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What the heck is going on in western PA? These last couple years have been worse and worse year after year with the ticks. My dog had a bout of lymes last year, we gave him the meds but never followed up to see if it worked. Anyway, we go to the park every day to throw ball. Today, we went to the park, as usual he spent the first 10 minutes working the tree line for good smells then we played ball for a while. We got home and I pulled 20+ deer ticks off of him. Some were tiny, others were the normal size that you typically find later in the summer and fall. I freakin hate ticks. Found one on my nads last year and it's got me paranoid ever since! Anyone else experiencing an influx of ticks in their neck of the woods?

Ticks have been bad the last few years in western Pa. I,ve already taken two off my Springer this spring. Damn things take a lot of the fun out of being outdoors.

Had to treat my one horse for lymes. 100 pills a day for 30 days of doxy. Going riding today, going to keep a close eye on their legs. Should not be to bad because the grass isn't to high yet.

I got a springer also. You're right, makes me not want to be in the woods.
My uncle has a 50 acre over grown field in his back yard. The dog and I always went there for walks until last year. We went there twice and each time we were both covered in ticks. I quit hunting it too.

You set down in Pa during spring Turkey and they will be all over you. I'd rather take a can of tick spray than an extra call.

This is the pits.. I cannot see why something isn't being done to control this problem.. I bet once it reaches the inner city, it will be addressed..
Last year was the final season for me on the east coast as far as any outdoor activity.. Largely due to this problem.. Best of luck..

I'd rather not even go turkey hunting! And that's my plan. These ticks are ridiculous.

Read someplace that if they get one feed in December they can survive till spring.Then each female will throw out 200,000 eggs when things warm up.

Spraying you clothes is surprisingly effective. Then be diligent in checking yourself and you should be fine.

For the dog I'm trying the Seresto collar this year... They're bad around here too.

Eastern North Dakota is covered with ticks also, in the wet spring grass.

I am near 67 years old and I can't remember a time when dogs did not get ticks when out in the woods. People too, and chiggers. This would be in Arkansas. miles

I'm 34 and have been in the woods all my life. All hunting and outdoor activities have been in western PA. Until last year, I might find a couple ticks per year on the dog and that's it. I've pulled about three off of me (tocks that were burrid in) over that time. These last two years in wester PA, at least in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh, I can't go into the woods without being able to look at clothes and not find at least 2,3,4 or 5 ticks running around on me. Each walk in the woods the dog comes back covered in them. The ticks I ran into in the past were all your common dog ticks. The past couple years have been all deer ticks. I see this as a major issue in western PA.

Growing up in western Pa we slept outside in the summer a lot. Only gear we had was a sleeping bag, slept right on the ground, never was bothered by ticks. I would not do that these days on a bet.

One of my early Grouse season pleasures used to be a mid-afternoon nap out in the wood with the Dog also stretched out on the ground. Do it around here now and you may be shy a pint when wake up.

Came back to the truck to change locations during an Early season Grouse hunt up in the ANF last fall and checked Toby. When it was over I removed thirty some off him and obviously didn't get them all.

Year before last I pulled over 35 off my dog after the first day of grouse season, we didn't hunt again till after a hard frost.

My guess for the explosion of ticks in PA would be the decimated deer herd.

But then again, what are the ticks eating while they wait for you to come by if there aint any deer?

How are they livin?

Deer evidently are carriers of Lyme's only. I've shot some that were loaded with ticks and some with only a few. All from the same area.

Someone in the know can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Lyme's comes from mice. They can also get blood from just about any forest creature that they attach to. Squirrels, Rabbits, Bird, Possums, etc. They have little problem finding a host to suck on if one passes by and they can live a long time between drinks.

Some tick info from the University of Rhode Island.

Looks like I was wrong on the number of eggs. It is 2,000 and NOT 200,000. One good thing I guess.


http://www.tickencounter.org/faq/deer_and_rodents

Interesting point from the above web site:

"One last comment�deer are the most important REPRODUCTIVE HOST for deer ticks. In RI, on average every deer, every year feeds enough adult deer ticks to allow those ticks to create an estimated 450,000 new, larval ticks. Blame the ticks on the deer, blame the infections on small rodents that are INFECTION RESERVOIRS."

My take from that is; if you have Deer you can't stop the spread of ticks.

What are people using to protect their dogs and themselves from ticks? My biggest issue is I can treat the dog with frontline or advantix or similar, but he still brings the ticks into the house and the damn things end up on me or the wife. Is there some sort of repellent anyone has had success with that just keeps the stupid little things off their dogs?

Flours of sulpher. Just sprinkle it on your dog, works best out of something like a baby powder bottle. Works on you too, just mix it 50/50 with baby powder to cut the stench a bit.

Wear higher top 8in plus boots that you can tuck your pants into. Keep your tee-shirt tucked into your pants. Treat your pants and shirts with permethrin, the soak method is better than the spray, works all year. Sawyer is one brand, but if you look up the percentage, you can buy it in bulk at a pest control supply house and dilute it yourself.

