Watch out for ticks

[tatu...@gmail.com]

Yeah...the creepy/crawly things.

My meeting finished early yesterday down in the Dahlgren Virginia area yesterday so decided to get some flies wet.  Parked in the shade of a small lake and as I put on my gear and built up my 4-piece rod, looked down at my feet and there was an army of deer ticks crawling up my legs. 

Got them off then walked out in the more direct sunlight and fished for the next few hours without seeing anymore.

Back at my truck getting ready to leave, taking off my gear/breaking down the rod....the horde of ticks were making their reattack on me with vengeance.  Seems they were in the shaded areas and just swarming in the grass. 

Keep an eye out. 

Cheers

Collin

[Andrew Sarcinello]

I almost posted a similar warning the other day. At work the other day, my coworker and I had to locate a stormwater pipe about 200 yards back a brushy utility right-of-way. We were there for all of ten minutes, both wearing "tick-proof" pants, and I think each of us got swarmed by 20-30 ticks. A few made it past the initial shakedown and I found 4 on my legs after I got home.

For perspective, I've worn that pair of tick-proof pants probably once a week for two years, either for fishing or working, and that was the first time I've ever found a single tick on me while wearing them. So yeah, they're bad right now.

[MelserBonilla]

Great, I read this and now I feel creepy crawly things all over my body.

[Rex Moore]

This quiz is pretty informative:

http://www.consumerreports.org/health-wellness/how-to-protect-yourself-against-ticks

On Thu, Jun 15, 2017 at 3:31 PM MelserBonilla <bonil...@gmail.com> wrote:

Great, I read this and now I feel creepy crawly things all over my body.

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[Greggory DiSalvo]

I pulled two (that had already dug in) off at demo day.  They are certainly out in numbers as I've brushed some off hiking this spring.  Man their bites itch!

[Brad]

Having been a forester in the South for a long time and having had a tick born parasite that was caught in time, this is no freakin' joke.

If you have been in  the woods do a tick check. Look everywhere, but most importantly around your beltline and nether regions. Enlist an open minded helper.

If you find an embedded tick, mark that date on your calendar. If you have any "bullseye" redness or if you develop flu like symptoms, go immediately to your doctor and tell them you think you have lymes disease and tell them to give you a shot of antibiotics right then and have them draw blood and test for tick born parasites. Test takes 24 hours. They will likely give you another shot and put you on amoxycilin for at least 15 days. If you get it within the first 10 days, you won't have any lasting issues. 

I used to wear dog flea & tick collars on my boots (no skin contact!) with my pants over the collars. Worked like a charm for ticks and chiggers. Would only occasionally find one on my neck or face once I started wearing collars.  

[Tim Donaldson]

Living out in California I never had to worry about this.  Northern VA is the epicenter of deer ticks....I hate slathering myself with chemicals but now I spray DEET on my legs and spray Permethrin on my boots and shorts.  And don't forget to stay up on Doggos flea pills and give him a summer buzzcut.  I have a friend who has Lyme's disease and it's no joke.  

On Thursday, June 15, 2017 at 12:35:34 PM UTC-4, tatu...@gmail.com wrote:

[Bryan Lanier]

It is no joke. You're right. My sister has Lyme's.

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[Andrew Sarcinello]

The incident I described early in this thread resulted in me getting Lyme disease.  Since I've had family members who have had it, I've always been very aware of the early symptoms, which for me started a little over a week ago.  I went to see a doctor Tuesday night and was immediately started on antibiotics.  I am already noticing improvements and should be all clear after a few more weeks on the drug.  Catching it early is critical!!

My symptoms went as follows:

June 13 swarmed by ticks, a few bit and 2 weren't found until the next day. Quite likely I did not find all of them.

July 5-9 occasionally tired for no obvious reason, feeling slightly dizzy, occasionally a very faint headache

July 10-11 Add joint pain to the above and worsening headaches. Started in neck/upper back, spread to all major joints. 

July 11-now started antibiotics and have the same symptoms but gradually less intense.  Most likely I'll be completely fine in a few days but still have to finish the full course of antibiotics.

