Ticks?

Live on a 38 acre farm and it's been extremely hot in FL so far this year. Very little rain and have barely seen them.

That is horrific though, better check for them on yourself and loved ones too if they are that bad.

 

Yes, its been a bad year. Not so much for my dog, who wears a collar and gets meds, but for my kids especially. Not dozens thankfully, but multiple ones every single time that we go outside at our house. We usually pick a few off a week in the warmer half of the year, but its that many every day this time around.

 

Living by the beach in a densely populated area I don't see many but there is a dog park not to far away that I'll have to keep an eye on. One way to make it easier to spot ticks is cutting the dogs fur short as that will help keep the dog cooler during summer and make it easier to spot the creepy crawlers. Just reading this though made me check my dog now.

 

NexGard. They're pills. Do the treatment for the week, and you'll never see another tick latched onto your dog.

Regarding the area, just keep chickens around the yard.

 

Tick are already bad by me over in Pinehurst.

My old boss got Lyme disease from a tick while cleaning out his shed.

If I were pulling ticks of my kids every time they went outside, I'd spray the yard rather than risk Lyme disease.... as well as avoid the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever that comes with it (which my boss said was absolutely excruciating).

 

Its mostly from the woods. Our house is surrounded by forrest on all four sides. Even in our yard, they're never too far from the treeline. Really unavoidable unless we never go outside.

 

I must be lucky then. I have woods all behind our house, with deer, squirrels, rabbits, and foxes roaming into the back yard, but we don't get many ticks coming into the yard after we treat it. Do you have the kids wear their socks higher and spray that and their shoes down?

 

Shoes don't seem to matter. We pick the ticks out of areas from under our clothes most of the time. I personally wear fairly tight workout shirts as undershirts, tucked into my pants, and still pick them from my armpits and sides. I feel them crawling up my legs a lot of the time, but still have about 4 or 5 bites in those areas right now too. Really, any time that we're outside, home or away, its bound to happen this year.

Its always a situation in the warmest months, but this year its been especially bad. Some attribute it to a winter that was both mild and wet. I found one inside my house the other day that was about half an inch in diameter and grey it was so bloated. I figure that it came off the dog.

 

In years past, its unfortunately not been that unusual for us to find bean sized ones on the dog when we check him. Its awful, but just a fact of life. We got better at a system of keeping them off as the years went by. He's older now though (16) and doesn't go into the woods much, so its less of an issue. Honestly, unless we're outside, he stays in himself these days.

With us and the kids, it hurts when they bite, and we feel them and get rid of them quickly. So, they of course don't bloat up.

 

and spraying your legs down doesn't repel 'me at all?

 

Have you tried clothing that's been treated with permethrin? (sp?) Or buying the spray? It works great.

 

Also, when ticks are in their "nymph" stage they are the most dangerous because you really can't see or feel them. They are literally about 1mm wide and tough to spot. That's why clothes are not the most important factor when it comes to avoiding ticks. DEET also works well.

 

I think it's supposed to only be sprayed onto clothes. When I was in the Marine Corps we'd spray it onto our clothes and let it dry before we wore them. I think you can also buy clothes that are pre-treated and it's supposed to last something like 100 or more washes. I'm not sure if that would make a difference, but I can say that Marines have been using it for years and I never had, or saw, an adverse reaction when using it that way.

 

I don't use it anymore. Only when I was active.

Although, a good deterrence, which I initially was hesitant to suggest and what we used in the Marines....pantyhose. lol.....I know it sounds funny, but once you pull a tick off of your taint pantyhose doesn't seem so bad. haha

 

So I take it you discovered that remedy purely by councidence aye?

 

We've been using a stick that rubs on and is supposed to ward them off the last few weeks. I haven't had to pull as many off of my kids, but its not full proof. In about an hour outside after dinner last night, I pulled at least three of them off of my legs. Got them before they bit me, thankfully. Like I said, where I live its just been such a wet year, the vegetation is very thick, and its often humid, even when its not too hot out. They're just breeding like crazy.

 

Look in to a product called cedarcide. It was developed for the US Army to use to kill sand fleas. Made in TX. It's a fairly effective insect repellent/killer. Insects breathe thru their skin and the concentrated cedar kills instantly. I use it on our dog for fleas, not sure about ticks tho. I just ran in to our old vet, he retired years a go, and he recommended giving the dogs garlic pills. The cedarcide you can get to spray the yard around the house too, which at least keeps the critters away from the house.

Most other flea treatments are neuro toxins that your dog has to absorb into their bloodstream and only effects insects that actually bite your dog. The cedar repels and kills on contact, no biting required. If you can get cedar in their bedding that helps too.

Warning, it's a bit strong smelling but it's cedar smell. so not so bad. It also come in a handy spray that you can use too.