View Full Version : Anyone know about tick infestations?
barnetmill
03-19-2012, 08:52 PM
Last year starting about in November and getting worse as it warms up I am picking up ticks on my property. There were never ticks on the place before. At first I thought it was from some liveoak firewood that i have cut on a friends property and hauled over. But I have never returned from there with ticks and I am now finding a tick on me for when ever I work in the bush, especially if I am on my hands and knees. I not have keyed the species of tick out yet. They are somewhat small and black. I have noticed more deer about and other fauna than in past years and I am guessing that perhaps the deer are responsible for bringing the ticks in. Does anyone have any knowledge about tick infestations?
sunfish
03-19-2012, 09:14 PM
American dog tick - Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (http://www.entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/medical/american_dog_tick.htm)
brown dog tick - Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille (http://www.entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/medical/brown_dog_tick.htm)
barnetmill
03-19-2012, 09:29 PM
American dog tick - Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (http://www.entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/medical/american_dog_tick.htm)
brown dog tick - Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille (http://www.entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/medical/brown_dog_tick.htm)
Thanks for links.
There almost no loose dogs running on my property. Coyotes and foxes do come and go as they will. But there are a frequent raccoons and some deer also and maybe a bobcat.
island cassie
03-20-2012, 11:30 AM
Folks in the States do have problems with deer ticks, which might be your problem. Sorry I can't help you further but someone on here must know. Good luck!
Senorita Lemon
03-20-2012, 05:26 PM
Sounds like deer ticks to me. I used to see them on a farm I had in Southern Illinois adjacent to a national forest. When tricks reproduce it's like the plague in that location.
I had a small spot like that on the farm where brown ticks were. Every time I was there for more than a few minutes I had them on me.
Dangermouse01
03-20-2012, 05:35 PM
Ticks give me the hebejebes.
Deer tick would be my guess also, carriers of Lyme disease. Take the time to remove them from you when you find them, then check yourself twice for more of them.
DM
RobG7aChattTN
03-21-2012, 12:56 PM
Ticks usually have a two-host live cycle where the small, young ticks feed first on mice and then the older ticks feed on deer. So, they suggest that to reduce your tick problem to try and reduce the number of mice and deer. I got guineas one year specifically to get rid of ticks. Well, the ticks just disappeared as well as the crickets that I usually saw when I mowed and basically every other insect. Well, the neighbor's dog killed all the guineas one by one that first summer and my wife was glad to be rid of them because they pooped on the front porch all the time. It actually took two years before I started seeing any Japanese beetles again (none while they were alive, almost none the next two years). Well, this year (three years later) we are seeing ticks all over again and one of the cats slept on my daughter's bed the other day and we found 6 ticks on the bed that night. I've heard that chickens are almost as good as guineas so I'm trying to get my wife to give them a shot.
barnetmill
03-21-2012, 09:35 PM
Sounds like deer ticks to me. I used to see them on a farm I had in Southern Illinois adjacent to a national forest. When tricks reproduce it's like the plague in that location.
I had a small spot like that on the farm where brown ticks were. Every time I was there for more than a few minutes I had them on me.
Ticks that are most commonly associated with lyme disease are of the genera Ixodes (deer ticks) and Amblyomma (lone star tick). Deer ticks are very tiney and the lone star tick is brown with a white spot. So far none of these ticks bothering me look like these.
On another forum in a guerrilla field thread I was given all sorts of suggestions:Originally Posted by barnetmill View Post
From time to time I buy permethrin to spray my house for roaches. Is it safe use this same mixture to spray the shoes and the outside of lower pants legs with this pesticide? I certainly can also get some sulfur. I assume it should be a pure sulfur powder and not a salt like Sodium sulfate. I might also try avon skin so soft which I use against our NWFL yellow flys (Sort of a vicious deer fly). I think it was Texican gal that also mentioned CedarCide. I will have to look these up. The dryer sheets are maybe a thing to use.
These ticks that are latching on to me are bigger than the lyme carriers, but they might carry other things, but if they are here then the lyme tics could also be here. I have noticed more deer sign lately and the ticks could be associated with that increased presence.
Darkman
03-24-2012, 05:11 PM
Barnetmill,
I think the Lyme disease carrying ticks only live in the North, maybe in the Applachain Mountain range. I almost positive they do not live near us.
For you the Guineas sound great. They roost in trees and coyote preditation should not be a problem. They also make excellent guard animals.
barnetmill
03-24-2012, 06:19 PM
Barnetmill,
I think the Lyme disease carrying ticks only live in the North, maybe in the Applachain Mountain range. I almost positive they do not live near us.
For you the Guineas sound great. They roost in trees and coyote preditation should not be a problem. They also make excellent guard animals.
The significant other of a friend of mine caught lyme disease most likely a few miles north of me. He is a cross country biker and mostly likely caught it in the woods. It is not known which tick gave it to him.
Lyme Disease in Florida (http://www.canlyme.com/floridasteroid.html)
Lyme disease was first described in the United States in Old Lyme, Conn. in 1975. ... been reported in most parts of the country, ,,, at least 382 documented cases in Florida between 1990 and 1999. ..... more cases are misdiagnosed, or unreported.
Huggins never will forget the morning in February 2000 when he discovered hundreds of pinhead-size ticks covering his body after returning from a spring turkey scouting trip at the Seminole Ranch Wildlife Management Area west of Titusville.
The above really sounds like the small ticks that carry lyme disease and this fellow did came down with the disease.
Darkman
03-25-2012, 05:01 PM
This from the American Lyme Disease Foundation.
American Lyme Disease Foundation (http://aldf.com/usmap.shtml)
It says that we in Florida are in the rare area. From 2004 through 2008 the chances were anywhere from 1 in 500,000 (06,07) to 1 in 250,000 (08). Alabama was 1 in 1,000,000 (04,05,08) to 1 in 300,000 (07). Mississippi in (04,05,07,08) and Louisiana in (04,06,07) were None Reported. The other years they were 1 in 1,000,000.
http://aldf.com/Lyme_Disease_Reported_Cases_byState_2004_2008.pdf
Your friend should stay indoors during lightening storms!
I hope the host tick is not expanding its range Southward.
RobG7aChattTN
03-25-2012, 09:06 PM
The little pinhead ticks are the first year babies and the larger ticks are the adults. They are all the same species of ticks, just different ages. Also, I've heard that a tick has to be attached for at least 36 hours to infect you with lyme disease. I guess that's the time it takes for the tick to get full and have fluid...and the virus, go the other direction and into your body.
Darkman
03-26-2012, 08:53 PM
I can remember when (late 60's - 70's) there were lots of ticks where I live but I haven't seen one in many years now.
momoese
03-29-2012, 12:41 PM
Just saw this..
Ticks season is coming: They’ll bug you this spring | The Upshot - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/ticks-season-coming-ll-bug-spring-213325176.html)
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