Every summer it seems worse for the deer. Anyone else have infestations this bad?

Nasty

dad sent me pics from PA of some on an farm raised elk. ear and base of antler were crawling with them

In NY State and PA where I hunt, it appears that every year there are more and more ticks. I have been noticing that for about the last ten years or so. It may be because I am more aware of then several diseases that they are now carrying, but I doubt it. I was always aware of them and always cautious as well. Many people are unaware of the problems and extreme health hazards if infected by them. I began my studies of this matter in 2007 when I was infected in Africa with tick bite fever and fortunately treated properly upon my return. It IS something to take seriously as it can be life changing if infected and not treated early and properly.

Never seen them until on this board of the
cape buff's infested balls Saeed shows at times.

This is hard to believe. Especially in states
that freeze to such deep cold.

As a kid I had a couple on me Dad burned out with a hot needle.
One on the scalp another on the middle of my back.


In '90 I rebuilt the wrought iron fence around a few OLD graves
in the Pioneer Cemetery here. One fellow from the Civil War it
said on his stone: "died of tick fever" at I think 46.

They're in the news out here often.
Something to pay attention to for sure.

Thanks for posting the picture.

George

Ann, haven't they recently been a horrible plague on New England moose?
They are just horrible creatures, and the first thing I am going to do when I meet my Maker -- after groveling and apologizing profusely for my behavior on earth -- is ask Him/Her what the idea was behind ticks and mosquitos.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Ann, haven't they recently been a horrible plague on New England moose?
They are just horrible creatures, and the first thing I am going to do when I meet my Maker -- after groveling and apologizing profusely for my behavior on earth -- is ask Him/Her what the idea was behind ticks and mosquitos.

Agree. And i don’t think vaccine/treatments for Lyme is where it needs to be for the increased prevalence.

quote:

Ann, haven't they recently been a horrible plague on New England moose?
They are just horrible creatures, and the first thing I am going to do when I meet my Maker -- after groveling and apologizing profusely for my behavior on earth -- is ask Him/Her what the idea was behind ticks and mosquitos.

I think they are to remind us that Earth, as beautiful as it is, is not Heaven.

They have been around forever, mostly they tend to heavy brush, and not the open plains, they come in all varities from the seed ticks of RSA to the larger ticks of the pacific NW...Infestations come and go in certain areas..Ive not seen a tick on our Southern Idaho deer or elk for quite some time..Some ranches in Texas have heavy tick infestation other hardly have any???and those ranches are fairly close in the same vicinity..???Some ranches spray for ticks other do not. Rocky Mt. Tick feaver is serious, and can be deadly Im told..I had a dose of it many years ago and was in the hospital for a week or ten days, no after effects as far as I know.

I know a young fella with alpha gal. That stuff ain’t no joke. Can’t eat any domestic red meat but venison is OK.

What Ray said +1 + no ticks so far where I hunt in Texas.

See, Ray, sometimes I do agree with you!

quote:

Originally posted by 16Bore:
I know a young fella with alpha gal. That stuff ain’t no joke. Can’t eat any domestic red meat but venison is OK.

Usually with Alpha-Gal one cannot eat any mammalian meats. It takes about five years for the human body to develop an immunity to that disease. Nasty stuff.

Lone Star ticks carry it. Plenty of them on my land. I get bitten routinely even though I spray and treat my clothing.

Ray, the ticks here are thick even in the long prairie grasses. The whitetails spend plenty of time dropping them off there as do field rats, chipmunks, mice, rabbits, squirrels, coons, possums and probably armadillos. The cottontail population is never large here due to the damn ticks!

I’ve seen them my whole life in Utah and it gets to minus 40 here.

My son was out fencing the other day and had one on him.

I took my daughters dog for a walk in the forest this morning.

We walked quite a while.

Back home my daughter found some ticks on her dog!!

Years ago I used to remove several ticks from my body on a safari.

Now I use permethrin on my hunting clothes nd never have a problem.

quote:

permethrin

Helps a lot I been using it for years not a 100%

But will really cut number of ticks one gets on by 98-99 percent.

That is nasty looking. I would mix some ivomek in corn or try and rig up a dip chain over bait pile.

quote:

Originally posted by Capt. Purvis:
That is nasty looking. I would mix some ivomek in corn or try and rig up a dip chain over bait pile.

