and it's coming to the fore now?
The adult deer ticks will be around in the fall when things are cooler. Now is the time of year for the nymphs (at least until it gets hot), which are much harder to spot and usually bite mice and other small mammals.
Repellents are so tricky. Permethrin should prevent ticks from biting but that doesn't prevent them from grabbing you as you walk by their particular blade of grass. It should also kill them or at least cause hyperexcitation that should make them fall off, but they don't always read the manual.
In other words, ticks are total jerks.
Bobpbx, I agree about the vigilance. We are definitely vigilant, but my concern is that one deer tick that I don't see on my clothes that falls off into my car, and ultimately gets onto one of the kids.
Al, the resistance was one of my concerns.
Sue, great info. I've heard conflicting things about whether deer ticks are born with Lyme. Also, I use permethrin, we have short hair in the summer (myself and the boys get a buzz cut, my wife of course leaves hers long). I use the lint roller trick, and we do full tick checks and wash clothes as soon as we get home. Are there any other tips? I refuse to let these bastards scare us out of the woods, but I am concerned that we are rolling the dice just by being out so much. Your thoughts?
Al, the resistance was one of my concerns.
Sue, great info. I've heard conflicting things about whether deer ticks are born with Lyme. Also, I use permethrin, we have short hair in the summer (myself and the boys get a buzz cut, my wife of course leaves hers long). I use the lint roller trick, and we do full tick checks and wash clothes as soon as we get home. Are there any other tips? I refuse to let these bastards scare us out of the woods, but I am concerned that we are rolling the dice just by being out so much. Your thoughts?
My 2 1/2 cents.
Since nothing is foolproof and some will bond to you; if I find an embedded one I use a Q-tip moistened with permethrin. Instant death and it falls off. I prefer not using tweezers as it can force the fluids into you. Works especially well on the dog and in hair. The lint roller will remove the unattached ones; once they grab hold, they really hold on. From the research I've read you have 24hrs to remove any attached tick before the chance of Lyme's kicks in. I had the bullseye a couple of years back, doc put me on the antibiotic regimen for a month and no ill effects to date. The test to determine the disease are hit and miss at best. I know of one person that spends a lot of time afield and he sprayed the fabric in his truck with permethrin, won't work on vinyl though. Probably the most effective deterrent is permethrin all clothing you wear afield and tuck pants into socks. Shorts are a no-no.
Since nothing is foolproof and some will bond to you; if I find an embedded one I use a Q-tip moistened with permethrin. Instant death and it falls off. I prefer not using tweezers as it can force the fluids into you. Works especially well on the dog and in hair. The lint roller will remove the unattached ones; once they grab hold, they really hold on. From the research I've read you have 24hrs to remove any attached tick before the chance of Lyme's kicks in. I had the bullseye a couple of years back, doc put me on the antibiotic regimen for a month and no ill effects to date. The test to determine the disease are hit and miss at best. I know of one person that spends a lot of time afield and he sprayed the fabric in his truck with permethrin, won't work on vinyl though. Probably the most effective deterrent is permethrin all clothing you wear afield and tuck pants into socks. Shorts are a no-no.
You, and I, and Guy, and everyone else on this board rolls the dice each time we go out. When I switched to rubber knee boots in about 1990 or so, I saw a 98% decrease in the number of ticks on my body. They grab onto the boot, but can't really attach, and so are easily swept off by the next branch. I still spray at the boot tops and on the front of my thighs, but that is only a wish and a prayer. You say you wash clothes when you get home. That is only a start, you have to take a shower too. I am in the middle of building a crude outdoor shower back by my deck. I washed so much last summer (twice a day), I could not keep up with the mold that wanted to take over my shower. The outdoor shower should cut that back. Despite all the vigilance, they manage to get through. Twice in the last 4 months I was out somewhere the next day, and felt a pinprick sensation under my clothes. Don't ignore that! Both times they were ticks, the last one was about 1.5 mm wide. Even if you are in the middle of the supermarket, drop your pants and check (just kidding, but only a little).
Also, wear light colored pants. This is key, you need to see them. Works great for chiggers too. I have polyester blend pants from Columbia and I can sweep chiggers and ticks right off with my hands when I see them (well, the ticks are harder, but at least you can see them to flick them off with your finger).
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