Ticks

[Open Eyes]

Apart from the obvious which is to cover oneself with clothing from head to toe are there any creams or sprays which deter them?

I am asking since i use a bicycle to ride in the woods and come home with ticks. I ride for sport so that means i do travel quite a bit on my bike during the week and can cover anywhere from just 60 miles in a bad weather week all the way up to 250 miles when it is sunny.

These lengthy trips make wearing anything but Lycra nearly impossible hence i am covered with ticks when i get back. Last week i missed one of them bastards and it was sucking on my scrotum for a few days before i found out what the heck that itching was. The little bugger made it all the way up and under my lycra to latch on and suck the life out of me. By the time i got to him his belly was gorged with blood and almost made me sick when i saw it. There was a good satisfying crunch when i splattered his guts all over the place though.

I am not aware of Lyme disease being here in the UK yet but this is something which i really had to worry about when i was in the US.

*Edit....
Did a search and only after searching the second time did i come up with a few threads so it looks liek this has been covered. Sorry for wasting your time

 

[blackone]

Well here in Denmark we have Lyme's disease and I'm pretty worried about that one because I get a lot of ticks on me from my guerilla trips. I would assume you have it too...
Best you can do is check, and check again. If the ticks are removed early then the risk is decreased a lot - leaving mouth parts in the skin isn't good though, so be careful how you remove them. Unfortunately it's not always possible to get them out in one piece.

Changing all of your clothes when you come home from a trip and then taking a bath helps a lot.
They can crawl around for a long time before they finally find a nice warm place to suck blood.

 

[Open Eyes]

I could not believe how small some of them are. I pulled off the first dozen or so thinking that this was the end but then found 6 more the next day when i investigated small black spots. And by small i mean really small.

I shave my legs and arms for sanitation of the wound in case i spill it at high speed so finding ticks that are there is a bit easier than if i did not shave them.

Now i am going to have to find out if we have Lyme disease here in teh UK then cos that is just scary.

Thanks for those tips mate

 

[THC123]

These lengthy trips make wearing anything but Lycra nearly impossible hence i am covered with ticks when i get back.

Hey ,

I also wear lycra when on the mountainbike , but as soon as i arrive at my guerillia spot i change clothes to long jeans and sweater

 

[Guest]

Hey Open eyes,
The best repellent for ticks is Permanone. You apply it to clothes only, not skin! I don't know if it is available in the UK though. Something to check out!
peace.

 

[Fingaz2]

Lymes is in the UK, check the spot where tick was carefully. If there is an area of red round there, or red blotches, then consult doctor. Not usually a problem if ticks are removed before they get a bagfull, up to 18 hours. But be warned those little deer ticks are tiny. Pyrethoid insect spray around socks wrists ankles etc helps. Hope you are ok. Take care.

 

[PermaBuzz]

ticks can be almost impossible to avoid picking up
even with permanone and tight clothing.

weather can make a difference.
ticks dont like windy rainy weather
so try to hike during those times.
helps to avoid contact with other hikers too.

 

[Pinball Wizard]

DEET works well...(don't get it on your watch cristal)

 

[PermaBuzz]

DEET helps some but not enough.

 

[Pinball Wizard]

25% DEET will stop a charging rhino...

 

[DocLeaf]

Some populations of Deer do have lymes disease in the UK !! and some people!!

info. : http://www.wadhurst.demon.co.uk/lyme/

 

[icmag.is.#1]

DEET works well...(don't get it on your watch cristal)[/quot




what does DEET do to the watch crystaL?

 

[Ribsauce]

yea man i hate ticks i always seem to find em as well... you said you were surprised by the small size of the ticks and i just wanted to say definitely watch any suspected bites... at least where im from it is the Deer Tick that carries Lyme and they are very very very tiny... about six years ago i got a tick bite (in the middle of Winter) that swelled up and got the Lyme trademark "bullseye" rash around the bite... well i waited a few days then decided i must go to the drs... my family doctor looked at it and immediately sent me to the nearest Hospital with a specialist... they took a section of my skin out around the bite with a monsterous cookie cutter looking syringe... it ended up i just was having an allergic reaction to having some of the mouth parts of the tick in my back still... i guess i got lucky but many people dont

 

[Pinball Wizard]

DEET works well...(don't get it on your watch cristal)[/quot




what does DEET do to the watch crystaL?

it goes from clear to cloudy...like, trichomes

 

[nomaad]

yeah. tick on your scrote. a friend came back from his guerilla spot last week with three off them.

anybody know how long a lymed up deer tick has to be sucking on your nutsack before you are at risk of contracting lymes disease?

 

[Guest]

They're so thick around here sometimes they kill deer, but thank goodness we don't have any lyme disease.

Each morning when i come in from the guerilla grow, I take off my clothes on the porch. When i come in i throw them in the washer and hop into the shower for my tick bath. The only cure.

Ticks by nature, attempt to reach the highest point on its victim just in case the victim wants to take a swim. If they're not dug in, water knocks them off at least around here.

 

[Fingaz2]

Forgot to add, tuck your trousers into your socks. Ticks are attracted by acetic acid in sweat, maybe get some strong B O Basher on your socks, splash it on all over, Enry.

 

[buddah]

i had Lyme as i was young!!!!
And since some years we have meningitis, too in my area......and i can tell u i am feared of these lil. bastards............u make my self sometimes carzy after getting ticks here....hopefully i dont have a meningitis

 

[Open Eyes]

Thank you everybody

 

[microgram]

Hey Open Eyes. I know im probably bumping a thread, but like THC123 said. Bring a change of clothes, have a story ready for it though. And Invest in a 10$ Lice comb; it's the best damn buck you'll ever spend.