My son came to me today and said "Hey mom, look at my ear".
I thought it was a sticker...but then...it moved.
I had to remove a tick from his ear. Yuck!
My mom had one in her hair the other day. What is going on? Our dogs don't come inside, and the cats are strictly indoor cats. I guess they're coming in the house on my kids' clothing or something, but while they do go outside a lot we dont' go anywhere that has high grass or wooded areas. Just my yard, which we keep cut, and the park which also is kept mowed.
Besides putting flea and tick collars on my kids, what can I do to protect them? It's way too hot to wear long sleeves and long pants. Are they more likely to come indoors during a drought situation? Alabama is in a serious drought right now.
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I like chocolate cake...leave some chocolate cake on your front step and I won't have to come in.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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btw -- you could always get guinea fowl - they are great for taking care of eating all the tick populations of an area!
My son wears long pants and long sleeves even during the hottest of summer days -- the thin dress-shirt like white shirts -- keeps both the sun and the bugs off as he works outside. My uncle has always worn long sleeves even working outside all summer. I guess that's the way the pioneers did most of the time...
But, of course, ticks can crawl up pant legs and shirt sleeves as well...
Do your kids pet the dogs alot? Are the outside dogs showing signs of lots of ticks?
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I checked the dogs just last night and didn't find any ticks on them, or even fleas for that matter.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Kids get ticks playing. It's not the end of the world, yeah it's a bit gross but the kids will be ok. We have ticks in short grass as much as long grass, so that isn't really going to change much. As long as the kids aren't having serious reactions you shouldn't worry too much. I have in the past had reactions that involved my lymph nodes swelling up and moderate headaches from having a dog tick on the back of my neck. My doctor gave antibiotics just in case but mostly said to live with it and not mess with hair curler's for 4-H fashionreview.
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*Ya can get some people to give testimonial to anything. Just toss out the complaints, and voila the latest "miracle"product.
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quote:Originally posted by Farmgirl: My son wears long pants and long sleeves even during the hottest of summer days -- the thin dress-shirt like white shirts -- keeps both the sun and the bugs off as he works outside.
Except for deer flies. Those things will bite right through cloth, multiple times. I have the welts on my back to prove it.
I've actually been surprised at how few ticks I've found at our property. It's in a creek bottom, with the creek forming one boundary, with a couple of acres of tall grass. Yet I've only removed one each from myself, my daughter, and my husband, and I've only seen a couple more crawling around. I'm prepared to get guinea fowl if I need to, but so far the chickens seem to be keeping things under control.
We check our body and hair after coming inside, take.
Actually, I'm surprised how few ticks we've gotten on ourselves, since we've also wandered around a creek bed in the middle of 'the woods', back when we were out 'exploring' our backyard.
Anyway, kids play, get dirty, and get bugs on them, at least in rural areas. I wouldn't fret. Ticks are just gross. Not dangerous... Well, except for lyme disease, but that's easily treatable, and not deadly, and that's only with a specific kind of tick, I think.
Posts: 438 | Registered: May 2006
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Ticks are a semi-serious concern in my job, since we do so much outdoors stuff. This is mostly because every tick can cause bacterial infection, and some ticks carry Lyme Disease, which can be a serious problem if you don't catch it early.
Where did your son get bit on the ear? Was it inside the ear, or on the outside cartiladge (sp?) part? A friend of mine told me how one of her friends had a tick crawl deep enough into her each that when it bit her, her meninges became infected, and the swelling killed her in a day and a half (like with meningitis or encephalitis). So, yeah, beware the ears. If the tick manages to crawl into the ear and bit, the results can be nasty.
Also, do you know the species of the tick? If your son starts exhibiting aches or fever soon, or gets a large circular rash (though only 3/4 of people actually develop this symptom), you should probably go to a doctor, and tell them about the tick. If they think it's lyme disease, they'll probably go ahead and give him the antibiotics, just to be safe.
Lyme disease isn't too common with ticks, though, unless you live in a particularly nasty area (like Pennsylvania). Here's a nifty article on it: Lyme Disease-Topic Overview.
As for getting rid of ticks, try this:
1. Wear long pants, and tuck them in your socks. This makes it more difficult (but not impossible) for ticks to get in. 2. You can try using DEET products on your lower pant legs and shoes (especially your shoes). I've heard mixed results about DEET and ticks, and I usually just do #1 if I'm expecting ticks (DEET works well against chiggers). 3. Tuck your shirt in, so it becomes more difficult for them to climb down your pants, or up your shirt. 4. Walk in well-burned forests. Heavy overgrowth is asking for ticks. They sit on leaves, trying to sense CO2. Ticks will literally drop down from forest canopies onto their victim, or they'll rest on leaves and wait for something to walk by, and catch onto the hair/pants/fur/etc. It's really creepy, actually, if you happen to see one on a leaf doing this. They stick their forelegs out, and just let them wave in the air, when they sense someone comming. 6. Hot water. If your kids are unfortunate enough to run into a nest, wash their cloths in REALLY hot water. You can use bleach, too, if you don't mind it, but I've been told and have found that hot water works just as well. This is, of course, after you pull the 20+ ticks off them (darn nests... ).
