What dangerous animals live in the pines?
- Thread starter aeroten
- Start date
Well, there's the Jersey Devil for starters...actually you have very little to worry about. There are black bears but they are very few and far between, you might want to tie up your food as a precaution, good idea anyway for the racoons. The only poisonous snake is the timber rattle snake but it is endangered and a fairly rare sight. They are also extremely non confrontational, they won't come after you, if you see one consider yourself lucky and then just back away (don't harm the snake).
the biggest danger you face are chiggers and ticks. Avoid thick brush and tuck your pants in your socks and use plenty of bug spray. Becareful of wandering off also (especially if you have kids) there is alot of woods out there. Oh yeah, there are black widow spiders and brown recluese spiders and well, but few and far betweeen. Hope you have a nice trip.
Jeff
the biggest danger you face are chiggers and ticks. Avoid thick brush and tuck your pants in your socks and use plenty of bug spray. Becareful of wandering off also (especially if you have kids) there is alot of woods out there. Oh yeah, there are black widow spiders and brown recluese spiders and well, but few and far betweeen. Hope you have a nice trip.
Jeff
I guess there's a primal instinct deep inside us that fears animals over other threats but in reality you have more to fear from other people than from any critter you might encounter out there (including other drivers on the way to your destination).
I do agree about the ticks though. I was hiking near Martha a few days ago and came home with a mess of them, even though I was pretty well doused with DEET from the knees down. I guess it's time to start covering more of myself with spray now that it's warming up.
I do agree about the ticks though. I was hiking near Martha a few days ago and came home with a mess of them, even though I was pretty well doused with DEET from the knees down. I guess it's time to start covering more of myself with spray now that it's warming up.
http://www.bitesandstingsonline.com...AW=permethrin&OVKEY=permethrin&OVMTC=standard
Welcome to the site,the above link will show you that the best defense for ticks is deet on the skin,then apply permithrin to your clothing,have a great camping outing.
Welcome to the site,the above link will show you that the best defense for ticks is deet on the skin,then apply permithrin to your clothing,have a great camping outing.
Any animal that appears to have a foamy white beard would be a good one to avoid.
Other than that, most of the timid woodland creatures are very timid.
You are not likely to have a face to face with anything other than a raccoon looking for a half eaten Reese's under your sleeping bag.
Other than that, most of the timid woodland creatures are very timid.
You are not likely to have a face to face with anything other than a raccoon looking for a half eaten Reese's under your sleeping bag.
Any animal that appears to have a foamy white beard would be a good one to avoid.
Other than that, most of the timid woodland creatures are very timid.
You are not likely to have a face to face with anything other than a raccoon looking for a half eaten Reese's under your sleeping bag.
And the ocasional black cat w/ white racing stripe...try not to provoke them!
As discussed before, my own experience is that DEET is worthless for tick protection. Get a Permethrin-based spray and use it to treat your clothes as per instructions (you douse the outside of all clothing and leave it out to dry for awhile). I got mine in the camping gear dept at WalMart, it's called "permanone".
People are probablly getting tired of me extolling the virtues of this stuff, but it works like magic for me. I live out in the woods and spend many hours hiking, working, sitting on things, and I haven't gotten any bites since I started using Permethrin. With DEET, I have watched ticks happily crawl up my pants while they were still moist from the spray. It also seems to be effective against chiggers.
A couple days ago it was warm and I was sitting on a log in the woods. I saw ticks crawling around on the ground and 3 of them were crawling up the leg of my jeans. None of them made it any higher than my knee; they all started freaking out and just dropped off. And these pants were treated with the spray almost a month ago. It even remains effective through several washings of the treated clothes. I have two sets of treated clothes which I store and wash separately from my regular clothes.
The stuff is so effective that just walking across the treated clothes is enough to do them in. Just be sure to tuck your pants into your socks, and treat socks, pants, shirt and shoes with the stuff, and check exposed skin from time to time.
I've used permethrin for years and am aware of how effective it is. Before my current job, about 18 years ago (I can't believe it's been that long!) I worked for an environmental consultant, delineating wetlands and doing endangered species searches. There was no staying on safe, wide trails with that job. I was wading through brush everyday and wore a pair of coveralls treated with Permethrin. But its very effectiveness is what scares me. Reading the warnings on the label gives me the willies as well. No matter how safe the manufacturer (or worse, the government!) tells me the product is, anything that kills that quickly gives me reason to pause. Like I said, I use it, but only in situations and activities where I am expecting more tick exposure than normal. Most other times, I've had OK results with DEET, but only if it's applied thoroughly and re-applied during the day.