Had I let it go another few days I probably would have been unable to work and on my back at home with severe joint pain and a fever.

Notice I never had the characteristic bulls-eye rash around the bite area.  Some people think this always happens with Lyme and they must have something else if there is no rash.  This is not true, the rash only forms about two-thirds of the time.

I also was informed that if you find a deer tick and are concerned about getting Lyme, you can take a few doses of the antibiotic within 72 hours as a preventative measure.  I did not know this and will take advantage of this in the future.

Please be careful out there everyone! 

[William Hea]

Thanks for the symptoms list, hope you're in the clear soon!

[Miles]

Wow. Sorry to hear it. Thanks for the update and info. Hope you have a speedy recovery.

Miles

[lernaea...@hotmail.com]

I've had a good deal of success this season with both Deep Woods Off and Coleman brand spray.  Deep Woods is the standard 25%ish DEET, but then I stumbled onto Coleman.  They have a 40% spray and a 99% spray.

I'm probably using way more than necessary, but I haven't had a single tick on me since I started using those.

On Thursday, July 13, 2017 at 3:15:05 PM UTC-4, Andrew Sarcinello wrote:

[Scott Stankus]

If you go that route, there's also MAXI-DEET by Sawyer. 100% DEET, or so they claim. 

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"There are 10 types of people in this world, those who know binary, and those who don't"

[Casey Peltier]

And don't forget Ben's 100% DEET in the little orange spray bottle. It kept the bugs off in Labrador!

Casey Peltier
Co-Program Coordinator
Casting for Recovery Mid-Atlantic
703-819-5733 c

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From: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com <tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Scott Stankus <ssta...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2017 11:46 AM
To: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Watch out for ticks

 

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[lernaea...@hotmail.com]

Supposedly anything over 30 or 40% doesn't matter, but given how much ticks creep me out, I'll take the most DEET I can get that doesn't give me a rash!

[MelserBonilla]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4694752/amp/Stevia-CURE-Lyme-disease-better-antibiotics.html

[Brad]

I'll say it again. Flea and tick collars for dogs. Laced into your boot. No skin contact. Works.

[Carl Z.]

Good luck Andrew.  Hope it clears completely and quickly.  Thanks for the warning and reality check.

This has been a really bad year for ticks.  

On the subject of Deet.  what does it end up doing to your fly line if you get it on there?  Deet and plastics don't usually mix.

Carl

Carl

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Carl Zmola

On Sat, Jul 15, 2017 at 9:54 AM, Brad <br...@gentnergroup.com> wrote:

I'll say it again. Flea and tick collars for dogs. Laced into your boot. No skin contact. Works.

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[Andrew Sarcinello]

Thanks guys. Melser that would be amazing if proven true! The antibiotic isn't bad at all but I think a non-antibiotic treatment would likely be even safer to use.

Brad I will seriously consider doing that, since Columbia stopped making their tick repellent pants which I had found to be 100% effective.

I'm feeling back to normal already. Just some dull neck aches remaining. Will be taking another two weeks of medication to be safe.

[namfos]

Whatever you do, DO NOT wear any sort of band that is supposedly a DEET or insect repellant bracelet that is in contact with your skin. I did about 20 years and went into a seizure. It's a good thing my wife figured it out quickly and took it off my wrist. 

Mark

[Charlie Church]

Carl, 

I used DEET pretty much religiously while working in Alaska. My fly lines were fine but also, I was pretty careful about where I sprayed it. 

[TurbineBlade]

I have extensive experience with skin-applied repellents working in pesticides, in addition to various other pesticide products labeled to kill/repel ticks, mosquitoes, etc.  I generally avoid talking about work, but avoiding tick-borne illness (and other maladies transmitted by pests) is really important and I feel for the folks on here who have been affected by those illnesses. 

I would (personally) avoid the "unregistered" types of products sold with claims against ticks, etc. (such as the plastic, phone cord bracelets that contain "natural" ingredients, or devices that supposedly repel pests via electromagnetic or acoustic sound) and stick with registered, skin-applied repellents containing either DEET or picaridin for the bulk of your tick-prevention plan.  Registered pesticides making claims against public health species (like ticks) are required to submit pretty substantial efficacy data which support claims on the labels (i.e., a pesticide registered with claims of "repels ticks" has to have scientifically valid data demonstrating that it actually does repel ticks). 