You said you lived in Alabama? You're going to have problems with ticks all year long then, even if you don't always notice them. Ticks only vanish when its cold. They do come out more often in the rain (I *think*), but they're still there when its not raining. I've had ticks drop from trees onto my arms in the middle of the UF campus, in the autumn.
quote:Anyway, kids play, get dirty, and get bugs on them, at least in rural areas. I wouldn't fret. Ticks are just gross. Not dangerous... Well, except for lyme disease, but that's easily treatable, and not deadly, and that's only with a specific kind of tick, I think.
Lyme disease is easily treatable if you catch it early. If you don't, it can cause long term arthritis, neurological problems, and other health problems, so while its not deadly, you really don't want to get it. The problem is that lyme disease is easily misdiagnosed. The trademark rash only occurs in about 3/4 of the population. I usually make it a point to pay closer attention to my health each time I come in from the field with tick bites.
The upshot is that if your doctor even suspects you have lyme disease, they'll usually just go ahead and give you the antibiotics, just in case. So, if you do go to a doctor in time, you're going to be fine.
There are two, or maybe three, ticks in the US that carry the disease (I think they're listed in the above linked article). It's a problem if you live in certain areas of the country, which (I think) include the southeast and the northeast and mid-northeast states.
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Okay, sorry for the double post: it's deer ticks and some other tick. Deer ticks can be found in the eastern US (and maybe midwest?).
And while other ticks aren't deadly (unless you get a freak occurance, like with the ear story above), you can get a bacterial infection from one, and that can be annoying.
Posts: 17 | Registered: Dec 2006
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Ikemook, you forgot one thing: Permethrin is even better than DEET for keeping the ticks off. Just make sure to follow the directions and keep the stuff off your skin.
Also, it is a good idea to teach kids the proper way to remove a tick that in embedded in your skin. There are dozens of wrong ways touted as good solutions. I've yet to come across a scout that hasn't needed to unlearn some way of "removing" a tick. Match heads and vaseline seem to be the most common suggestions. Vaseline is particularly bad, because it still leaves you open to infection.
Posts: 145 | Registered: Apr 2007
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The tick was on the earlobe, right where he would have been wearing an earring if his ear was pierced.
I think I may have figured out one thing I can do - we have some serious overgrowth of our trees out back, and the limbs are overhanging the deck. When my mom got the tick in her hair, she had just gone outside and brushed up against all that overgrowth. My hubby has promised to cut the limbs back.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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In our area, the tick population seems higher in areas where cattle graze regularly. At any rate, we do have a lot of ticks around here. Anytime from about March through October, after going for a walk in tall grass and weeds, I take off my clothes to check for ticks. (And I check the clothes, too, of course. )
Posts: 1813 | Registered: Apr 2001
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I hate finding ticks in the crease between my scrotum and my leg.
One good thing about having lots of leg hair is that it's harder for the tick to actually get to your skin, and easier to to feel it crawling. Those suckers are hard to feel crawling on bare skin. I don't know why.
Posts: 3354 | Registered: May 2005
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Lime disease is nothing to scoff at. In Malaysia we had tons of fleas but they much preferred our dog then people.
I remember there were 3 grades of fleas.
1: Newly latched on, tiny and red, often found between the claws. Definitely the most difficult to remove.
2: Residents. About the size of a BB and greyish white in color, turned blood red when you squished em for obvious reasons Usually found on the torso of the dog, rarely on the legs. Probably the easiest to remove but difficult to remove correctly, you don't want to leave the head behind.
3: Retired tourists. Filled up ticks that are processing all that blood. About the size of a pea and dark green in color. Never found on the dog always on the wall near where the dog food bowl was kept. No need for removal a good slap with a slipped would finish em off.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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This thread is bringing back horrible memories of when my dad's two akitas got infested with ticks. They probably picked them up during a romp along the canal, but the entire yard ended up infested. We'd bring the dogs in every night and pick at least 50 ticks off of each dog. We filled so many film canisters with their bloated corpses, covered in rubbing alcohol. *shudders* I now react to ticks about the same way I react to cockroaches. They inspire so much disgust and loathing in me.
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