One minute, my husband and I were having a perfectly ordinary conversation in the kitchen. In the next moment, I was ripping off my sweatshirt, my T-shirt, and what I had on under that. No, my husband’s words were not seductive and it wasn’t a hot flash. Can you guess?
“Ack! Tick! On my back! Get it! Get it! Get it!”
With all the restrictions on socializing, my only recreation has been taking my dogs for walks – and three times in the past week, I’ve suddenly felt the unmistakable sensation of something crawling on my body where nothing ought to be crawling. The one that made me rip off my clothes in the kitchen was the third one!
That creepy sensation
The first one woke me out of a dead sleep. I had fallen asleep on the couch while watching a late-night movie, and woke up thrashing – a tick was walking across my wrist! Somehow I came wide-awake immediately and managed to precisely grab the insect – a big dog tick – between my fingers. Nothing, and I mean nothing, has ever awakened me so quickly, zero to 60, as fast as that feeling.
The second one was while we were walking on a trail. I felt what I thought was maybe a mosquito on my neck. But when a wave of my hand didn’t stop the feeling of something tiny touching me, my fingers explored and I felt the insect crawling along my hairline. I flung it away from me and immediately regretted the action; it would live another day! Darn it! I could have killed it!
The only solace I have regarding the current infestation, typical for this season in this area, is that I haven’t (yet) discovered a tick that had already embedded itself on my body somewhere. I have pulled a couple off of Otto – who is a tick magnet – and just this morning, removed a teeny deer tick, smaller than the head of a pin, from Woody’s eyelid, where it was almost invisible among his eyelashes (he kept rubbing his eye, which made me investigate further). But so far, my sensitivity to the crawling sensation has kept me safe from a bite.
I’m struggling as I write this to keep myself from investigating an imagined crawling sensation every few minutes. I don’t have a tick on me now – at least, I am pretty sure I don’t – but after every discovery of one of the creepy insects, I suffer from lingering paranoia for days. Ugh, I despise them!
I have been flea-combing the dogs assiduously after our walks, and yet, somehow, ticks are getting brought home and into the house – and onto the sofa and onto me! This is making me wish for some sort of pressurized airlock that the whole family (canine and human) has to pass through in order to get into the house, something powerful enough to blow all loose particles off of us and into a flame chamber. If you’re an engineer, you can patent that puppy for free! Just send me a unit when it goes to market, will you?
What do you do that works best for protecting your family (canine and human) from ticks?
We use Bravecto (previously used Revolution) for our Australian Shepherd. We take him for walks daily in a local park (thankfully within walking distance and still open to foot traffic as long as you maintain social distance). We also take him to a field that is very close to our house – and used constantly by deer etc. We live in Olympia, WA where it rarely snows and the temp is generally 30 to about 45 during the winter. We often take him hiking in the Olympics (no longer possible because of the resrictions imposed by confid-19 containment). But we did get a hike on March 9th – The temp was 30 when we started and 48 when we finished and the top 1/2 all snow covered – about 3-4 feet deep but tramped out enough so we only needed micro spikes -yet our dog managed to get a tick in his ear. We discovered it when he started to shake his head constantly as we descended but were still in the snow covered section where the temp was about 40. Not sure where he got it and surprised that ticks were out in the snow!
I live in hunting and fishing country (NC). My Aunt used to sell Avon and she couldn’t keep Avon skin So soft lotion (original scent) in stock. Every fisherman and hunter in the small town where she lived bought it by the case.
I have been on Archeological digs in the Outer Banks of NC (Hatteras Island) and I apply Avon Skin so Soft lotion (original scent – a nice scent but bugs hate it!!) on my face, arms, hair, etc. when I’m in the woods. Mosquitoes will not come near you when you have this lotion on you. I don’t know if it works for ticks or not but it is sure worth a try. I always use it when I go to my backyard garden and I pin a sheet of fabric softener on my head as well. I would be interested in knowing if this works for any of you. I don’t have a flea problem because my babies are Chihuahuas and they use a cat box (lined with a puppy pad) inside the house. I just scoop and flush and have a diaper pail for the puppy pads when they are soiled. With the diaper pail (and the 3 ply plastic) there is no odor.
I’ve also used peppermint (diluted with water according to directions) in a spray bottle to spray my clothing, head and all exposed skin areas when going to the garden. This works for mosquitoes, nats, moths and other flying things but do not know if it works for ticks. Hope this will help someone….
I found something that might help.
I have had good success with using Springtime’s Garlic Powder with my 90# Bernese Mt. Dog. I give her 2 scoops on her food twice a day during tick season (Apr-Nov) & 1 scoop twice a day over winter. Start out with just a little & increase amount slowly over a couple weeks period. I’ve used it for years without issues.
Oops, that’s neem, not need. Spellcheck doesn’t like it!
I have been using a product added to meals, it is Earth Animal Daily Herbal Internal Powder, and I see very few ticks.
My GSP runs through the woods daily here in the Santa Cruz mountains in CA, and I do a tick check at the end of each hike. This powder is alfalfa, garlic, spirulina, kelp,need, papaya, nettles, and Hawthorne, and makes your pet unattractive to pests. I have seen ticks moving very quickly to get off my dog , and she has gotten many more ticks when I have run out of it. It’s not perfect, but neither are chemical products, and certainly less toxic.
I work for a vet’s office and in the last couple of years found that at least some of the Seresto collar complaints were from owners who had bought them off the internet. When the contacted the company it was discovered that the collars were apparently forgeries, as they did not have the lot stamp on the collar itself that the company had moved to. These were shipped in Seresto branded canisters. Can’t say that this happened to those who had product failure, however…..
I make a spray with geranium/lemon eucalyptus/neem oil/ACV/water for my dog and also spray my shoes with it when we go for walks. I do avoid tall grass/brush/leaves if possible. While its not 100% effective neither are the chemicals that vets recommend. Sadly ticks have become a severe menace and danger 🙁 I do place lime powder (from home depot etc) around perimeter of my yard (outside the fence).
I live on 5 acres of woods in Florida, my German Shepherd and my 3 house cats wear Seresto collars. No Fleas and only the occasional tick when I’m petting/checking and they are usually dead. Everyone in Florida has fleas, Not Me. I Love Seresto.
I have always used natural methods but now I live in a country with lots of ticks and lots of Lyme disease. I already have a few autoimmune disorders so the last thing I want is Lyme! I did some research, talked with some friends and finally decided to use a Seresto collar. So far I’m happy.