Ticks; 3-4 every time I work outside...
#1
05-23-11, 07:58 AM
Ticks; 3-4 every time I work outside...
25ac ... 12 woods, 8 marsh ..rest is wooded grassy area. I have been tick slammed for the 13yrs we have lived here. We have a 90day biting fly and lotsa mossies, but the ticks are the beasts I like the least.
I wear knee-high rubber boots, sprayed pants, etc.. I also have backpack sprayers, a tow-behind, 25gal, 6hp pumper .. but what I suspect is that I am only able get the ones that are on top surfaces of the brush, leaves, etc.. I have access to most commercial chems.
New idea: Propane FOGGER. Is there any reason that I should not try one of these units to allow the mist to penetrate the brush, bushes, flower beds, etc.?
Jim
I wear knee-high rubber boots, sprayed pants, etc.. I also have backpack sprayers, a tow-behind, 25gal, 6hp pumper .. but what I suspect is that I am only able get the ones that are on top surfaces of the brush, leaves, etc.. I have access to most commercial chems.
New idea: Propane FOGGER. Is there any reason that I should not try one of these units to allow the mist to penetrate the brush, bushes, flower beds, etc.?
Jim
#2
05-23-11, 09:48 AM
Group Moderator
Environmentally I don't like the idea of blanket nuking the area to try and control ticks. There are too many useful & beneficial insects that will also be killed.
I treat my outdoor clothes with Permethrin which is very effective at killing ticks and mosquitoes. You spray it on your clothes and let thoroughly dry. The clothes are protected for 6 weeks or 6 washings. Then a few shots of strong DEET on my exposed skin and I'm protected.
I've read online of making bait traps by soakin cotton in Permethrin (let it dry) and leave it out in the forest. Mice and other small mammals take the treated cotton and build their nests from it which kills the fleas & ticks that live on them. Killing the ticks at one of their main natural food sources.
I treat my outdoor clothes with Permethrin which is very effective at killing ticks and mosquitoes. You spray it on your clothes and let thoroughly dry. The clothes are protected for 6 weeks or 6 washings. Then a few shots of strong DEET on my exposed skin and I'm protected.
I've read online of making bait traps by soakin cotton in Permethrin (let it dry) and leave it out in the forest. Mice and other small mammals take the treated cotton and build their nests from it which kills the fleas & ticks that live on them. Killing the ticks at one of their main natural food sources.
#3
05-23-11, 02:23 PM
I agree with Dane, please don't destroy all the beneficial insects in sight. My wife likes to use Avon Skin so Soft to keep insects away from her while she does her garden and blueberry and grape and apple thingy. Smells better than my Jungle Juice 
. An occasional one will slip in, but normally they are under control by what you do to yourself and your clothing, not their habitat.
. An occasional one will slip in, but normally they are under control by what you do to yourself and your clothing, not their habitat.
#4
05-23-11, 03:41 PM
... "soakin cotton in Permethrin (let it dry) and leave it out in the forest. Mice and other small mammals take the treated cotton" ...
That was a project from a few years ago. Take a clear plastic tube (example: like a 3-pack of men's underwear comes in) do the Permethrin soak/dry. I put out about a 1/2 dozen - even one under the main bird feeder -- lotsa ticks still. Statistically, I'd bet even if the mice are/were willing, it would not touch the numbers we have locally.
Neither my wife nor I work outside without rubber boots. I even mfg. mesh clothing for a few years (I am in that business) back about 10yrs ago because some friends live on Cape Breton Is. on the edge of the Highlands. They get killed by Black Flys ..as we do with our May Flys and Greenheads when living on this marsh.
We wear specific pants and long sleeve Ts that are Permethrin sprayed, then dried. We also have to do hats as these May Flys do orbits around your head like the Rings of Saturn .. 'till the temps hit 80f - then they get mad and bite. Meat chunks with an odd saliva that is 3X as itchy as any other local insect. (1/2mi away from the water - no May Flys ..the realtor forgot to mention that)
Guineafowl - that is about the only real -organic- remedy. But because of the numerous predators .. and us both being gone most of the day, I don't think it practical.
Thanks all. Cheers.
Jim
That was a project from a few years ago. Take a clear plastic tube (example: like a 3-pack of men's underwear comes in) do the Permethrin soak/dry. I put out about a 1/2 dozen - even one under the main bird feeder -- lotsa ticks still. Statistically, I'd bet even if the mice are/were willing, it would not touch the numbers we have locally.
Neither my wife nor I work outside without rubber boots. I even mfg. mesh clothing for a few years (I am in that business) back about 10yrs ago because some friends live on Cape Breton Is. on the edge of the Highlands. They get killed by Black Flys ..as we do with our May Flys and Greenheads when living on this marsh.
We wear specific pants and long sleeve Ts that are Permethrin sprayed, then dried. We also have to do hats as these May Flys do orbits around your head like the Rings of Saturn .. 'till the temps hit 80f - then they get mad and bite. Meat chunks with an odd saliva that is 3X as itchy as any other local insect. (1/2mi away from the water - no May Flys ..the realtor forgot to mention that)
Guineafowl - that is about the only real -organic- remedy. But because of the numerous predators .. and us both being gone most of the day, I don't think it practical.
Thanks all. Cheers.
Jim
#5
05-23-11, 04:29 PM
We have plenty of ticks, but we do no treatment outdoors or indoors for them. Where would you start/stop once you start treating the woods, fields, etc? Even the county vector control guys only do widespread treating for gypsy moths and mosquitoes. Then they use only BTI (biological). A very specifically targeted insecticide.
The chemicals would not last long enough outdoors to do any good for ticks even with widespread coverage, but they would last long enough to do more harm then good.
We are taught to treat our clothing and skin as desired with permethrin and/or deet.
Thorough and prompt showering will remove ticks and their larvae. At least with the deer tick it must be embedded in you for 36-72 hours before disease transmission. No real good answers for ticks. I hope that soon we will have an effective lyme disease vaccination for humans and pets.
The chemicals would not last long enough outdoors to do any good for ticks even with widespread coverage, but they would last long enough to do more harm then good.
We are taught to treat our clothing and skin as desired with permethrin and/or deet.
Thorough and prompt showering will remove ticks and their larvae. At least with the deer tick it must be embedded in you for 36-72 hours before disease transmission. No real good answers for ticks. I hope that soon we will have an effective lyme disease vaccination for humans and pets.
