Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Ticks!

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?