Tick Season 2011 has begun

[bikehikeskifish]

Spent 15 minutes in the woods today and 2 of 4 people (so far) have found ticks. (Near Manchester, NH)

Tim

 

[DougPaul]

I have read that snow keeps the ticks inactive, not the cold. What was the snowpack like in the areas in question?

Doug

 

[roadtripper]

I'm going to import 100,000 guinea hens and let them all loose in New England. They'll eat 90% of the ticks by the end of the year.

Any objections?

 

[Stash]

I'm going to import 100,000 guinea hens and let them all loose in New England. They'll eat 90% of the ticks by the end of the year.

Any objections?

...and what goes in one end... x 100,000

 

[bikehikeskifish]

We have no snowpack at all... plow piles here and there...

Tim

 

[marty]

Tim,
Do you know if they were deer ticks or dog ticks?

Thanks,
Marty

 

[loanshark]

ticks

I pulled two ticks off my dog this week. They appeared to be dog ticks , not deer ticks.

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Pretty sure they were dog ticks (brown, not black), even though there are a lot of deer walking the woods next to my house every day.

My kids were the ones that picked up the ticks. Both felt them crawling around ears and/or necks, about 10 minutes apart, during dinner. Neither was attached... For some odd reason, the kids get them more easily than I do.

Tim

 

[Tom Rankin]

Down here at least, tick season never really ends....

 

[sierra]

The increase in tempetures brings them out in force, to all you dog owners, dont let your dog down, use FRONTLINE now. My dog has lyme disease, you do not want that believe me.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

I'm going to import 100,000 guinea hens and let them all loose in New England. They'll eat 90% of the ticks by the end of the year.

Any objections?

Not as long as you supply the earplugs to go along with them.

 

[marty]

I'm going to import 100,000 guinea hens and let them all loose in New England. They'll eat 90% of the ticks by the end of the year.

Any objections?

No, free range chickens are the rage these days.

 

[DougPaul]

Pretty sure they were dog ticks (brown, not black), even though there are a lot of deer walking the woods next to my house every day.

There are other hosts for deer ticks than just deer, mice for instance.

For some odd reason, the kids get them more easily than I do.

Ticks climb up on foliage and wait for you (or some other potential host) to brush up against it. Somehow, I'd guess that young kids are more likely to brush up against foliage than are adults...

Doug

 

[erugs]

My quick identifier for deer ticks is a) small size and b) do they have a kind of "shield" marking on their lower backside (like a crescent on the edge when they are really tiny, but covering most of their lower back when they are full size, which is still small). Dog ticks have a marking on their upper back.

 

[Peakbagr]

I believe white footed mice carry the ticks to places deer can't easily get to, like your fenced back yard.
According to Bookah's vet, even winters aren't safe and it's the snow cover not the cold that keeps the ticks temporarily at bay.
Trying to I.D. ticks by color this time of year is very tricky as it's not only tough to see the tiny nits, even harder to determine what type of tick they are without magnification.
Good advice about protecting your pooch. Mine receives an annual Lyme test, a vaccine, and Frontline.
There are a few areas around here with sandy soil and are so tick infested I never hike or walk there.

 

[gaiagirl]

The key found at the web address below may be helpful for those of you who made want to further distinguish the differences between deer and dog ticks.

http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/tickkey.htm

 

[Quietman]

I use this Iowa State site for ID help

 

[jniehof]

I use this Iowa State site for ID help

Wow, that's still up. There have been a few changes but it looks pretty much like I made it in 1997.