View Full Version : Ticks & Tarps
With the prevalence of Lyme disease on the AT, does this mean you can't use a tarp without netting/protection? Or do the ticks have a cup of tea, watch Letterman, and go to sleep also?
Good question. Not sure if netting is necessary, but everything adds up including where and how you make camp, and break camp, and daily ablutions. I bivy + tarp + ground pad. I will look into the tea thing. Little bastards.
Have hiked in, I don't know how many states, at different times with my main shelter as a tarp or tarp/bivy combo when not cowboying. NEVER had ANY issues with ticks OR skunks for that matter. If I haven't had a problem with ticks I would think you wouldn't either. If it's a huge concern spray your ground sheet with some pyrethrin, DEET, etc or spray the same bug repellant you apply to your skin in a circle around where you sleep so you are sleeping on a tick free island.
Are ticks even very active at night? I've always had the little clinger Space Invader like SOBs on me when hiking near the edges of tall grassy fields where the forest meets the field.
Wise Old Owl
02-14-2013, 02:33
Black legged Ticks or Deer Ticks are active both day and night They do not like grassy lawns that are manicured or wood chips. They prefer damp leaf litter to lay eggs and support nymphs. They are interested in mostly mice for their first blood meals They are seldom above a foot off the ground.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Deer_tick_Ixodes_scapularis.jpg/220px-Deer_tick_Ixodes_scapularis.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_ticks
Wise Old Owl
02-14-2013, 02:37
Have hiked in, I don't know how many states, at different times with my main shelter as a tarp or tarp/bivy combo when not cowboying. NEVER had ANY issues with ticks OR skunks for that matter. If I haven't had a problem with ticks I would think you wouldn't either. If it's a huge concern spray your ground sheet with some pyrethrin, DEET, etc or spray the same bug repellant you apply to your skin in a circle around where you sleep so you are sleeping on a tick free island.
Never say Never - Lucky Dog!:cool:
Snowleopard
02-14-2013, 13:08
Prevalence of Lyme disease: it gets worse as you go north, worst in NY, CT, MA, but its present and getting worse in all AT states. The ticks have been found active in forest floor litter as far north as Conn. in midwinter.
Spray the perimeter of your ground sheet with Sawyer permethrin so that the ticks will die walking across it; be sure your ground sheet material can absorb the permethrin. Even better would be to use a netting tent with bathtub floor and treat the openings and perimeter with permethrin -- mosquitoes and black flies can also be nasty in the summer.
Alligator
02-14-2013, 13:15
I've been tarping for a number of years now and have not had much trouble with ticks that appear due tarp use. I generally use already established sites. I have netting but I only bring that for mosquitoes and other flying insects, typically summer use. I have a roughly 3X7' groundcloth.
Been tarping or cowboy camping for years without a problem. Last time was May 28, 2011 at a back country site at Mammoth Cave NP in KY. Woke up the first morning with more than 20 deer tick nymphs smaller than a poppy seed attached from my waist down to between my toes. Believed the "remove them in less than 36 hours and you're safe" myth and five months later was finally properly diagnosed with disseminated Lyme that took me alomost a year to recover from (and i still have inflammation and cognitive problems).
So now it's hammock camping for me all the way baby! Treat the ends with permethrin and it's soooo much more comfortable for sleep than the ground. I now sleep on one every night at home (in it right now as I type). Certain areas and months of the year are worse for ticks, but it pays to be vigilant since it only takes one tick bite to run your day (month, year, etc.)
Woke up the first morning with more than 20 deer tick nymphs smaller than a poppy seed attached from my waist down to between my toes. Believed the "remove them in less than 36 hours and you're safe" myth and five months later was finally properly diagnosed with disseminated Lyme that took me alomost a year to recover from (and i still have inflammation and cognitive problems).
Holy crap! That's a nightmare!
I hope your body manages to kick out the last remnants of it, Wholeheart.
Wise Old Owl
02-15-2013, 08:21
Been tarping or cowboy camping for years without a problem. Last time was May 28, 2011 at a back country site at Mammoth Cave NP in KY. Woke up the first morning with more than 20 deer tick nymphs smaller than a poppy seed attached from my waist down to between my toes. Believed the "remove them in less than 36 hours and you're safe" myth and five months later was finally properly diagnosed with disseminated Lyme that took me alomost a year to recover from (and i still have inflammation and cognitive problems).
So now it's hammock camping for me all the way baby! Treat the ends with permethrin and it's soooo much more comfortable for sleep than the ground. I now sleep on one every night at home (in it right now as I type). Certain areas and months of the year are worse for ticks, but it pays to be vigilant since it only takes one tick bite to run your day (month, year, etc.)
well they are still teaching that "myth" but its less than 24 hours.
FarmerChef
02-15-2013, 10:46
Been tarping or cowboy camping for years without a problem. Last time was May 28, 2011 at a back country site at Mammoth Cave NP in KY. Woke up the first morning with more than 20 deer tick nymphs smaller than a poppy seed attached from my waist down to between my toes. Believed the "remove them in less than 36 hours and you're safe" myth and five months later was finally properly diagnosed with disseminated Lyme that took me alomost a year to recover from (and i still have inflammation and cognitive problems).
So now it's hammock camping for me all the way baby! Treat the ends with permethrin and it's soooo much more comfortable for sleep than the ground. I now sleep on one every night at home (in it right now as I type). Certain areas and months of the year are worse for ticks, but it pays to be vigilant since it only takes one tick bite to run your day (month, year, etc.)
Yuck! So sorry to hear about that. Love Mammoth Cave, btw.
I've been tarping for a couple of years now and can't say that we've had a problem with it at night. We do find ticks during the day and are vigilant to inspect having experienced lymes in our own home and extended family