Permethrin-treated articles (like pants), another registered pesticide, are another tool in the toolbox. Those actually tend to work better for things like ticks than they do for flying critters (e.g., black flies, mosquitoes), as ticks often have to crawl up the garment to find an attachment point and are therefore exposed to more of the pesticide by doing so before they can bite you.  Permethrin is a synthetic 'pyrethroid' which affects the nervous system, usually killing and/or disorienting affected pests when the pest is exposed to a sufficient amount of the material.  While it doesn't repel in the way most people think of repellency, it can provide protection via direct mortality and/or sublethal affects.   

All of the other suggestions are great -- I just wanted to double-down on the skin-applied repellents portion just to reiterate how important that is as a preventative measure. 

(And yes, DEET will somewhat damage plastics, most notably the rubber straps on my g-shock wrist watches -- I consider this in the overall risk/benefit decision)

TB

On Monday, July 17, 2017 at 8:58:49 AM UTC-4, Charlie Church wrote:

[Casey Peltier]

We were taught that DEET was originally developed as a Vinyl solvent...

Very bad news for fly line. 

So, set the rod down far away.

Spray DEET on the BACK of your hand and apply that to your exposed skin. Don't breathe that stuff.

Wipe it off your fingers.

yes, mosquitos will bite fingers...

---

From: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com <tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of namfos <mark....@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2017 8:42 AM
To: Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders

Subject: Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Watch out for ticks

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Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders www.tpfr.org We fish the Potomac River. We use single and two-handed fly rods. We teach all who are interested how to do the same. From Great Falls to the Chesapeake Bay, the ...

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[Scott Stankus]

I also really like the 3M Ultrathon that has a built-in sponge applicator. Just squeeze the tube to get a little but of the cream on the sponge and then wipe it on where you want it. No need to get it on your hands/fingers and less risk of getting it on the fly line. 

--Scott

On Mon, Jul 17, 2017 at 1:45 PM, Casey Peltier <CaseyP...@hotmail.com> wrote:

We were taught that DEET was originally developed as a Vinyl solvent...

Very bad news for fly line. 

So, set the rod down far away.

Spray DEET on the BACK of your hand and apply that to your exposed skin. Don't breathe that stuff.

Wipe it off your fingers.

yes, mosquitos will bite fingers...

---

From: tidal-potomac-fly-rodders@googlegroups.com <tidal-potomac-fly-rodders@googlegroups.com> on behalf of namfos <mark....@gmail.com>

Sent: Monday, July 17, 2017 8:42 AM
To: Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders
Subject: Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Re: Watch out for ticks

Whatever you do, DO NOT wear any sort of band that is supposedly a DEET or insect repellant bracelet that is in contact with your skin. I did about 20 years and went into a seizure. It's a good thing my wife figured it out quickly and took it off my wrist. 

Mark

On Saturday, July 15, 2017 at 9:54:41 AM UTC-4, Brad wrote:

I'll say it again. Flea and tick collars for dogs. Laced into your boot. No skin contact. Works.

--
http://www.tpfr.org

Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders www.tpfr.org We fish the Potomac River. We use single and two-handed fly rods. We teach all who are interested how to do the same. From Great Falls to the Chesapeake Bay, the ...

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[namfos]

Thanks for the clarification, Gene. 

Mark

[TurbineBlade]

Oh, DEET (and other chemicals) do indeed cause reactions in some individuals -- it sounds like you may be one of those.  I would go with a repellent containing picaridin, which is more or less a straight replacement with efficacy data equivalent to DEET for the same pest species.  See if that works for you --

TB

[namfos]

Thanks, Gene. My problem with that one episode was that I was exerting myself  clearing brush in hot humid weather (July/August), and probably under-hydrated. I also didn't check for the registration of the repellant if any.  Problem is basically fixed now, we go away in late August when things start to cool in Ontario some hence fewer biting bugs. And I don't exert myself quite so much, that's what nephews and sons-in-law are for. ☺

Mark