I've tried that over the mineral block/lick. Cloth strips soaked in permethrin hanging from a juniper. The problem is all I can find is permethrin concentrate mixed in petroleum which makes it smell really bad. They won't go near it.

Sheep Dip contains permethrin only in bigger % ,I cut to obtain the % closer to store bought spray for hunting.

Lots of ticks in Tanzania, in fact all of Africa and most buffalo have a few..The seed ticks of RSA, scare the crap out of me, some call them pepper ticks..I hate the damn things wherever the are..the give me the heebe jeebes..

CRS,
I never noticed any disagreement between us, you been keeping secrets from me???

4 years ago I got bit by a deer tick (or at least that is what we believe it was). At first I was having just little pains in my mouth. I thought I needed to go to the dentist. Then it started getting worse. I felt cold all of the time. Then it go worse yet where I felt both real hot and real cold all of the time.

And finally I ended up in a Hospital Emergency room where I was diagnosed with anaplasmosis. I went into unconsciousness, and stayed that way for 8 days. My wife was advised to call my family because I was not going to make it. All of my systems started shutting down.

But I had good doctors. They never gave up on me. And after 8 days I woke up. I weighed 30 pounds more than when I entered the hospital because my kidneys were not working correctly.

I was discharged after 3 more days. I am happy and very lucky to be alive today. I know I have a lot of things going on because of that ordeal. Just have to live with them.

Moral of the story. Have somebody check you over thoroughly every time you go out in a woods where it is possible that there are ticks.

Ticks seem to be getting worse everywhere. One of the reasons we really try not to mess with turkeys in our yard as they feed on them. Another neighbor told me since he bought a couple of guinea fowl he never found another tick on him, his wife, or kids. We are giving some thought to getting some next spring.

I grew up on a dairy farm near Gettyburg PA. My younger sister and I used to sit on the porch and pick the ticks off the dogs and smash them on the sidewalk. Some would get as big as a pea - those would really splat dark red blood!

The dogs ears were alway full of ticks - these were barn dogs and never came inside.. The cows rarely if ever had ticks on them but we treated them...

We never got too many ticks ourselves but I would find one on myself every now and then..

Like everything else, I think they come and go with the weather each year - some years are just worse than others.. Are there really more or are we just more aware of them?

I know here in Ohio they are really bad.. Permethrin is what we use on our clothing..

The pepper ticks have hatched here in the Missouri woods. This is from yesterday. It's like walking into a bomb of sorts. They cluster on low plants and once they make contact they rapidly spread out. It's scary to watch how fast they can move.

They try running right up your legs.

I always spray my clothing (inside and out with permethrin) and also use an appropriate skin spray. In this photo they are all dead, I had sprayed prior to walking in. Glad I did! This is my left ankle which has had 7 major orthopedic surgeries and thus a lot of nerve and tissue damage. It's always hot/swollen due to so much damage and seems to attract most of the critters.

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
Ticks seem to be getting worse everywhere. One of the reasons we really try not to mess with turkeys in our yard as they feed on them. Another neighbor told me since he bought a couple of guinea fowl he never found another tick on him, his wife, or kids. We are giving some thought to getting some next spring.

The guineas will play he’ll with the insect population. They are also rough on gardens and flowerbeds.
Know several people that ended up with lymes disease. Once you get it there no getting over it.

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
Ticks seem to be getting worse everywhere. One of the reasons we really try not to mess with turkeys in our yard as they feed on them. Another neighbor told me since he bought a couple of guinea fowl he never found another tick on him, his wife, or kids. We are giving some thought to getting some next spring.

Guinea fowl,chickens,grouse are all tick eating machines.Guinea fowl are also an excellent first alert system if any one enters our property.

I have chickens. Guineas, in all the times I have had them, would never free range. They would guard the feeders and beat up the chickens.

The chickens do a fair job though they won't range far and wide due to raptor issues.

I recall finding a mule deer fawn late one summer in Utah on my grandfather's ranch that was so covered in ticks that it was dead 24 hours later.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Ann, haven't they recently been a horrible plague on New England moose?
They are just horrible creatures, and the first thing I am going to do when I meet my Maker -- after groveling and apologizing profusely for my behavior on earth -- is ask Him/Her what the idea was behind ticks and mosquitos.

Please ask him why he created politicians and lawyers!

I am quiet willing to put up with ticks and mossies, certainly not with the 2 legged masquerading as humans!

quote:

Please ask him why he created politicians and lawyers!