Why are you so confident about the safety of DEET? Type "DEET cancer" into Google and it will probably scare you also. I'm willing to chance it rather than risk tick bites (while at the same time exposing myself to possible DEET risks).
Yeah like said before anything out there is pretty much more frightened of you then you are of it so you should be just fine.
One case of Lymes (1990) for me is plenty, I'll take my chances using some type of repelent. Deet works ok for me, but I don't like reapplying it (from swimming or sweat). I've never used Permethrin. I think I'll give it a try.
One case of cancer is enough for me I don't think I will be using deet anymore. That google search scared the hell out of me.
In the vistor's center of the Great Swamp (Morris County Great Swamp) there is a little cabinet that says "Open to see the most dangerous animal in the swamp!" When you open it there's a mirror inside-so true...
Wow, point taken. Do you use anything or just check yourself when out? I know someone who just stays out of the woods until first frost, but I don't think I want to go that route. I usually try to stay in my canoe during the summer and be very careful when I get out, but the year I got Lymes I never saw the tick or never got the bulls eye rash so I'm not even sure where I got it.
piker said:
Very good idea, piker. After the big PBX trip on Saturday, I will be severely limiting my time walking through brush. Summer time in the pines is like a two-edged sword. Staying on the water will ensure you that the pleasant side of summer is the side you'll experience.
I have to agree that DEET stinks, at least for ticks. When I did that Brookhaven State Park trip I was on a narrow trail, with touching some brush on occasion and I get this big red tick on me, just after dousing my pants in this exact spot with DEET!(Deep Woods OFF).
I think it was a dog tick. He put up a fight while I was trying to brush him off, then I spotted 3 more ticks (all looked like the 1st one). I'm definately going to get the permethrin! I wonder if it repels the pine flies as well, since DEET seems useless for that as well (I remember last year spraying it all over my and the pine flies were still attacking me).
And they're back out too. In a couple of weeks as the oaks go in full bloom the worms will be back too.
The only creatures I fear in the woods are the bugs, especially the ticks.
They scare me more than.....
I think it was a dog tick. He put up a fight while I was trying to brush him off, then I spotted 3 more ticks (all looked like the 1st one). I'm definately going to get the permethrin! I wonder if it repels the pine flies as well, since DEET seems useless for that as well (I remember last year spraying it all over my and the pine flies were still attacking me).
And they're back out too. In a couple of weeks as the oaks go in full bloom the worms will be back too.
The only creatures I fear in the woods are the bugs, especially the ticks.
They scare me more than.....
Yeah, but that stuff is deadly toxic to a lot more than ticks and chiggers. I don't know if it is worth it to avoid Lyme's disease only later to develop cancer or pass on damaged genes to any children you might have in the future. Think about it, read the warning label on the permathin, just because you spray it on the outside of your clothing doesn't mean its not going to get into your skin. Usually you are going to need that stuff during the hotter months of the year, you sweat, your pores open and...bingo permathin in your bloodstream! Maybe you have something different in your chemistry that makes you attractive to ticks and you really need that poison because I have spent plenty of time in the most bug infested remote sites in Wharton winter and summer, extended trips lasting up to a week or more in time and I have had a few ticks on me, but that was when I started to run out of deet or after jumping into water. What always bothered me the most were biting flies, mosquitoes, and being a hammock camper, all those mutant giant daddy long leg spiders that would rain down off trees and pop against my bug netting, or my head and body if I lay in the hammock without the bug net up. Harmless I know but I hate the creepy crawling nature of those spiders, and there are tons of them from April on through October.
I guess we are different then. I live in the woods and am out for a couple hours every day. During the season, I could easily have 5 or more ticks on me after one of my walks. I have permethrin treated shoes, socks and pants - rarely use a treated shirt. I only wear them during my walk. And this is only during the bad months, mostly May through July. Sometime in August the ticks usually dimish significantly in my area.
I am willing to risk the permethrin because it's so effective, and I had a real tick problem before I started using it. Everyone needs to make their own choice though.