Ticks

[bliss]

my friend and her bf went for a hike last weekend and came back with a collection of ticks as well! I went hiking and had none... is the location a factor?
what i am hearing is that it was not cold enough this winter, so it is going to be a tick intense summer

[MichaelJ]

I'm currently on 21 days of antibiotics for my first tick bite ever. I had a deer tick on me for around 36 hours; I had felt the discomfort but thought it was just one of my injuries (see my Owl's Head trip report) so it wasn't until I looked closely and saw the little legs that I realized what was going on.

The official word from the doctor is that had I gotten to them within 72 hours of the initial penetration, I could have had a one-time treatment that would stop any lyme or skin infection outright.

So if you do get bit, get thee to the doctor in time.

[Altaskibum]

Wow! glad you caught it in time!

[MichaelJ]

Whoops, lemme clarify what I said there, because I didn't actually catch it in time:

The one-time within-72-hours treatment is one dose of antibiotics and you're done.

I had the tick for 36 hours and didn't get to the doctor until after the weekend (didn't want to skip Mother's Day) so I'm on the 21 days of 2 doses of antibiotics each day.

[Talisman]

Not to be nosey, but how 'bloated' was the tick when you found it on yourself? Local doctor's are pretty blase about tick bites unless they have been feeding awhile and bloating is one of the factors.

Human parasites are rarely fun.

[MichaelJ]

Not really engorged at all, but still, having been attached for 36 hours it was still very risky, and the resulting bite wound was in worrisome shape and merited some level of antibiotics, anyway.

[catskills]

More Tick Stew and Less Ticks.

[Mike P.]

I've missed two days with flu like symptoms. no sign of ticks but maybe a mosquito bite???? (or maybe allergerie? Never have had allergies before though & I wouldn't think they would come with body aches .

[billski]

Originally Posted by deadheadskier

I personally never had a problem with ticks having lived most of my life in New England and spent a lot of time in the woods. Maybe one a year. Dogs I've had were another story. Seemed like a daily thing in summer to search for tics on Samson.

I've been hiking these parts since 1978. I'll find ticks on me only if I'm either bushwhacking or running through pastures or tall grassy expanses (you know, like dogs do...). I always make sure to check myself as soon as I'm out.

I can't recall a time I picked up a tick when hiking on a maintained trail.

[ski_resort_observer]

Originally Posted by bliss

my friend and her bf went for a hike last weekend and came back with a collection of ticks as well! I went hiking and had none... is the location a factor?
what i am hearing is that it was not cold enough this winter, so it is going to be a tick intense summer

The harshness of the winter doesn't effect the number of ticks directly, the amount of hosts availible(mostly deer in the northeast) does that. Ticks spend the winter in the ground so if there is little frost they are active faster. If the winter is mild it does mean tick season can start earlier but a spell of dry warm weather will end the season.

Ticks cannot jump or fly but will drop down on a subject from above. They are alerted by our release of carbon dioxide just like mosquitos. Some feel they are also alerted by our heat but that is debatable.