View Full Version : Ticks: Increasing in number?
The summer tick population where I live is relatively large. Whenever I walk the dog (about one mile each walkie) in summer, ticks crawl on me. During the “tick-high” of summer it’s not unusual to exceed a hundred ticks each for me and the dog on every walk. My veterinarian has advised the tick population has become larger in winter than it is in summer, and some carry Lyme Disease. The disproportionately large tick population in winter doesn’t seem to be the case where I live; maybe elsewhere.
Two days ago, when I started a hike in the Shenandoah National Park, VA, I knew it was chilly since light snow was falling. At home, after the hike, I found a tick embedded in me. The trails I hiked included only a small portion of the Appalachian Trail. I sat down only once, and that was on a large rock, to each lunch.
This is not the first tick I’ve found on me this winter, but possibly it was contacted during the chilliest weather.
Thru-hiking may be a tick lover’s dream this year.
Cookerhiker
03-26-2006, 16:43
Vi, speaking of Shenandoah National Park, I received this notice from my Trail Supervisor who forwarded it from the Ranger in SNP who oversees trails. If this link doesn't work, let me know and I'll paste the entire text.
http://www.acmetreadway.net/newsletter/ticks_2006.htm
Don't forget the existence of Lyme vaccines. I know I got one fairly soon after they first came out.
jackiebolen
03-26-2006, 20:13
I did a bit of research into Lyme Vaccines before I left on my thru-hike and there were a few reports of bad, bad side effects for a certain group of people with a certain blood type or something like that. I'm not a doctor but I would say do your research before getting any vaccine.
Good advice, I also read somewhere that the vaccine may not be 100% effective (but I'd want to research that more, before spreading it as a rumour.)
I can only speak for myself. Hiking long distances in the Appalachians I figured would put my exposure higher than average, so even if the vaccine were only partially effective I thought the extra measure of protection would be worth it, especially considering how hard it is to diagnose the illness.
chuckbuster
03-26-2006, 20:35
Ticks look to be really bad this year! Buddy of mine was covered in ticks while up in Connecticut last month. We've been pulling them off the dogs here in MD since Feb. Got the Lyme vaccination when they first came out with it but didn't have any bad reactions. Two of my friends came down with Lyme and its been a long uphill battle to shake it. Should be interesting this year. One week to go!
The Cheat
03-26-2006, 22:27
Don't forget the existence of Lyme vaccines. I know I got one fairly soon after they first came out.
Can't get it anymore. They pulled it because either it wasn't profitable enough or the side effects were bad. I've heard both stories. All I know is you can't get it anymore. But your dog can.
Makes me glad I got one when I could. I wonder if that is just in the US or includes Canada as well?
i hate ticks,they suck,i hate chiggers even more,they get under your skin.:cool: neo
My primary care physician advised the vaccination for Lyme Disease is 85% effective. The vaccine once taken, however, will forever produce positive test results for the disease; i.e., don’t bother taking any tests for Lyme Disease, once you've received the vaccine, since you’ll always receive the same result, whilch you can't trust.
He doesn’t want to use the vaccine except for people, such as foresters, who both WORK in the woods and LIVE in the woods. I don’t think a day hike would meet his qualification. It may be argued that a long section hike or a Thru-Hike should qualify for vaccination.
Foresters are essentially bushwhackers who remain in place for periods of time. They encounter ticks which have never met such a naked and slow moving warm-blooded organism before. Such exposure should yield greater contact with a tick population than a steady stream of hikers breezing along a cleared trail or camping in established areas.
Hiking along the Appalachian Trail has been described as walking thru “the long green tunnel.” Consider, each hiker should have about the same exposure to ticks, picking up the same number of ticks during a hike along the trail. The odds of one particular hiker picking up a lot more ticks than other hikers doing the same thing seems small. It is not unusual to read posts from hikers who express great surprise and concern when they find a single tick embedded in them, suggesting the number of embedded ticks isn't great.
The statistical improvement provided by a greater hiker population coming into contact with a, theoretically, constant tick population may provide additional impetus to stay on the trail, and to camp at shelters and designated campsites.
The idea is, hikers preceding you took some of the ticks away.
