Lower Your Risk of Tick Attachment

by Dolly R. Sickles

Posted: Aug 17, 2007

According to a recent WRAL news story, State Says Guilford County Woman Died From Spotted Fever, cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever hit North Carolina and Oklahoma more than any other state.

The Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory's Web site notes: "Tick bite prevention can include personal protection and reduction of tick populations." Here's a couple of suggestions they make for personal protection:

Wear light colored clothing so that it's easy to see ticks.
Tuck your pants legs into socks. (Bear in mind, you don't need to wear drab, white athletic socks. Let your gardening guru shine through with style.)
Stay out of heavily wooded areas, particularly where pine straw heavility coats the ground.
Examine yourself and children for ticks; don't depend on showering as a form of removal.

What tips do you have for staying tick free?

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Dolly, I always have at least one cat underfoot whenever I'm out in the yard. I'm sure the ticks would prefer the cat over me any day!

Legswilson
GOLO member since July 12, 2007
August 17, 2007 10:15 p.m.

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I don't have any tips for the ticks staying off (well, maybe tick spray before going out) but people surely need to know what to do in case they find a tick attached to them!! Remove tick carefully making sure the head comes off with the rest of the body. Put the tick in a plastic baggy and keep for several weeks. Note the date on a calendar when tick was removed. Monitor the tick site carefully for any unusual signs such as bullseye, redness, rash,etc. If anything unusual, take the tick to the Dr's office when you go so the tick can be indentified. Usually if there are going to be problems, it will be during the two week mark of the bite.

jetset
August 19, 2007 8:07 a.m.

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I have found that Permanome is the ONLY surefire way to keep the ticks of off you. Spray it on your clothes, not your skin. The only store that carries it that I know of is Wal-Mart in the camping section. You`ll have to look for it yourself because the part-time clerks don`t know what they have in stock.

Josey Wales
August 19, 2007 8:45 a.m.

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I helped my neighbor recently take down a dead pine tree in the natural area in front of his house. Unfortunatly I was wearing shorts and forgot entirely about possible tick infestations.

We sucessfully brought the tree down. About two hours later I began getting what I thought were mosquito bites on my legs, but found out that I had very tiny baby ticks eating me up. After a 30 minute scalding hot shower and a tweezer load of picking, the bugs were gone......

But.....these bites lasted for almost two months.....red spots, itching like the devil, and no sign of relief.

I won't be going out in the woods with shorts on anymore that's for sure......I used clear calimine and clear nail polish to finally get relief......

dumb ol me!

Big Mike
August 19, 2007 5:27 p.m.

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Lower Your Risk of Tick Attachment

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