If you get a tick that stays on more than a couple of hours, pop ONE 200mg Doxycycline pill. There is a study that proves this is 100% effective at preventing Rocky Mtn Spotted Fever and Lyme. You have to be careful with out-of date Doxy, so check it.

Yep...
The dogs and I spend quite a bit of time in the timber this time of year looking for morel mushrooms.
I have yet to find the "holy grail" in tick meds for the dogs, but this year I switched to Advantix II from Frontline.
Frontline does work well at killing the ticks, but it doesn't repel them.
I treated them on Easter Sunday, and I've pulled off 5 ticks that had actually attached. All of them were on the chest area of my Draht, and all 5 were dead.
So, that's 6 days of running through the timber every day.
Not great, but I can only imagine the thousands of ticks that have hit his chest area! I think I'm going to try some of the Adams flea and tick spray.
If I'm remembering right, you can treat with that twice a month.
I really hate putting any of that crap on the dogs! It's expensive, and can be dangerous, but the tick born illnesses are dangerous too!
But, I know way more people that have had dogs with tick born illnesses, than have had any serious reactions to the chemicals.

I buy the Sawyer clothing treatment mentioned above. I keep a couple pair treated so I have one set ready while the others are being washed.
And, even though it's supposed to last through washing, I always retreat after they've been washed.
I HATE ticks!! It really surprises me that someone hasn't "officially" addressed the issue. I don't know how,...but it's just gotten rediculous.

A buddy of mine actually started treating his local deer population!
He had a tick PLAGUE!! You could literally watch them swarm his front porch!

Anyway, he set up deer feeders, with permethrin treated back rubs that the deer had to pass through before they could reach the feeders.
Kind of like a cattle rub. He said it helped his immediate area a lot.
I don't know...seems like something could be done on a large scale.

Ticks (and Lyme) is getting to be a major issue over here also. I took the dog out with me hiking in some local mountains last week and found three on him a few days later. Its very unusual for ticks to be this active this early as we are still getting the odd over night frost here.

I was talking to the owner of a local pet shop and apart from the usual treatment with Frontline ect, he recommended trying Teatree oil from the Chemist. He said a few drops applied regularly to the dogs coat acts as a repellent, although again, its not 100% effective..

Pete,

I don't know what you have available there, but see if you can get some straight pyrethrin spray. It is very, very low toxicity to mammals, but produces an instant kill on insects. It won't harm you or the dog unless you decide to drink the whole damn bottle, and even then it wouldn't likely do more than make you puke.

It's hard to get locally, so I just have a Veterinarian order me a case at a time. Any of the lipid layer stuff like Front Line will still allow ticks on the dog and they can wind up in the vehicle and on you when you go home. Pyrethrin will kill 'em. Most of what I see stinks. Bad. Adams spray is a little less offensive.

Permethrin can be dangerous. It's a synthetic pyrethrin and it does kill cats. I've seen it make a few dogs sick too, especially when used repeatedly over as little as a few days.

I always used Anvantix. My dog would still carry ticks on her, but they wouldn't bite. I used a Seresto collar on her this year. Scalibor is the same thing. I haven't found any on her this year so far. The Seresto collar is good for 8 months. Not that it matters, but it's cheaper in the long run too...

Miles,

Thanks for that..I am pretty sure I've come across this stuff in RSA being used by the local hunters who sprayed their clothes, but I could never recall which was the safe version and which wasn't..

Just mentioned this too a friend, and he thinks pyrethrin is used in over the counter "fly sprays" meant for horses, so I shall check whats available locally..

Regards,

Peter

Pete,

I think I've seen it in horse spray too. Your best be is probably just to ask a vet to order some though. I hunt birds in the fall in an area where the dog might come out of the woods with hundreds of the little beggars on the them. I spray my clothes and I don't get them on me. Spraying the dog thoroughly while rolling the fur backwards will prevent them on the dog too.

A pretty high percentage of Ixodes ticks here carry Lyme. A tick bite from them means a course of antibiotics, so preventon is well worth the PITA that comes with it. Lyme can be a real bitch. It kills dogs often enough through renal failure based in the damage to tissues by the animal's immune system.

I hope it doesn't get this bad over there. Quite literally every day I go into the woods or fields I have to take precautions and then carefully check for ticks afterwards.

ticks certainly ca'nt be taken lightly. in 1990 or so a tick bite nearly cashed my ticket, doctors were baffled & had me in quaratine with 3 kinds of antibiotics. i left hospital in july weighing in the 140s [down from 170].texas dept of health informed me that georgia had done a platelet study & thought it was erichoious caffensis like spotted fever w/o spots. i totaaly spray before hitting the woods & do a body check at home. if i find a tick i note the date & keep that tick in a vial with alchol. cranky72

We never had them around here until 10, 12 years ago. Now they're all over. Seldom shoot a deer without some. I treat the dogs with advantix, not much problem there. They're also vaccinated against Lyme. FIL got it a few years ago, brother's dog got it. I take them off the kids once in a while, also off me. (Last one I had on me was in a spot where, if it caused swelling, might have done me some good. ) Damn things. Sprays keep them off pretty well.