I realize that I am 5 hours away from theAT, but, 2 days ago after walking in the woods, I found and removed 7 ticks. This is the earliest I've found them here in W. KY. And to think I was thinking there were 2-3 more weeks before they would be a worry! Check early, Check Often!
Remember, ticks carry far more than Lyme's disease (Rocky mountain spotted fever, erhlichiosis (two varieties), babesiosis, Q fever, etc. etc.) These diseases can kill you.
Lyme's disease is a terrible illness, but it's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ticks.
Hey all,
I've noticed the ticks are way more numerous and aggressive than in past years here in GA & in NC. Anyone else noticing the same or know why?
Egads
cowboy nichols
05-30-2009, 19:29
Here in Tallahassee they have been active all year. They seem more abundant this spring. Nothing seems to keep them off. I still havn't gotten back to normal from lyme disease.
Anywhere with alot of deer will have ticks in abundace. Possibly having to do with the absence of spring this year who knows. A freind of mine's older brother has a fishing apparel business http://www.pescadorbrand.com and they've been trying to get some shorts chemically engineered to repel bugs and so forth. Sounds far fetched to me but wouldn't it be great.
johnnybgood
05-30-2009, 19:48
Ticks have also been abundant in Shenandoah Natl. Park this spring.
I have plucked 8 off me so far , and yes I am counting.
It's been a wet year here in Virginia so far and now the really warm weather has taken over.
Every tick I have had the pleasure of removing has been what appears to be a wood tick, large enough to see and feel.
I pulled 5 or 6 off this afternoon and at least that many last weekend
Lemni Skate
05-30-2009, 19:59
As I read this thread, I found another crawling on me. That is six and my son and I only did two miles on the AT and walked back on Skyline Drive to our starting point.
Phoenixdadeadhead
05-30-2009, 20:02
The ticks were insane in shenandoah. I was pulling ticks from the dog for a week, even after I bathed him in flea dip and retreated his coat. I then needed to spray the entire house and yard before I finally quit seeing them. My youngest nephew counted 27 from himself in one night.
ticks are bad in maine had to have one removed from my dog and the vet said he has been getting alot of calls already
Snowleopard
05-30-2009, 20:56
... A freind of mine's older brother has a fishing apparel business http://www.pescadorbrand.com and they've been trying to get some shorts chemically engineered to repel bugs and so forth. Sounds far fetched to me but wouldn't it be great.
That's basically what buzzoff clothes are. You can do it yourself spraying permethrin on your clothes. The treatment lasts several washings. It repels the ticks, black flies and mosquitos that get onto your clothes, so they don't bite through the cloth and drop off before they get to your skin. You still need to use DEET on exposed skin.
Slo-go'en
05-30-2009, 21:36
Apprently, ticks are active when ever the temps are above freezing. Early season snow cover, such as we have had here in the north the last couple of years, will protect ticks from killing cold later in the winter. Milder winters in the south keep the populations high.
I only found one tick on me during my recent Damacus to Rockfish gap hike. I'm pretty sure I got it at a shelter after a day hikers dog was romping around in it.
[quote=Slo-go'en;846049]Apprently, ticks are active when ever the temps are above freezing. Early season snow cover, such as we have had here in the north the last couple of years, will protect ticks from killing cold later in the winter. Milder winters in the south keep the populations high. [quote]
I think you've got something there.
JokerJersey
05-30-2009, 22:34
After three long weekends in the Pinelands here in NJ, between my girlfriend and myself, we only counted 10 ticks total, 8 of them on clothing, 1 on them embedded on my g/f's leg for about 2-3 hours, and 1 that had just bit her. I haven't found a single one on me that was actually on my skin.
Then again, we quick check every 2 hours or so when we stop for breaks around the knees, waistline, pants, and socks, then do more serious full body checks EVERY single night before we go to sleep. The one time she found one on the back of her leg was the day after we got home and she told me not to worry about checking her, since we hadn't "hiked" that day and really only packed up camp.
Next weekend, we are heading out to Old Logger's Path in PA, where I've heard the ticks are pretty rough, so I'll give an update when we get home on the tick conditions out there.